Nursing Program Leader - Level 1 Trauma - Department of Surgery

University of Iowa•Iowa City, IA

About The Position

The Nursing Program Leader provides strategic, system-level leadership for specialized trauma and burn services, advancing nursing practice and ensuring high-quality patient care across programs verified by the American College of Surgeons and the American Burn Association. This role directs multidisciplinary collaboration to develop and implement evidence-based guidelines, supports research through expert consultation and trauma/burn registry data, and delivers specialized education to internal teams, external partners, and statewide emergency care systems. Responsibilities include coordinating major program site visits, evaluating clinical technologies, mentoring students across disciplines, and representing the organization in regional, state, and national trauma system initiatives. The position also leads quality improvement efforts in partnership with medical leadership, ensures regulatory and policy compliance, and oversees human resource functions such as creating new roles, supervising performance, and managing all aspects of the trauma/burn registry and associated personnel.

Requirements

Master’s degree in Nursing
3+ years of nursing experience in a Trauma-based setting.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to manage small and large group interaction.
Demonstrated exceptional organizational skills, showing ability to handle multiple tasks, establish priorities and the ability to meet tight deadlines in situations both complex and sensitive in nature.
Recent experience using an electronic medical record. Experience with Epic desired.
Demonstrated knowledge of incorporating evidence-based practice techniques in health care.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (e.g., Word, Power Point, Outlook). Advanced skill in Excel.

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated ability to work independently and be self-directed including time management, accuracy, and communication.
Experience with data management systems and familiarity with clinical data analysis and reporting.
1-year experience in public speaking, technical writing, training presentations, and/or teaching.
Knowledge of University and Regent policies, procedures, and regulations

Responsibilities

Provide leadership for nursing practice and patient care at the service line, division, or departmental level.
Ensure programs meet and maintain verification standards from the American College of Surgeons and the American Burn Association.
Lead, organize, and manage extensive site visits for each program every three years.
Assure standards of care and staff competency across trauma and burn services.
Oversight of the trauma and burn programs including registry, quality and performance improvement programs.
Development and implementation of clinical protocols and practice management guidelines
Supervise data collection, coding, scoring and validation, reporting and analysis to ensure that the data drives all aspects of the trauma program (e.g. clinical care, research, benchmarking, performance improvement and finances)
Work with multidisciplinary teams and administration to assure that the trauma and burn programs meet criteria and remain verified by The American College of Surgeons and The American Burn Association.
Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to develop, evaluate, and implement evidence-based best practices for trauma and burn patients.
Mentor students across multiple healthcare disciplines.
Guide development and implementation of multidisciplinary clinical guidelines through ongoing program and patient evaluation.
Lead evaluation and implementation of clinical technologies that support patient care.
Work with multiple disciplines including nursing to support evidence based best practices for our patients.
Participate and provide expertise, support and data from the trauma/burn registry to researchers from many different disciplines.
Provide expert-level specialty education to healthcare staff, students, residents, and external partners.
Educate and engage multidisciplinary hospital personnel, partner hospitals, EMS providers, and stakeholders in Iowa’s Trauma System.
Partner with EMSLRC to provide TNCC courses internally and regionally.
Coordinate Resource variable Trauma Team Development Courses (RTTDC) at referral hospitals.
Participate in statewide trauma system initiatives, including but not limited to the State Trauma Coordinator’s Council, System Evaluation Quality Improvement, Trauma Registry activities, Injury Prevention, and serving as a site reviewer for hospital verifications.
Contribute to education, professional development, and the advancement of emergency/trauma nursing initiatives on a national level. This could be through membership of an organization (i.e., Society of Trauma Nurses), attending/presenting at meetings and conferences, etc.
Ensure staff involved in the care of injured patients meet educational requirements of the trauma and burn program.
Plan, coordinate and evaluate trauma/burn related educational programs for nursing orientation and ongoing educational needs for nursing staff.
Direct the trauma program’s community trauma education and injury prevention efforts, aligning with local, regional and national resources, programs and initiatives.
Provide communication, education, expertise and feedback to a variety of audiences including in hospital multidisciplinary personnel and referring facilities, EMS providers and other stakeholders in Iowa's Trauma System.
Foster interprofessional education by utilizing internal and external resources and programs (i.e., ATLS, TNCC, RTTDC, TCAR, ATC).
Apply expert knowledge of compliance standards to ensure adherence to internal policies and external regulatory requirements.
Co-lead development, implementation, and ongoing evaluation of quality improvement plans in partnership with nursing and medical leadership.
Drive program evaluation and lead system-level changes to support optimal patient outcomes.
Monitor and maintain compliance with the American College of Surgeons verification standards as published in the current edition of the Resources for the Optimal Care of the Injured Patient and the Standards published by the American Burn Association.
Serve as a liaison with administration, representing the trauma/burn program on interal/hospital committees and workgroups.
Collaborate with both the Trauma and Burn medical directors to provide the leadership & support for program evaluation and participate in implementing/disseminating needed changes in practice.
Use expert knowledge to supervise care delivery and provide evaluative feedback to nursing staff, students, and residents.
Develop new program roles in response to evolving needs, including Trauma PI Coordinator, Injury Prevention/Outreach Coordinator, and Research Scientist positions.
Manage staffing, performance evaluation, and adherence to institutional policies.
Oversee the Trauma and Burn Registries, including registrar personnel, software systems, vendor contracts, and benchmarking program requirements.
Develop and monitor the orientation process for all trauma program staff to attain and maintain all organizational and trauma accreditation, designation and verification requirements and job specific functions
Measure overall performance of trauma program staff (annually and ad hoc)
Evaluate financial needs of the trauma program and work with administration to maintain fiscal responsibility and adherence to verification standards.