California Rural Healthcare CNO Opportunities

Rural Staffing Services•California, CA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

California Rural Staffing Services partners with a variety of rural healthcare organizations across California, including critical access hospitals, rural and community hospitals, rural health clinics, federally qualified health centers, public hospital districts, tribal healthcare organizations, long-term care providers, and community healthcare organizations. They are currently seeking experienced nursing executives for Chief Nursing Officer and senior nursing leadership opportunities. These roles are deeply connected to the communities served and involve overseeing clinical quality, patient safety, regulatory readiness, workforce development, nursing operations, and infection prevention. The CNO plays a crucial role in shaping workplace culture and ensuring nurses feel heard, valued, prepared, and supported. Strong leaders in rural healthcare require flexibility, creativity, collaboration, and trust, and are visible, approachable, practical, and willing to work closely with frontline employees, medical staff, executive leaders, boards, tribal partners, community organizations, emergency services, and regional healthcare systems. The work of a CNO in rural California is meaningful, offering the opportunity to see the direct impact of one's work, build relationships, and shape care across an entire community or region.

Requirements

Current Registered Nurse licensure or eligibility for California licensure
Progressive nursing leadership experience
Experience as a CNO, Vice President of Nursing, Chief Clinical Officer, Director of Nursing, or comparable senior leader
Strong knowledge of quality, patient safety, regulatory compliance, accreditation, infection prevention, and nursing operations
Experience leading teams through growth, transition, workforce shortages, organizational change, or operational instability
Experience developing nursing leaders and strengthening employee engagement and retention
The ability to lead effectively when staffing, specialty support, transportation, housing, or other resources may be limited
Experience with rural hospitals, Critical Access Hospitals, FQHCs, public hospital districts, tribal healthcare organizations, regional systems, long-term care providers, or community healthcare organizations
Experience supporting clinical services across multiple facilities or significant geographic distances may be valuable
A collaborative, visible, transparent, practical, and relationship-focused leadership style
The ability to relocate or travel regionally when required

Nice To Haves

A master's degree preferred or required for some opportunities
Relevant nursing leadership, quality, or healthcare executive certification may be preferred

Responsibilities

Providing strategic and operational leadership for nursing and clinical services
Supporting safe, high-quality, patient-centered, and community-focused care
Strengthening nursing culture, retention, employee engagement, and professional development
Developing, mentoring, and supporting nursing directors, managers, supervisors, and frontline teams
Overseeing staffing, scheduling, productivity, call coverage, and nursing workforce planning
Supporting recruitment, orientation, competency development, and succession planning
Supporting regulatory compliance, accreditation, credentialing, and survey readiness
Advancing quality improvement, infection prevention, and patient-safety initiatives
Monitoring nursing-sensitive indicators, patient outcomes, staffing performance, and clinical quality
Collaborating with executive leadership, medical staff, governing boards, tribal leadership, and regional partners
Supporting emergency, inpatient, outpatient, long-term care, maternal health, surgical, and community-based services as applicable
Helping maintain nursing coverage during vacancies, wildfire impacts, severe weather, transportation delays, or increased patient demand
Supporting nurses and clinical teams working across multiple facilities, clinics, tribal communities, or rural regions
Developing policies, procedures, workflows, standards of care, and documentation practices
Supporting telehealth, regional consultation, and coordination between local care, tribal health programs, and regional hospitals
Helping the organization respond to the evolving health needs of the communities and regions it serves
Building an environment where employees feel respected, accountable, connected, and proud of the care they provide