Hospital - Oncology Charge RN (Days, Full Time)

The Oncology Charge Nurse fosters an environment for managing and delivering safe patient care in a hospital setting. In addition to fulfilling the duties and responsibilities of a clinical nurse, the charge nurse is a role model and coach to department personnel and assists in developing their skills and knowledge. Provides nursing care to a diverse patient population and role models compassionate communication with physicians and the interprofessional health care team. Assumes leadership responsibilities with high-level contributions across the institution.

Responsibilities

• Fosters staff engagement by listening actively, requesting and acknowledging feedback, making equitable decisions, providing appropriate rationale, and supporting organizational goals.
• Anticipates the needs of the staff members and proactively offers assistance.
• Role models interprofessional communication, which includes active listening and teaching, and assists with staff stress management as needed.
• Improves departmental scores for turnover/retention on unit-based scorecard.
• Role models fair and consistent leadership skills for effective team dynamics and teambuilding strategies through problem-solving, coaching, and developing staff.
• Coaches staff to use efficient and effective communication to establish and maintain a team environment and to include the patient and family in the team regarding their care plan.
• Provides input into staff performance reviews.
• Functions as a mentor and resource to unit staff and provides oversight for students/new employees/preceptorships.
• Identifies levels of organizational conflict and applies tools to effectively resolve concerns, complaints, or disputes with patients, families, physicians, and other interprofessional healthcare team members.
• Leads patient and family-centered care standards.
• Mentor others regarding specialty populations; audit plan of care.
• Practices in a manner that is congruent with cultural diversity and inclusion principles.
• Maintains ongoing interactions with patients, families, and staff on improving patient care through leader rounding.
• Ensures effective collaboration with other departments regarding patient process issues.
• Drives department service standards and activities to improve department scores for patient satisfaction on unit-based scorecards.
• Models the standards of care related to the nursing process by actively participating in meeting and improving nurse-sensitive quality indicators and patient safety goals.
• Participates in creating a continuous improvement environment.
• Coordinates nursing care throughout the shift schedule, considering patient acuity, staff skill level, and safety to ensure our duty to our patients can be met.
• Models the standards related to regulatory requirements and professional practice.
• Facilitates seamless patient flow to/from/through the department, leading the delivery of quality family-centered care throughout the continuum of care.
• Ensures the patient care plan is accurate and timely, coaching staff if documentation deficiencies are identified.
• Works closely with the OAs and bed management regarding timely patient placement.
• Proactively recognizes and determines a plan of action and responds to situations, such as rapid response/CERTs and emergency codes.
• Participates in initiatives to improve quality and safety scores on the unit and hospital scorecards through peer-to-peer accountability, reporting near misses, and identifying solutions by collaborating with the interprofessional team.
• Role models situational awareness, using teachable moments to improve safety. Assists with audits.
• Implements department strategies to achieve financial targets on unit-based scorecards.
• Metrics include documentation of care and length of stay while optimizing efficiency and resources, such as overtime.
• Attends daily care coordination rounds to facilitate patient progression.
• Ensures that follow-up has been implemented on any concerns or issues the team identifies.
• Manages productivity by the staffing grid. Provides input into unit resource utilization, including unit capital and operational budget needs.
• Oversees shift-by-shift resource utilization.
• Manages to identify and implement innovative solutions for practice changes to improve patient care or unit operations, such as reducing hospital readmissions or other department-specific measures by leading and participating in unit projects and shared governance activities.
• Investigate and incorporate evidence-based practices that are presented to shared governance and leadership.
• Supports change initiatives and adapts to unexpected changes.
• Expands individual nursing knowledge and coaches staff to grow knowledge, abilities, and skills.
• Serves as a clinical resource.
• Develops and disseminates, as appropriate, informational/educational resources and programs designed to improve quality and professional practice.
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

EDUCATION:

• Bachelor's of Science in Nursing required

CERTIFICATION/LICENSURE:

• Current Texas Board of Nursing (or Compact State) RN license; Or a Temporary Texas RN License (Permanent TX license within 90 days upon hire).
• American Heart Association Basic Life Support (BLS) certification, within 7 days of hire.

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UT San Antonio) is a nationally recognized, top-tier public research university that unites the power of higher education, biomedical discovery and healthcare within one visionary institution. As the third-largest research university in Texas and a Carnegie R1-designated institution, UT San Antonio is a model of access and excellence — advancing knowledge, social mobility and public health across South Texas and beyond. UT San Antonio serves approximately 42,000 students in 320 academic programs spanning science, engineering, medicine, health, liberal arts, AI, cybersecurity, business, education and more. With 17,000 faculty and staff, UT San Antonio has been recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best Employers for Company Culture .

Benefits Overview

UT Health San Antonio offers an excellent benefits package for its employees. Employees who work at least 20 hours a week, with an appointment of at least 4.5 months, are eligible for benefits.

Medical - UT SELECT Medical insurance is offered free for employees and administered by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. Family members can be added to the plan through payroll deduction. Employees and their dependents can also receive discounted copays and coinsurance when using UT Health Physicians, a network of 800 premier physicians including more than 100 specialists. Employees receive $50,000 of group term life insurance and $50,000 of basic accidental death and dismemberment insurance for free, with options to purchase additional employee and dependent coverage for both at group rates.

Dental - Three dental insurance plan options are available for employees and their families through Delta Dental Insurance Company, two PPOs and one dental HMO plan. Both PPO plans allow employees to choose any licensed dentist.

Vision - Fully insured Vision Care benefits are offered by Superior Vision Services. Two vision plan options that offer either standard or enhanced vision benefits.

Disability - Employees can enroll in the Disability Insurance which provides income if a non-work related illness or injury prevents you from working.

FSAs - Employees can enroll in flexible spending accounts (FSAs) to set aside money from earnings before taxes for qualifying dependent day care expenses or out-of-pocket health care expenses.

Retirement - Employees are eligible for either the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) or the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP). TRS is a defined benefit retirement plan which UT Health matches employee contributions. ORP is for eligible faculty staff employees. Voluntary retirement programs are also available to invest before- or after-tax dollars with the choice of five quality retirement plan providers.

Time Off - A generous leave program offers multiple paid leave options:

• Front-loaded Paid Time Off: 128 to 208 hours (16 to 26 days) of Paid Time Off based on years of service, given at the start of each fiscal year. PTO may be prorated in year one based on date of hire.
• Extended Illness Bank: 8 hours (1 day) accrued per month which can be used for illness or injury after one day of Paid Time Off is taken.
• Paid Family Leave: Up to 240 hours (6 weeks) to care for a spouse, child, or parent after 6 months of consecutive employment.
• Holidays: 12 set paid holidays each year.

Discounts - Employees enjoy a range of discounts on services, tickets, and gym membership.

EEO Statement

UT Health San Antonio is an equal employment opportunity and affirmative action employer. It is our policy to promote and ensure equal employment opportunity for all individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status.