Director of Nursing - Acute Care and Dialysis

The nursing director co-creates a culture of excellence, innovation, and transformation with professional nurses, other leaders, and Associates. The nursing director fosters healthy work environments, advances professional autonomy, clinical competences, and safe, ethical, and high-quality nursing care; and assures that nurses are allowed to practice within their full scope.

The main goal is to assure the alignment of nursing’s goals, activities, and practices with the values and mission of the organization, governing boards, and constituencies. In addition to accountability for the direction of nursing practice, nurse administrators are responsible for the oversight and direction of all aspects of the clinical or educational enterprise.

Nursing director has core accountabilities for the following: (a) safety, quality, and risk; (b) patient and population health advocacy; (c) clinical care delivery and optimal patient outcomes; (d) healthy work environment; (e) strategic, financial, and human resource management; (f) legal and regulatory compliance; (g) networking, partnering, and collaboration; and (h) accountability/advocacy for their Associates.

Nursing director, at this level of influence, has line authority over a service line or multiple units that have registered nurses working who deliver nursing care in inpatient, hospital outpatient departments, or ambulatory care settings.

At Nemours Children’s Hospital these may include, but are not limited to, acute care, critical care, cardiac services, transport, and perioperative services.

The nursing director reports directly or indirectly to the SVP, Chief Nursing and Patient Operations Officer.

The nursing director is charged with handling the daily operation of multiple units or departments. Typically, the nursing director is supported by a unit manager(s) who executes daily operations within defined clinical area(s).

The nursing director efforts are directed toward program management, including program goals, objectives, and quality organizational outcomes. The nursing director mobilizes internal and external stakeholders to assure programmatic goals and objectives are met.

The Standards of Nursing Administration Practice are authoritative statement of the duties for all nurse administrators.

Standards of Practice for Nursing Administration

• Assessment: Collect comprehensive pertinent data and information relative to the situation, issues, problem, or trend
• Identification of Problems, Issues, and Trends: Analyze the assessment data to identify problems, issues, and trends
• Outcomes Identification: Identify expected outcomes for a plan tailored to the system, organization, or population, problem, issues, or tend
• Planning: Develop a plan that defines, articulates, and establishes strategies and alternative to attain expected, measurable outcomes
• Implementation: Implement the identified plan
• Coordination: Implement the plan and associated processes
• 5b. Promotion of Health, Education, and a Safe Environment: Establish strategies to promote health, education, and a safe environment
• Evaluation: Evaluate progress towards attainment of goals outcomes

Standards of Professional Performance for Nursing Administration

• Ethics: Practice ethically.

• Culturally Congruent Practice: Practice in a safe manner that is congruent with cultural diversity and inclusion principles
• Communication: Communicate effectively in in all areas of practice
• Collaboration: Collaborate with health care consumers, colleagues, community leaders, and other stakeholders to advance nursing proactive and health care transformation
• Leadership: Lead within the professional practice setting, profession, health care industry, and society
• Education: Attain knowledge and competence that reflects current nursing practice and promotes futuristic thinking
• Evidence-Based Practice and Research: Integrate evidence and research findings in to practice
• Quality of Practice: Contribute to quality nursing practices
• Professional Practice Evaluation: Evaluate one’s own and others’ nursing practice
• Resource Utilization: Utilize appropriate resources to plan, allocate, provide, and sustain evidence-based, high quality nursing services that are person, population, or community centered, culturally appropriate, safe, timely, effective, and fiscally responsible
• Environmental Health: Practice in an environmentally safe and healthy manner
• Assume responsibilities of Nurse Executive, as needed

Position Requirements

• Current Florida RN license required at hire

• Current American Heart Association BLS Health Care Provider course completion required upon hire

• Master’s degree in nursing leadership, management, policy, or administration required (must hold BSN and/or Graduate degree in Nursing)

• Professional certification in nursing administration or other relevant management or applicable specialty; obtain within one (1) year of eligibility and maintain national certification, preferred

Nemours Children's Health is an internationally recognized pediatric health system serving more than 1.7 million patient encounters each year. We deliver care across six states through two freestanding children’s hospitals — Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware and Nemours Children's Hospital, Florida — along with a network of more than 80 primary, urgent, and specialty care practices and more than 40 hospital partnerships.

Backed by the Nemours Foundation and Alfred I. duPont Trust, our $1.7B nonprofit system is dedicated to improving children's health through clinical care, research, education, advocacy, and prevention. Our Whole Child Health approach focuses equally on prevention and treatment, partnering with communities to help every child thrive.

Inclusion and belonging guide our strategy and growth. We are committed to culturally relevant care, reducing health disparities, and fostering an environment where every associate, patient, and family feels supported and valued.

Learn more at Nemours.org.