Chief Nursing Officer

Silver Cross Hospital is an extraordinary place to work. We’re known for our culture of excellence and delivery of unrivaled experiences for our patients, their families, the communities we serve…and for each other. Come join us! It’s the way you want to be treated.

POSITION OVERVIEW

Reporting to the chief executive officer, the chief nursing officer (CNO) will provide executive nursing leadership, focus, and vision to the entire Silver Cross organization, articulating and promoting a contemporary vision of nursing philosophy and practice. As a member of Silver Cross's executive team, this individual will participate in strategic planning, patient experience committee, operational practices, policy, facilities development, equipment selection, and capital and operational budgets, in order to achieve Silver Cross's mission, objectives, and goals. The CNO will lead the fiscal oversight of allocated resources in order to ensure quality and safe, cost-effective care in all assigned clinical areas, developing sound and creative strategies to enhance care, service and support optimal outcomes, and will establish effective staffing patterns in accordance with standards of practice to achieve the highest quality patient care and to maximize operational efficiencies of the hospital.

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The CNO is accountable for working with the CEO, medical staff, and patient care staff to ensure a high level of quality and safety in patient care programs throughout the organization. To this end, they will:

• participate in both short- and long-range planning for the hospital as a whole and, on a more specific basis, for the departments formally assigned to them;
• participate in efforts to ensure the continued economic and financial health of the hospital, including budget preparation, implementation, and monitoring;
• display - and direct others with - an image of personal and professional competence, human warmth, empathy, compassion, understanding, concern, and positive attitude;
• actively work to enhance and maintain a favorable public image of the hospital by establishing and maintaining relationships with outside businesses, agencies, and other healthcare organizations as are necessary and/or helpful in the accomplishment of the hospital's mission;
• be responsible for the selection, performance appraisal, and continued growth of department directors and other leadership staff;
• ensure Hospital's 7 behaviors and 4 safety habits are followed;
• assist with the coordination of activities with other departments so that the entire organization can work as a team in performing its functions and achieving its goals;
• remain current regarding present and future issues in the nursing and healthcare fields, including participation in local, state, and national associations;
• head various committees and Quality Action Teams to initiate new projects and programs into the hospital structure;
• work as a dyad partner with medical directors of assigned departments, as appropriate, to exchange information and maintain open communication;
• work directly with the middle management of nursing and with the human resources department to develop and implement policies and programs to recruit and retain needed personnel;
• ensure that employees adhere to departmental and organizational safety/infection control standards and maintain a clean and safe environment;
• demonstrate Silver Cross's "fair and just culture" procedures;
• attend leadership meetings and conduct regular staff meetings to disseminate necessary information from these meetings;
• participate in organizational committees and activities;
• lead patient experience initiatives;
• provide educational resources to assist in the professional development of employees;
• play an active role in the hospital's journey to Zero Harm;
• develop and implement action plans to ensure patient, physician, and employee satisfaction, utilizing information obtained from employee opinion surveys, staff meetings, Press Ganey surveys, medical staff meetings, and other formal and informal sources;
• participate in departmental and organizational process improvement projects;
• ensure compliance with all regulatory and statutory standards for the department;
• maintain confidentiality and respond to customer needs in a positive, non­judgmental manner;
• develop and/or adjust the budget to ensure the effective use of resources, utilize financial reports to identify and justify variances, utilize resources wisely (time, people, and supplies), and identify ways to share resources interdepartmentally; and
• treat coworkers and customers with dignity and respect, demonstrate respect and appreciation for individual cultural and age-specific differences, and remain open and responsive to the diverse experiences and backgrounds of other people.

OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

• The new CNO will be coming into a very solid organization that is growing and advancing, with a collaborative medical staff and a very supportive board - it is not a turnaround situation.

Silver Cross is one of the few hospitals in the area that hires nurses immediately after nursing school, and the organization desires to reduce the turnover rate of nurses who have been with the organization less than three years. The CNO will be charged with finding ways to increase retention for nurses through mentoring, engagement with committees and other organizational activities, and/or making changes to the preceptor and orientation programs. The organization recently adjusted hourly rates to ensure it is competitive and able to recruit and retain talent. It has been successful with its strategy.

• The CNO will be charged with ensuring the recruitment of nurses to maintain appropriate staffing, employing creativity and a leadership style that draws nurses into Silver Cross. The hospital also enjoys a unique position and has little to no reliance upon agency nurses to augment its staff.
• Silver Cross has strengthened its recognition programs for nursing inclusive of CNAs and RNs. Additionally, it implemented clinical ladders which is an opportunity for the new CNO to focus on achieving the full benefit of the program.
• Leadership enforces the structure that is in place for shift-to-shift handoffs and department-to-department transitions relative to processes and communication. The CNO will be asked to propose creative solutions to increase bed-side handoffs.
• The former CNO set the tone for leadership, culture and patient care and safety for nursing at Silver Cross in a very positive way and has brought retention to nursing. The hospital has very strong nurse leaders that are supportive of the tone set at the top and will build upon it now and into the future.

Currently, the CNO has responsibility for Med/Surg, Critical Care, Women’s and Newborn Services, a Level III NICU, Quality & Patient Safety, Case Management, Clinical Dieticians, Pastoral Care, Respiratory Therapy, Post-Acute Care Areas including Inpatient and Outpatient Physical Therapy, Home Health, Wound Center, Radiology and Clinical Education.

• One of the members of the nursing staff at Silver Cross is also trained in informatics; as a result, the CNO does not necessarily need in-depth knowledge of the capabilities of the Cerner system, but should be able to contribute leadership via identifying the IT functions that would make nurses' jobs easier and directing requests for solutions to the IT department. The organization continually works to optimize its Cerner system, which has been in place for years.
• The former CNO has made notable improvements to the clinical education department; it has a strong foundation and effective educators in place.
• Silver Cross is also a stand-alone hospital that enjoys a direct relationship with its employees; this enables the organization to be nimbler and more rapidly responsive to patient needs.
• Patient satisfaction scores are extremely high and are a differentiator for Silver Cross; nursing satisfaction scores are also very high.
• Nursing directors and managers enjoy lower spans of control with most directors/managers having oversight of 40 beds or less. The CNO will be charged with further evaluation of the nursing model to increase employee engagement as well as reduce the administrative burden placed on Nurse Managers.
• The nursing bench is both large and strong; house-wide, there are approximately 890 nurses, all RNs. Silver Cross enjoys strong relationships with area colleges and universities which are a good source of entry-level nursing talent.
• Silver Cross has been on a safety journey for years, aided by Healthcare Performance Improvement (part of Press Ganey), with the goal of achieving Zero Harm. Multidisciplinary morning huddles occur daily to report on concerns of the past and upcoming 24 hours. The hospital also has a very strong safe patient handling program in place, and all meetings (including board meetings) begin with a safety story. The culture is very transparent around the reporting of safety events, and the CNO participates in the Event Review Team. The new CNO will need to be very familiar with safety techniques as the foundation is in place and has become part of the organizational culture as a key priority that will not be subject to compromise. Nevertheless, there will be opportunity for the CNO to build and improve upon it.

THE IDEAL PROFILE

Professional Qualifications/Experience

• A master's degree in nursing or a related field
• Significant, demonstrated experience in leadership positions
• Experience with, and commitment to, technology
• An understanding of excellence and the ability to lead a nursing division to achieve it
• Demonstrated success in employee and patient satisfaction
• A strong track record of consensus-building
• Strong operational skills
• Experience as a CNO is preferred, although a "number-two" from a large, high­ quality organization will be considered
• Participation in professional organizations providing broad exposure in the industry