Director of Nursing

Make a difference every day as our Director of Nursing (RN), lead compassionate care, drive clinical excellence, and support residents, families, and staff in a thriving skilled nursing community.

Summary of Responsibilities:

The Director of Nursing (DON) position is responsible for the performance of the nursing staff, developing and implementing budgets for the department, and working with the other health care providers to ensure quality resident care. The DON is also responsible for implementing specific procedures and programs; for participating with the Nursing Home Administrator in establishing specific goals; for ensuring compliance with all operating policies and procedures and Pennsylvania Department of Health regulations and Federal Health Care Administration regulations; for providing daily reports and other periodic reports; and for performing all the duties of a Registered Nurse when required. Assumes the administrative and regulatory responsibilities for Post-Acute Rehabilitation in the absence of the Administrator.

Essential Functions/Duties:

Operations & Compliance

• Participate in the planning, implementation and management of the labor, operational, and capital budgets of those departments under the direct supervision of the position.
• Be knowledgeable and have a working understanding of the Federal, State, and Local regulations that govern the department.
• Assures appropriate nursing staff scheduled to meet the state and federal regulations
• Updates and communicates as needed with other departments regarding Rehabilitation developments.
• Assumes Nursing Home Administrator (NHA) responsibilities in the absence of the Administrator.
• Oversees Rehabilitation for timekeeping and payroll functions.
• Conducts the operation of Rehabilitation in accordance with federal, state, and local regulatory agencies, maintaining “survey ready” at all times.
• Focuses the direction of Rehabilitation toward providing, improving, and maintaining customer service and resident satisfaction.
• Ensures that care and services are provided to all residents based on their individual care plan.
• Conducts meetings with residents and families to address care issues, ensuring follow-up to agree upon resident care needs.
• Assures necessary supplies/equipment are available to staff.
• Ensures regulatory compliance in areas of quality improvement and risk management.
• Assures quality improvement program for providing services in the direct care of residents. Includes maintaining and monitoring infection control reports, fall reports and other quality reports as part of an ongoing quality improvement program.
• Reviews and monitors resident incident reports, investigates and makes recommendations to assure a safe environment.
• Reviews Medicare and private pay resident documentation to ensure continued quality and on-going compliance.
• Develops policies for Rehabilitation and implements changes to policies and procedures based on quality improvement reports and ongoing needs of such areas.
• Attends required meetings regularly, which include fall and restraint meetings, care plans, Medicare, appropriate placement, weight meetings, organizational compliance, and risk management.
• Assess nursing care practices to identify staff training needs.

Minimum Data Set (MDS) Coordination

• Oversee timely and accurate MDS completion and submission for Medicare residents across disciplines
• Coordinates MDS certification forms and electronic data transmission.
• Assists with Care Plan development and documentation based on MDS data.
• Monitors quality of nursing documentation and provides updates to care team.
• Reviews section GG in collaboration with Therapy and tracks admissions, discharges, and re-entries.
• Oversees, manages and tracks Audit requests to ensure timely response, accurate documentation provided and overall compliance with Audit timelines.
• Ensures effective communication among care teams regarding MDS accuracy.

Staff Education, Development, Discipline & Orientation

• Assumes responsibility for orientation, educational development, evaluation, and discipline of subordinate staff on the unit.
• Selects, develops, and offers regularly and on-going staff development programs to ensure staff satisfaction and individual development.
• Informs staff of changes through regular staff meetings and education sessions.
• Attends in-services and seminars that are relevant to geriatric care/services and informs all appropriate staff of information received.
• Assures a daily stand-up meeting with staff of the current shift to provide resident specific information, general updates or staff related information.
• Interviews recommended hires and ensures proper orientation per Highlands University guidelines.
• Monitors new staff progress, completing orientation checklists and determining readiness for independent work.
• Coordinates and conducts competency training for RNs, LPNs, and CNAs.
• Maintains organized education/training documentation and uses data to set goals.

