Quality Coordinator (RN) - Surgical Unit

Facility: Cobb Hospital

Wellstar Cobb Medical Center has an exciting opportunity for a Quality Coordinator (Clinical Nurse Leader) in the Vascular/Telemetry Unit!

Overview:
The Clinical Nurse Practice Specialist (CNPS) is a registered professional nurse through academic preparation as a masters-prepared nurse possesses advanced clinical expertise and utilizes this expertise to support and promote the delivery of safe, age appropriate and culturally aware patient care in at least one of the following patient populations/service lines:
• Family
• Adult/Geriatrics
• Neonatal
• Pediatrics
• Women's Health
• Mental Health
• Emergency Services
• Surgery
• Critical Care/Pulmonary Medicine
• Digestive Health
• Neurology
• Oncology
• Cardiovascular
• Musculoskeletal
• Post-Acute

The Clinical Nurse Practice Specialist (CNPS) demonstrates advanced knowledge, skills and abilities in area of specialty to be a system resource for all members of the health care team and champions' evidence-based practice and performance improvement to advance the science of nursing in his/her specialty and improve patient care interventions/outcomes across the macrosystem. This position fosters interdisciplinary practice and serves as a role model for the professional image of the nurse and expert clinical practice. The CNPS actively engages in scholarly activity such as research and translating evidence into practice and leads as a change agent for innovations in care delivery. Role specific competencies, responsibilities and functions are based on the WellStar Nursing Professional Practice Model.

It is expected that the CNPS upholds the practice of nursing as outlined by the Georgia Professional Nurse Practice Act and implements the Scope of Practice and Code of Ethics Standards put forth by the American Nurses Association. As a member of the System Center for Nursing Excellence team supporting WellStar's system Nurse Executive Team, it is expected the individual upholds the voice of the patient, system policies and procedures while supporting service excellence goals. Further, this position will operate in a heavily matrixed relationship with Service Line Leaders and Physician Chiefs, Chief Nursing Officers, Quality Leaders, and Enterprise Intelligence and Learning Teams.

