Director of PMHNP Clinical Education, Graduate Nursing

About Simmons

Located in Boston’s historic Fenway area, Simmons University has a strong
tradition of empowering women and challenging traditional gender roles. Simmons
was founded for equality 125 years ago as one of the first higher education
institutions dedicated to helping women become leaders. Today, our university
continues to grow and evolve and now offers Boston’s only women’s undergraduate
program and graduate programs open to all. 

You’re joining our community at an especially exciting time as we continue to
innovate for the future. Simmons recently launched a six-school academic
structure that leverages our expert faculty and longstanding expertise in
professions that make our communities stronger. In addition, we continue to
highlight our high-value education proposition that is delivering greater ROI to
students and putting them on the fast track to career growth and success. You’ll
find that people who work here truly believe in our mission of preparing
students to become social justice-oriented leaders who excel in their
professions and their communities. This commitment and pride make for a dynamic
workplace.

As a university that values diversity, equity, and inclusion, Simmons encourages
applications from all under-represented groups. Simmons is committed to
creating, developing, promoting, and enhancing inclusive hiring practices–at all
levels, for all positions–ensuring diverse talent pools and the delivery of a
consistent positive candidate experience. Simmons is an equal opportunity
employer and is committed to continuing to develop a more diverse faculty,
staff, student body, and curriculum.

The Director of Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) Clinical
Education is a 12-month full-time faculty contract position employed by the
University reporting to the Director of Advanced Practice. The Clinical Director
will be prepared as a PMHNP. This role requires both teaching and administrative
responsibilities.  

The Clinical Director holds an administrative appointment related to managing
all program needs and day-to-day operations related to Clinical Decision Making
(CDM) courses in the PMHNP tracks. Key responsibilities include overseeing the
curriculum, faculty/staff, and overall student experience in all PMHNP CDM
courses. The Clinical Director plays a key role in ensuring academic rigor and
curricular alignment of the PMHNP clinical experience between all PMHNP tracks,
while meeting the needs of current students and aligning with the overall vision
of the standards of School of Nursing and the Commission of Collegiate Nursing
Education (CCNE). 

Additional academic responsibilities of the Clinical Director include:  

* Teach as section instructor for the PMHNP Immersion and Clinical
Qualification Course, as noted in annual contract.
* Coordinate, oversee, and attend Boston-based Immersion Experiences PMHNP
Immersion Experiences, as noted in annual contract. Travel reimbursement will
be provided for those who are outside of the Boston area, in accordance with
applicable policy.
* Teach as section instructor for PMHNP CDM courses, as noted in annual
contract.

CDM Curriculum Support and Delivery

* Responsible for managing PMHNP CDM Course Lead(s) to ensure all course
objectives, faculty/student management, course iteration/redesign, and
curriculum maintenance requirements are being met. 
* Manages the educational process to ensure students and faculty in PMHNP CDM
are involved in a positive educational experience through the learning,
teaching and social environment, and is meeting curricular learning
objectives/competencies. 
* Oversee all CoreELMS operations for the PMHNP program, including system
administration, clinical site and preceptor management, evaluations, site
visits, student records, and reports.

Oversight of Student Experience & Resolution of Student Issues:  

* Collaborate with the Director of FNP Clinical Education and other clinical
administrators to ensure consistency in policies governing graduate nursing
clinical experiences.
* Work closely with Academic Advising, Operations team, and other pertinent
individuals to closely monitor overall student experience in PMHNP CDM.  
* Collaborate with PMHNP CDM faculty on ensuring appropriate clinical
experiences to meet stated course objectives.  
* Collaborate with PMHNP CDM faculty on any clinical placement-related
escalations.  
* Oversee and ensure consistency in all grading practices in PMHNP CDM.
* Partner with our technical partner, 2U, to better cultivate and mentor
Section Instructors for best practices as an effective online instructor and
their use of the technology.  
* Investigate and resolve student educational issues requiring academic actions
in consultation with the Director of Advanced Practice and other pertinent
individuals according to University policies and procedures. 
* Collaborates with the Office of Student Affairs and the Office of
Accessibility Services on escalated student and faculty concerns related to

PMHNP CDM.

