Director of Nursing

Apex Recovery LLC (TN) • Columbia, TN

1d

About The Position

The Director of Nursing (DON) – Behavioral Health provides strategic and operational leadership for nursing services across multiple facilities within Apex Recovery. This role is responsible for ensuring the delivery of high-quality, patient-centered care while maintaining compliance with all regulatory, licensing, and accreditation standards.
This position will initially oversee two behavioral health locations, with a third facility scheduled to open in October 2026. The ideal candidate will bring strong leadership, scalability, and operational expertise to support growth, standardization, and clinical excellence across all sites.
The DON will work closely with executive leadership, facility administrators, medical providers, and interdisciplinary teams to improve patient outcomes, strengthen nursing operations, and build a high-performing nursing culture.

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) required
• Active Registered Nurse (RN) license in good standing
• 7+ years of progressive nursing leadership experience
• Behavioral health, psychiatric, detox, or substance use treatment experience required
• Proven ability to scale nursing operations across multiple locations
• Strong knowledge of staffing models, workforce planning, and scheduling optimization
• Strategic thinker with strong operational execution skills
• Ability to lead through influence across geographically dispersed teams
• Excellent communication, coaching, and relationship-building skills
• Data-driven decision-making and performance management
• High emotional intelligence, adaptability, and resilience
• Strong regulatory knowledge and survey readiness expertise

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree (MSN, MHA, MBA, or related field) preferred
• Multi-state license or ability to obtain preferred
• Multi-site, regional, or system-level leadership experience strongly preferred
• Experience supporting facility openings, expansions, or integrations preferred

Responsibilities

• Provide oversight of nursing practice across multiple behavioral health facilities, including inpatient, residential, and/or outpatient settings.
• Ensure delivery of safe, effective, evidence-based care for mental health and substance use disorder populations.
• Establish, monitor, and improve clinical quality indicators, patient outcomes, and nursing performance metrics.
• Standardize nursing protocols, workflows, policies, and procedures across all locations.
• Promote a culture of patient safety, accountability, service excellence, and continuous improvement.
• Support therapeutic, trauma-informed, and patient-centered care practices.
• Provide direct leadership support to two current facilities and lead onboarding/integration of a third site opening in October 2026.
• Mentor and support facility-level nursing leaders, charge nurses, and department managers.
• Conduct routine site visits to ensure consistency in care delivery, policy adherence, and operational excellence.
• Collaborate with operations leadership to optimize staffing models, schedules, productivity, and patient flow.
• Oversee staff scheduling practices to ensure proper coverage, skill mix, and alignment with census and acuity.
• Implement scheduling best practices that balance patient care quality, employee satisfaction, and labor efficiency.
• Lead nursing readiness for new site openings, including staffing plans, orientation, training, and process implementation.
• Ensure compliance with all federal, state, and local regulations, as well as accreditation standards (Joint Commission, CARF, etc.).
• Lead survey readiness efforts and participate in audits, inspections, and corrective action planning.
• Oversee incident reporting, risk management, medication safety, and follow-up actions.
• Maintain accurate documentation standards and ensure adherence to clinical policies.
• Recruit, develop, and retain high-performing nursing leaders and staff.
• Provide coaching, mentorship, and succession planning for nursing leadership roles.
• Foster a collaborative, accountable, and engaged nursing culture across all locations.
• Support ongoing education, competency validation, training, and professional development initiatives.
• Promote employee engagement and retention strategies across the nursing department.
• Partner with finance and operations leaders to manage labor budgets and control staffing costs.
• Utilize scheduling, productivity, and workforce data to improve labor optimization and cost management.
• Contribute to strategic planning, growth initiatives, and operational expansion efforts.
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency while maintaining high standards of patient care and compliance.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Number of Employees: 1-10 employees