Chief Nursing Officer Jobs

About The Position

Requirements

• Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), or Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD) degree.
• Current, unrestricted Registered Nurse license in California.
• Current BLS, ACLS, and PALS certifications.
• ICS/NIMS training.
• At least five years of experience in patient care services management.
• Labor relations experience.
• Ability to work irregular hours, including after hours.
• Ability to meet the listed physical demands, including extensive standing and walking, handling and lifting patients, and lifting and carrying items weighing up to 20 pounds.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in another subject, such as an MBA or MPH.
• Public Health Nurse (PHN) qualification.
• Emergency management, emergency nursing, and leadership certifications.
• Critical Care nursing experience.
• Surgical Services experience.
• Skilled nursing experience.
• Prior experience as a Director of Nursing or Chief Nursing Officer.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and oversight for nursing services and assigned clinical departments.
• Establish nursing standards, policies, staffing practices, and operational priorities consistent with organizational goals.
• Maintain a visible and approachable leadership presence in clinical areas.
• Develop nursing leaders and strengthen accountability at director, manager, and frontline levels.
• Promote communication and collaboration among nursing, medical staff, ancillary departments, and administration.
• Evaluate nursing operations and identify opportunities to improve workflow, efficiency, staffing, and patient care.
• Monitor nursing-sensitive quality indicators, patient outcomes, safety events, and patient experience measures.
• Partner with Quality, Risk Management, Infection Prevention, Medical Staff, and other departments to identify and address improvement opportunities.
• Promote patient safety, clinical excellence, continuous improvement, and evidence-based nursing practice.
• Oversee emergency services and ensure systems support safe, timely evaluation, stabilization, treatment, and transfer of emergency patients.
• Ensure organizational compliance with EMTALA, including medical screening examinations, stabilizing treatment, appropriate transfers, acceptance of patients when required, documentation, and staff education.
• Collaborate on EMTALA policies, education, monitoring, and corrective-action processes.
• Lead nursing care for patients experiencing psychiatric and behavioral health emergencies, including assessment, safety precautions, crisis intervention, transfer, and coordination with behavioral health resources.
• Develop relationships with behavioral health providers, law enforcement, emergency medical services, county agencies, and other community partners involved in psychiatric emergency response.
• Provide executive nursing leadership for emergency preparedness and disaster response, and serve in an assigned Hospital Incident Command Systems leadership role when appropriate.
• Participate in development, implementation, testing, and evaluation of the hospital Emergency Operations Plan.
• Ensure nursing leaders and staff understand their emergency and disaster responsibilities.
• Collaborate with EMS, fire, law enforcement, public health, emergency management, healthcare coalition partners, and other agencies to strengthen regional emergency preparedness and response.
• Provide nursing leadership for communicable disease, infection prevention, community health, emergency preparedness, and public health response.
• Support disease surveillance, prevention, education, vaccination, and community health activities.
• Recruit, develop, mentor, and retain a qualified nursing workforce; support succession planning and leadership development.
• Establish expectations for performance, professionalism, teamwork, and accountability, and encourage ongoing learning and professional development.
• Help staff navigate organizational, technological, and operational changes and foster a respectful, informed, and supportive workplace.
• Develop and manage nursing budgets with executive and department leaders; monitor staffing, productivity, overtime, agency utilization, supplies, and other nursing-related expenses.
• Balance responsible resource stewardship with patient safety and quality-of-care requirements.
• Participate in capital planning, equipment selection, technology implementation, and clinical facility planning.
• Participate actively on the executive leadership team and translate organizational strategy into clinical goals and measurable results.
• Build effective relationships with medical staff, employees, patients, community agencies, first responders, and other stakeholders.
• Advocate for patients, clinical staff, and the healthcare needs of the community.
• Perform other duties as assigned.