* Serves as the faculty advisor for Direct Entry (DE) students advancing into
PMHNP tracks, providing academic guidance, mentorship, and support tailored
to their unique educational and career pathways.

Core Clinical Curriculum Faculty/Staff Supervision

* Work closely with the Nursing Staffing Specialist and Human Resources to vet
and hire all faculty for all PMHNP CDM courses.
* Provide faculty mentoring, training, evaluation and development to PMHNP CDM
Section Instructors. 
* Foster and encourage online Section Instructors to promote a culture of
learning that values mutual responsibility, life-long learning, and ethics,
as well as personal and professional development. 
* Ensure faculty readiness around online teaching and learning methods, playing
a crucial role in talent development and retention. 
* Collaborate with Nursing leadership team to ensure evaluation and assessment
of PMHNP CDM adjunct faculty are being conducted on an interval and annual
basis.  
* Collaborate with the Nursing Operations team and Registrar’s Office to
support course and faculty scheduling. 
* Investigate and resolve student and staff/faculty educational and clinical
progression problems requiring academic actions in consultation with the
Director of Advanced Practice and Academic Advisors according to University
policies and procedures.  

Clinical Placement Team and Clinical Site Delivery

* Responsible for adequate delivery of clinical sites across the U. S. and
assures documentation is appropriately managed for student visits in NP
Student Tracking System and/or student files.    
* Oversees clinical placements to assure that students are obtaining adequate
hours for completion of PMHNP training.    
* Leads Clinical Placement Team and Section Instructors in implementing
preceptor and clinical site evaluations.  
* Attends Clinical Placement Team meetings and completes follow up on
outstanding issues with placements, sites, and preceptors for PMHNP
students.  
* Oversees and conducts review of PMHNP clinical placements and sites in a
timely basis, and reviews the site visit documentation from CDM faculty,
according to the Clinical Preceptor Handbook, and any gaps in pre-term
preparation.    
* Oversee all PMHNP preceptors and site visitors to ensure students meet
learning objectives and have the confidence to implement newly learned
skills.   
* Ensures site visit outcomes are being reviewed and addressed, with the
support of CDM faculty team, and Nursing Operations team.
* Collaborates with the Office of Student Affairs and the Office of
Accessibility Services on student and faculty concerns and student complaints
related to placement. 
* Responsible for both day-to-day management of all staff/faculty involved in
PMHNP clinical placement education as well as longer-term strategic clinical
education planning.   
* In collaboration with the Dean and Operations team, is responsible for Board
of Nursing compliance as it relates to faculty oversight of students,
preceptor site placements, and site visits in the PMHNP programs. 
* In collaboration with the CDM faculty team, Chair for Graduate Nursing
Programs, and Operations team, responsible for site visit planning on the
regional site visit plan, ensuring that students receive at least one site
visit during their clinical training.

Service Responsibilities

* Participates in relevant committees and other team meetings/projects either
virtually or in-person as assigned by the Dean or Chair for Graduate Nursing
Programs.
* Attends School of Nursing Meetings and other relevant meetings virtually or
in-person as requested. 
* Serve as an active voting faculty member of the School of Nursing & Physical
Therapy, attending meetings in-person or virtually as scheduled. 
* Obtain APRN licensure in additional states as determined by the Operations
team (licensure fees reimbursed by Simmons University).  
* Be available to serve as a resource for state licensure requirements in the
state(s) in which they are assigned.
* Be available to sign off as a designated Nursing representative on
program-related documents required by the respective State Boards of
Nursing to maintain PMHNP program integrity.  
* Other duties as assigned by the Dean or Chair for Graduate Nursing Programs.

General Qualifications

* Board certification as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner is
required
* Graduate Nursing degree from an accredited university is required
* Terminal degree (DNP/PhD/EdD) in Nursing or related field required
* At least 5 years of clinical experience
* 3 - 5 years of teaching experience with online experience preferred
* Must obtain/maintain an unencumbered M