Improvement Advisor- RN

Sanford Health • Fargo, ND

9d • Onsite

About The Position

Sanford Health, the largest rural health system in the United States, is dedicated to transforming the health care experience and providing access to world-class health care in America’s heartland. The Fargo Quality & Safety team is a collaborative, high-performing group dedicated to improving patient outcomes, advancing safety, and supporting a culture of high reliability. We value inclusivity, innovation, and work-life balance while creating an environment where team members can grow professionally and make a meaningful impact. This Improvement Advisor role is ideal for a clinically experienced professional who can bridge the gap between frontline caregivers, physicians, operational leaders, and quality teams. We are seeking someone with the clinical knowledge and credibility to understand the realities of patient care, build strong relationships, and translate quality and safety priorities into meaningful improvements at the bedside. A key focus of this position will be advancing surgical quality and safety initiatives in partnership with surgeons, perioperative leaders, and clinical teams. The successful candidate will help drive performance improvement efforts, support regulatory and accreditation requirements, and advance outcomes that improve the care experience for surgical patients. As an Improvement Advisor, you will collaborate with stakeholders across the Fargo region and Sanford enterprise, serve as an influential change agent, and gain broad exposure to healthcare operations. This role offers exceptional opportunities for personal and professional growth while helping shape the future of quality and patient safety. The Improvement Advisor works with leadership to organize, assist, and coordinate planning and implementation of systematic, organization-wide approaches to improving outcomes. The Improvement Advisor will support corporate and local strategic plans that achieve high impact and significant improvements in organizational performance by providing oversight to performance improvement components and activities. The advisor must have demonstrated ability in problem solving, critical thinking, conflict management, and team building skills in order to ensure a productive work environment and achievement of goals.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree required. In lieu of education, leadership may consider an Associate’s degree and 5 years of applicable experience.
• If a licensed registered nurse (RN), currently hold an unencumbered RN license with the State Board of Nursing where the practice of nursing is occurring and/or possess multistate licensure if in a Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) state.
• Obtains and subsequently maintains required department specific competencies and certifications.

Nice To Haves

• If degree is in nursing, graduate from a nationally accredited nursing program preferred, including, but not limited to, Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN), and National League for Nursing Commission for Nursing Education Accreditation (NLN CNEA).
• Minimum of two years experience in operational process improvement, clinical, or healthcare management setting preferred.
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) or equivalent preferred.
• Familiarity with the basic tools of robust process improvement, work process redesign, or re-engineering.
• Knowledge of medicine and medical terminology.
• Ability to work with minimal supervision.

Responsibilities

• Organize, assist, and coordinate planning and implementation of systematic, organization-wide approaches to improving outcomes.
• Support corporate and local strategic plans that achieve high impact and significant improvements in organizational performance by providing oversight to performance improvement components and activities.
• Data and project management, analytical reasoning, interpreting and evaluation of complex information, identifying patterns and essential issues, while measuring and evaluating the attainment of results.
• Utilize and teach process improvement methodologies to support informed decision making for operational efficiencies and effectiveness that align with system strategies.
• Serve as communication link and resource person regarding performance improvement and patient safety for departments and management throughout the organization.
• Understand and communicate quality and safety priorities as they relate to high reliability and value based care.
• Analyze data to identify areas of opportunity for improvement efforts.
• Write and verbally communicate in a legible and understandable manner.
• Make independent and timely decisions when circumstances warrant.
• Demonstrate interpersonal skills, such as interacting effectively with other health care professionals, physicians, upper-level management, regulatory agency staff, and the general public.

Benefits

• Quality improvement/assurance personnel with nursing backgrounds can maintain their license without seeking additional hours based on role’s responsibilities.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level