Required Skills/Abilities:

• Experience in and the ability to drive a performance-based culture (preferred)
• Excellent Customer Experience, Relationship, and Service Attitude
• Strong follow-up skills and ability to work with little or no supervision, exhibiting strong proactive and efficient work ethic.
• Ability to function in a fast-paced environment, with competing priorities and deadlines
• Comfortable and agile working with technology; proficient in MS Office and other applications.
• Strong analytical, assessment, and problem-solving capabilities.
• Superior relationship building and influencing skills
• Demonstrated expertise in interpersonal communication and presentation skills, written and verbal.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• The Director of Nursing provides direct supervision to RNs, LPNs, and CNAs within the unit, ensuring staff deliver safe, effective, and compassionate care. This role is responsible for guiding, evaluating, and supporting staff performance, while fostering a culture of professional development and accountability.

Core Values:

1. AMBASSADOR: Represents The Highlands at Wyomissing® in a positive light with integrity. Takes pride in our community.
2. COMMITMENT : Dedicated, adaptable, tolerant, dependable, focused, and passionate. Often does more than is required. Reports to work as scheduled and timely.
3. COMPASSIONATE : Is empathetic, mindful, and kind.
4. INNOVATIVE : Is curious. Identifies new methods and efficiencies.
5. RESULTS-DRIVEN : Has a strong sense of urgency about solving problems and completing work. Exerts unusual effort over time to achieve a goal. Maintains commitment to goals in the face of obstacles and frustrations.
6. TEAM ORIENTED : Works cooperatively and effectively with others to achieve common goals.

The Highlands’ Traditions (Customer Service Expectations):

1. SAFETY: Practices safe behaviors to ensure the safety of all.
2. KINDNESS: Projects a positive image and energy. Courteous and respectful to all. Goes above and beyond to exceed customer expectations.
3. SHOW: Takes pride in self-appearance. Stays in “character” and performs the “role in the show.” Ensures work area is show-ready.
4. EFFICIENCY: Performs role with consistency and efficiency. Uses time and resources wisely.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work:

This is a full-time position. Days and hours of work are normally Monday-Friday, 8:00am-5:00pm. Evening, weekend and holiday work, and work during inclement weather may be required as job duties demand. This position requires participation in an on-call rotation, including evenings, weekends, and holidays, in accordance with departmental scheduling.

Education and Experience Requirements:

• High school Diploma or GED (Required)
• Vocational or technical degree in Nursing (Required)
• Bachelor’s degree in Nursing (Preferred)
• 3-5 years nursing experience (Required)
• 1-3 years’ experience as a Nurse Manager or Director of Nursing (Preferred)
• Multi-shift experience required

• PA Registered Nurse License (Required)
• CPR Certification (Required)
• First Aid Certification (Required)
• Completion of the Highlands Hearthstone Ambassador training within 30 days of employment (Required)

Work Authorization/Security Clearances:

• Medical screening
• Criminal History Clearance
• FBI Fingerprint clearance (only required if you have not lived in PA for the last two years)
• Immigration and naturalization clearance (I-9) clearance

Physical Requirements and Physical Demands:

• Hearing: Adequate to perform job duties in person and over the telephone.
• Speaking: Must be able to communicate clearly in person and over the telephone.
• Writing: Must be able to accurately document pertinent information either by writing or typing.
• Vision: Visual acuity adequate to perform job duties, including reading information from printed sources and computer screens.
• Continuously within shift (67-100%): Walking, Standing
• Frequently within shift (34-66%): Sitting
• Occasionally within shift (1-33%): Crouching, Squatting, Crawling, Kneeling, Pulling from floor level up, Reaching above head, Reaching above shoulder, Bending, Pulling with force, Push/Pull (up to 350 lbs.), Lift from floor level up, Lift from waist level up, Lift above shoulders/head, Lifting 50 lbs. maximum and occasionally lifting and/or carrying objects, Lifting 25 lbs. maximum and frequently and/or carrying objects weighting up to 25 lbs. Ability to lift, push, pull with assistance (mechanical or co-worker) the weight of the average resident specific to the department.

Safety Hazards and Physical Environment:

• May be exposed to blood borne pathogens - High Risk
• May be exposed to communicable diseases
• May be exposed to high noise levels
• May be exposed to moving mechanical parts
• May be exposed to potential electrical shock
• May be exposed to toxic, caustic, chemicals, and / or detergents
• May perform emergency care
• May be exposed to rare occasions during which it is necessary to interact with a resident exhibiting aggressive behavior.

Equal Opportunity Employer


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For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.