Director of Nursing (DON)

Director Of Nursing

Responsible for planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting, budgeting, inventory control, and management of facility, people, supplies, and equipment in such a way that meaningful nursing service is established to render the optimum level of resident care. The Director of Nursing serves as the Quality Assurance Coordinator and reports in all matters directly to the Administrator.

Qualifications

• Must be a graduate of an accredited school of nursing and hold a current Registered Professional Nurse's license in the State of Illinois.
• Must have working knowledge of nursing services, nursing administration, rehabilitation, general nursing, and geriatric nursing.
• Must be qualified to assume the position by training and/or previous experience of a supervisory status, preferably in a health care facility.
• Must possess the ability to make independent decisions and mature judgments.
• Must have training in rehabilitative and restorative nursing practices.
• Must have the ability and the willingness to supervise and work harmoniously with professional and non-professional personnel.
• Must have the ability to plan, organize, develop, implement, and interpret the programs, goals, objectives, policies, procedures, etc. of the Nursing Department.

Job Requirements

• Must be physically and mentally capable of performing routine job duties.
• Excellence in all aspects of quality nursing including rehabilitative, restorative, and any specialized care areas provided by the facility.
• Good administrative, managerial, organizational, planning, and interpersonal skills.
• Leadership qualities that motivate and direct the nursing staff.
• Be personable with residents, families, and staff in a professional and cooperative manner.
• Must have compassion, tolerance, and understanding for the elderly.
• Thorough knowledge of JCAHO, OBRA, IDPH, and HFS regulations.

Main Duties

• Support the facility's philosophy of care and strive to achieve its goals and objectives.
• Assist in developing and maintaining nursing service objectives, standards of nursing practice, and the nursing policies and procedures manual with the assistance of the Administrator to achieve the greatest degree of care for each resident.
• Participate in the development and implementation of resident care policies.
• Obtain staff by recruiting, interviewing, verifying references, and criminal background, in order to employ the number and kinds of personnel needed.
• Decide and propose the staffing needs and organization of the department and submit to the Administrator for approval.
• Supervise scheduling of sufficient staff to ensure uninterrupted service to the residents at all times.
• Ascertain that each employee in the nursing department is aware of the lines of authority and exercise disciplinary action or termination when necessary and provide appropriate documentation in the employee's personnel record.
• Oversee the new nursing employee orientation process including the explanation of personnel policies and individual duties.
• Delegate the authority required for performance of their jobs to the ADON, supervising nurses, and charge nurses.
• Supervise the ADON to ensure proper staffing and performance of all clinical aspects of the nursing program.
• Ensure that all licensed personnel have a current and valid license as required by the State of Illinois.
• Supervise the employee status verification in the State Registry upon application as well as the criminal background check when necessary.
• Supervise, by daily rounds and conferences, the work of all nursing personnel.
• Oversee the establishing and maintaining of individual personnel records on each department member.
• Delegate the performance evaluation of each nursing department employee to his/her supervisor, and if problem arises, adjudicate their resolution.
• Make a performance evaluation of all nursing supervisors and charge nurses. Communicate the results to staff members and maintain documentation in each personnel file.
• Provide opportunities and materials for regular staff meetings and in-service education pertaining to the nursing department.
• Promote in position and recommend increase in pay as the individual merits, under the direction of the Administrator, when vacancies or new positions occur.
• Ensure that nursing personnel provide treatments, medication, diets, rehabilitative nursing care, activities of daily living, protective services, and training in self-care as stated in the care plan to ascertain that optimum comfort and care are provided.
• Ascertain that physicians are visiting on a regular basis, as required by the level of care and OBRA regulations.
• Address resident and family problems and concerns as needed and schedule conferences with the resident and family in order to resolve issues pertaining to nursing services.
• Make rounds and observe individual residents who are experiencing episodes of acute illness, deterioration in health status, recent injury, recovering from surgery, etc., so as to be acquainted with the resident's status, both physically and emotionally and to ascertain that the staff is rendering proper care.
• Coordinate resident care plan with the physical, occupational, respiratory, and speech therapy department to ensure proper care and treatment when clinically appropriate.
• Schedule and conduct regular conferences with the staff to discuss changes in resident's condition and problems or concerns regarding resident's care.
• Delegate the responsibility to daily review the documentation of dispensing controlled substances and narcotics. Reviews the records no less than weekly, or sooner if a discrepancy is noted, to ascertain that they are properly counted and documented from shift to shift.
• Assist in completing audits of sample EMR charting monthly to ascertain proper nursing charting and documentation of care given and directly confer with those employees who are not properly documenting, or delegates this responsibility.
• Review admissions/referrals and assist in interviewing/selecting residents for admission with the Administrator's approval.
• Prepare monthly Medicare (if applicable) information summaries and submit to the business office to allow proper billing for Medicare recipients as well as assist the office with additional documentation for re-submission to Medicare.
• Serve as chairperson of the Quality Assurance Committee and any other committees as required by existing regulations or as appointed by the Administrator.
• Prepare clinical nursing reports for the quarterly Quality Assurance meetings.
• Prepare Performance Improvement reports for the Quality Improvement and Performance Improvement meetings as required by JCAHO guidelines.
• Supervise the Director of Rehabilitation to ensure the delivery of rehabilitative care to appropriate residents and the distribution of suitable equipment to residents in need.
• Supervise the MDS/Care Plan Coordinator to ensure that all MDS forms are completed accurately and in a timely manner.
• Supervise the MDS/Care Plan Coordinator to ensure that all care plans are appropriate and updated as needed by the resident.
• Review all incident reports monthly for their accuracy and the proper notification to family, physician, and IDPH as required by regulations.
• Prepare for State and Federal inspections by chart auditing and departmental inspection and review.
• Prepare a Plan of Correction as required by State and Federal surveys and submit to the Administrator for approval.
• Implement any plan of correction as required by State and Federal surveys in the nursing department.
• Attend department head, QA, and Medicare/Medicaid Pre-planning meetings and others as deemed appropriate.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of any changes in JCAHO, Federal, and State regulations, modify department policies to assure compliance, and in-service all effected personnel accordingly.
• Furnish information regarding residents only to authorized agencies or people.
• Follow established fire, disaster, safety, infection control and evacuation policies and procedures.
• Perform other related duties as directed by the Administrator.
• Work as weekend Supervisor as part of Department head monthly rotation