Responsibilities
Core Responsibilities and Essential Functions

• Shared Leadership
  A. Successfully works through the Shared Leadership model to develop strategies and ideas that encourage inquiry and positive change by promoting nurse engagement in continuous process improvement in delivering the highest quality nursing care across the System.
  B. Promotes positive interdisciplinary partnerships and seeks opportunities to provide clinical leadership for the design and standardization of treatment protocols, clinical interventions, and product evaluations across the System.
  C. Advance nursing practice through innovative evidence-based interventions, best practice guidelines and modification of professional standards and organizational policies that direct the care of nursing personnel and other providers of healthcare to improve outcomes through collaborative practice.
  D. Participates in/lead the development and revision of evidence-based guidelines/policies/order sets /protocols, hospital acquired infections, disease specific, regulatory compliance issues.
  E. Promotes superior professional practice and ethics to ensure compliance/regulatory/practice standards are met. Advocates for the role of the professional nurse as a key member of the interdisciplinary team. Possesses advanced knowledge and articulates the professional scope and standards of nursing practice.
  F. Demonstrates ability to lead change and empower others to influence clinical practice and political processes both within and across systems, ensuring the spread and integration of standards into practice using lean philosophy, and tools.
  G. Utilizes knowledge of the Nurse Practice Act, Nursing Code of Ethics, regulatory agency requirements, current nursing theory, research, and practice to guide nursing practice and promote professional development.
• Teamwork
  A. Fosters teamwork, collaborative practice, personal responsibility, integrity, innovation, trust, and communication.
  B. Serves as a resource for all staff and accepts additional responsibilities in specialty to support nursing excellence, clinical integration, and standardization across the System.
  C. Works in tandem with leadership, medical staff, service line, and nursing staff to evaluate, redesign and implement practice standards that optimize patient outcomes to improve patient safety and quality in nursing practice.
  D. Delivers intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary support and mentoring to promote the profession of nursing by advancing clinical practice. Collaborates with Wellstar departments, service lines, and CNOs in advancement of the career progression model that aligns practice excellence with recognition and incentives creating a learning environment that retains and rewards excellence in nursing.
  E. Utilizes evidenced-based research and organizational and departmental data to affect change throughout the system using a continuous improvement model; provides leadership by connecting the healthcare system with quality measures to achieve safe, effective, holistic patient care.
• Exemplary Practice
  A. Continuously improves processes and services that support patient/family engaged care, education, and research.
  B. Differentiates between outcomes that required care process modification at the individual patient level and those that require modification at the system level.
  C. Seeks opportunities to advance knowledge and skills through formal and informal educational offerings. Conducts performance improvement activities using continuous improvement methodologies and develops /disseminates practice protocols to support clinical integration and standardization across the System. Possesses advance skills in the use of technology and provides leadership within interdisciplinary health care team on system-wide quality improvement task forces.
  D. Promotes evidence-based practice, nursing research and performance improvement in support of nursing excellence across the System by monitoring progress toward goals, conducting gap analysis, facilitating change to address identified gaps in best practice, collaborating with operations as needed to establish countermeasures toward successful achievement.
  E. Monitoring quality performance, through KPI, and benchmarking toward top decile performance on national databases.
  F. Competent in principles of ethics, end of life care and use of Advanced Directives. Able to successfully problem solve complex patient care issues and mediate/facilitate interdisciplinary team discussions when necessary.
• Creative Innovations
  A. Manages innovative individual and/or population-based programs of care to achieve desired cost-effective nurse-sensitive outcomes.
  B. Identifies high risk patient groups and lead development of evidence-based plans for meeting individual, family, community, and population needs to improve safety, service, and outcomes.
  C. Facilitates transitions across the continuum of care to minimize fragmentation of care.
  D. Evaluates programs of care for appropriateness of implementation across the continuum.
  E. Advances clinical care practice in their clinical specialty – gaining interdisciplinary support to apply or translate evidence into practice and engages in scholarly activity such as research, publication, and presentations – mentoring all clinical staff to do the same.
  F. Self-directed in learning how to apply Lean principles and other quality skills to reduce waste and improve performance of operations and clinical systems of care; Uses knowledge and skills as an expert nurse in specialty and serves as a change agent to advance the field and the achievement of exemplary patient care outcomes.
  G. Uses technology and data to interpret and measure clinical outcomes and designs further processes of care (i.e. care delivery systems, standards of practice and performance outcomes) to enhance the same.
  H. Poses relevant clinical questions to advanced evidence-based practice. Consults and serves as an expert in the conduction of research and evidence-based practice.
  I. Supports a journey of excellence integrating best practice, and Magnet principles toward practice and performance readiness for ANCC, unit, Pathways, Magnet, and other recognitions (Baldridge, etc.).
• Professional Development
  A. Represents the organization positively to the community, building credibility - is an active member of one’s professional organization and mentors other clinicians to do this as well.
  B. Serves to support, educate, and mentor current clinical staff and students ensuring that clinical processes of care are working as intended.
• Performs other duties as assigned
• Complies with all Wellstar Health System policies, standards of work, and code of conduct.

Required Minimum Education:

• Master's Degree Graduate degree in Nursing (MS, MSN, DNP) from an accredited school or university that has a CNL program recognized by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing

Required Minimum License(s) and Certification(s):

• Reg Nurse (Single State) Required
• RN - Multi-state Compact Required
• Basic Life Support Required
• Clinical Nurse Leader Required
• Clinical Nurse Specialist Required
• Nurse Practitioner Required
• Cert Nurse Midwife Required

Required Minimum Experience:

• Minimum 2 years experience providing direct patient care as a nurse for a similar patient population/service line.
• Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) with specialty certification in patient population served is preferred

Required Minimum Skills

• Possess excellent verbal and written (English) communication skills, computer skills and relationship building.
• Possess advanced skills in specialty/service line area and teaching and coaching clinical staff to provide excellence in patient care and delivery.
• Is a continuous learner who inspires others to also seek advance knowledge and clinical skills.
• Possess the ability to work in a fast pace environment and embrace change with excellent time management skills.
• Knowledge of nursing theory, evidence-based practice, and research required to provide leadership for performance improvement.
• Ability to work collaboratively with other healthcare disciplines, with strong clinical judgement and clinical inquiry skills.
• Demonstrates systems thinking as well as ability to provide consultative support.
• Compliance with the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics for Professional Nurses.
• Must have certification as a Clinical Nurse Leader from the Commission of Nurse Certification is preferred.