Director of Nursing

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Job description

Overview:
ORGANIZATION SUMMARY
Family Residences and Essential Enterprises, Inc. (FREE) benefits and proudly supports more than 4,000 individuals with intellectual / developmental disabilities, mental illness and traumatic brain injury. It is the mission of FREE to support people of all abilities reach their full potential and thrive in their communities. FREE provides a diverse array of supports and services including: housing; recovery services; transition to work; employment; day, community and family services; respite; crisis services; education and after school support; specialty health services; and advocacy.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Director of Nursing is responsible for ensuring the delivery of the highest quality of health care to the individuals we support. Under the supervision of the Sr. Vice President of Nursing, the Director oversees all nursing practices and procedures related to an individual's plan of care in accordance with regulatory requirements and agency policy. The Director ensures that all nursing services in assigned residences/programs are carried out to meet the individual needs of the men and women we support, including providing such nursing services directly when needed. The Director supervises the Nursing Managers and Registered Nurses in assigned programs. The Director provides support and coverage to residences/programs as needed and is on call 24/7 for clinical assessment and consultation.

Responsibilities:
DUTIES, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
• Ensures that the individuals supported receive quality medical services based on individual needs and in accordance with OPWDD, DOH, OMH and other New York State and Federal regulations.
• Ensures that appropriate nursing support is available to respective residences/programs and that nursing hours are allocated based on program/individual needs.
• Ensures that medical emergencies are addressed in accordance with regulations and agency policies and procedures, and ensures timely notification and communication to appropriate team members, family members, administration, and other providers.
• Advocates on the individuals' behalf as necessary.
• Reports possible violations of individuals' rights promptly, completes and submits incident reports in accordance with New York State OPWDD regulations and Agency policy.
• Ensures that appropriate protective and preventive measures for both staff and individuals are utilized by nursing staff to control communicable and infectious diseases and conditions in the
environment which might cause physical harm including identification, assessment and reporting of same.
• Identifies complex problems and reviews related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
• Considers the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
• Manages change in integrated health care delivery systems, such as work restructuring, technological innovations, and shifts in the focus of care.
• Possesses and uses general business operations knowledge to guide the team and the program and ensures successful servicing of people we support.
• Manages personnel by supervising, training, evaluating, and observing assigned team members. Conducts monthly support meetings.
• Interviews, hires, develops and retains high quality staff.
• Ensures all team members in the programs are fulfilling the roles and responsibilities of their positions. Provides supervision and guidance to all assigned team members on an ongoing basis. Addresses performance issues through performance improvement or corrective action measures.
• Communicates information to nursing staff on an ongoing basis including agency updates, new or revised policies, and OPWDD, DOH, and OMH directives.
• Ensures that all nursing staff communicates relevant information to program supervisors in a timely manner.
• Ensures all nursing team members receive all required training; provides training to employees across the agency on health care related topics as requested.
• Ensures nursing team members provide necessary in-service training to employees and management on individuals' specific medical conditions/health care needs and other topics.
• Ensures that changes in the health needs of individuals are addressed in a timely manner by providing or identifying resources for condition-specific staff training and/or medical care.
• Reviews individuals' records, incident reports, medication occurrences, in-service training records, infection control reports etc. and all other documentation required to validate nursing services. Counsels and/or re-trains staff as needed to ensure accurate reports.
• Ensures training for all employees in OSHA regulations diagnostic protocols. Be available to consult/counsel and refer employees for medical treatment when they have had a possible exposure in consultation with Human Resources and the Medical Director.
• Attends and participates in workshops and seminars and encourages staff participation in continuing education, lifelong learning, and professional organization membership.
• Participates in internal/external surveys/audits as needed; reviews plans of action regarding these surveys and follows through on all recommendations in a corrective manner.
• Assists with completing POCA reports as requested, and submits within stated time frame.
• Develops and implements policies and procedures, training curricula and more as requested.
• Assists in planning new programs and screens program participants for new and existing programs as needed.
• Participates in formulating, updating, reviewing and directing the implementation of written clinical policies and procedures.
• Oversees, recommends and evaluates the nursing services in each residential program.
• Schedules regular visits to individuals in need of acute and long-term rehabilitative services.
• Communicates agency, program, staff and individuals' needs/concerns to the Nursing Admin.
• Partners with other teams and the administration to implement policy that promotes nursing best practices in the residences/programs.
• Creates and maintains a high-performance environment characterized by positive leadership, strong teamwork, and a focus on outcomes.
• Ensures TB screening dates are available to all employees. Be available to consult with and refer employees who have a PPD conversion.
• Reports and identifies problems and suggests solutions to improve working/environment conditions.
• Remains on-call defined as 24/7 days per week for medical emergencies, and provides supervision, guidance or coverage as needed.
• Maintains ongoing communication with day/residential/work programs, families, providers of the individuals, and others involved with the program as well as the individual.
• Participates in investigations into incidents occurring within the assigned programs as requested and maintains confidentiality in regard to such investigations.
• Ensures that all guidelines, regulations, and standards are followed.
• Provides accurate and concise information regarding individual functioning and/or difficulties to team members and providers.
• Ensures that all required documentation (paper and electronic) is completed /processed appropriately, in a timely manner, and meets quality and compliance thresholds.
• Performs other duties as assigned.
Responsibilities of All FREE Employees
• Always communicates in a respectful manner with all people including the people we support, supervisors, other valued team members, and members of the community.
• Complies fully with FREE's confidentiality policies by holding in strictest confidence all information pertaining to members, residents, the people we support and their families, clients, providers, contractors, and employees.
• Meets all safety training requirements; adheres to all safety policies and reports any and all unsafe conditions; takes measures to prevent accidents and/or eliminate conditions that pose a safety or health risk.
• Coordinates, supports, attends and participates in all required events/ meetings/ reviews/ committees, including ones outside of standard working hours.
• Meets all job requirements and stays in compliance.
• Adheres to FREE's standard of ethical behavior as outlined in the Employee Handbook and Code of Conduct as well as applicable laws and regulations.
Responsibilities of FREE Employees in Leadership/Management Positions:
• Ensures compliance with FREE policies, procedures, and operating standards.
• Implements a continuous quality improvement process for department services and administrative functions.
• Assists in the development, implementation and administration of Human Resources policies and programs including compliance with Equal Employment Opportunities and Affirmative Action Programs.
Please note the above duties, responsibilities, and essential functions are a non-exhaustive list, and may be changed by FREE at any time, with or without notice to the employee.

Qualifications:
QUALIFICATIONS
• Education:
o Associate Degree in Nursing required, Bachler's Degree preferred
• Experience:
o Minimum of five years of experience as a nurse
o At least three years of supervisory experience
o Previous OPWDD nursing experience preferred
• Specialized Training, Licenses, Certifications:
o Current Registered Professional Nurse License
• Knowledge, Skills, Competencies, and Abilities:
o Strong familiarity with federal, state & local regulations governing health care o Must be knowledgeable of nursing and medical practices and procedures . click apply for full job details

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