Senior Director of Nursing, Emergency Services

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About Duke University Hospital

As the nurse leader for Emergency Services, the Senior Director for Emergency Services will provide oversight, coordination, and organization of clinical and administrative operations of designated employees and personnel activities to meet departmental, hospital, and health system objectives related to the provision of patient care. This role requires collaboration with physicians, senior administration, directors, and other professional colleagues to meet the healthcare environment’s diverse and continually changing challenges.

The senior director serves as a vital link between the mission and vision and the delivery of safe, patient and family-centered care that is compassionate, evidence-based, and provides the highest quality care.

Reporting dually to the Chief Nurse Officer and the Vice President for Emergency Services, the Senior Director of Nursing will oversee a fast‑paced ED’s clinical and administrative functions that treat more than 70,000 patients annually.

The Duke University Hospital Emergency Services is comprised of the Emergency Department, Duke Life Flight, Trauma Program, Clinical Transport, and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) Program.

The Duke University Hospital Emergency Department comprises 81 total beds, including 18 Pediatric beds/36 Adult Monitored beds/8 Psychiatric beds/11 Evaluation beds/3 Consult beds/4 Triage beds/1 Sexual Assault Examiner Room/ and a dedicated central telemetry station. The team is active in delivering exemplary care for each patient to ensure an excellent patient experience every time. The Senior Director of Nursing will lead a team of nurse leaders to create and maintain a healthy work environment that improves patient outcomes, retention, and organizational excellence.

Other responsibilities include:

• Provide direction to management staff within areas of responsibility, including supporting plan development, priority‑setting, decision‑making, and professional development of the team.
• Develop/monitor programs to facilitate meeting department, hospital, and health system goals. Responsible for developing and implementing quality improvement initiatives to ensure that patient care is continuously improving.
• Assume budgetary and fiscal accountability, managing resources and ensuring the department operates efficiently and effectively.
• Ensures effective communication and coordination of initiatives among various hospital councils, the nursing infrastructure, and other hospital medical staff committee councils and work groups. Responsible for leading and managing staff to ensure they are motivated, engaged, and performing at their best.
• Ensure a safe care environment for all staff, patients, and families.
• Ensure effective processes for staff development, recruitment, and retention.
• Develop and support a shared governance structure. Provide oversight and direction to clinical units in developing specialty practice councils. Assure staff participation in departmental and organized nursing structures.
• Responsible for developing and implementing policies and procedures that ensure the highest quality of patient care and compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Remain current with local trends and changes in nursing professional/practice in the health environment. Ensure department/staff meet TJC, NC Board of Nursing, and other regulatory/licensure requirements.
• Perform other related duties incidental to the work described herein.

Master’s degree required. Bachelor’s degree in Nursing required. Doctorate preferred.

Seven years of progressive nursing experience is required (Level 1 Hospital Emergency Services highly preferred), including at least 4 years of experience in a management role.

Must have current or compact RN licensure in the state of North Carolina.
BLS certification is required.
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