Director of Nursing; Nursing; Naperville,IL

Director Of Nursing

The Director of Nursing (DON) is responsible for the overall leadership, management, coordination, and oversight of nursing and clinical services provided by the home nursing agency. The DON ensures that clients receive safe, appropriate, high-quality, and person-centered nursing care in accordance with physician/provider orders, individualized plans of care, agency policies, professional nursing standards, and applicable federal and Illinois requirements.

The Director of Nursing provides clinical leadership to the nursing department, supervises nursing personnel, oversees clinical competency and performance, supports new client admissions and case openings, monitors supervisory visits and documentation, and works collaboratively with Human Resources, Scheduling, Quality Assurance, and agency leadership to maintain appropriate staffing and continuity of care.

• Provide overall direction and leadership for the agency's home nursing services.
• Ensure nursing services are delivered safely, professionally, and according to each client's authorized plan of care and physician/provider orders.
• Establish and maintain appropriate standards of nursing practice.
• Provide clinical guidance and consultation to nursing supervisors, RNs, LPNs, and other clinical staff.
• Review significant changes in client condition and ensure appropriate clinical interventions, notifications, and follow-up.
• Promote client safety, dignity, independence, privacy, and quality of life.
• Serve as a clinical resource for complex cases and nursing concerns.

• Participate in or oversee the clinical admission process for new home nursing clients.
• Review referrals and available clinical information to determine whether the agency can safely meet the client's nursing needs.
• Ensure appropriate nursing assessments are completed before or at the initiation of services as required.
• Oversee development, implementation, review, and revision of individualized plans of care.
• Ensure nursing staff understand client-specific diagnoses, medications, treatments, precautions, equipment, emergency procedures, and physician orders before assuming independent responsibility for a case.
• Coordinate with clients, families, physicians/providers, hospitals, pharmacies, vendors, and other members of the healthcare team as appropriate.

• Ensure required supervisory visits are completed accurately and within established time frames.
• Conduct field supervisory visits when necessary.
• Assign qualified clinical supervisors to clients based on clinical needs, geographic coverage, and staff competency.
• Review supervisory visit findings and ensure identified concerns receive timely follow-up.
• Evaluate whether nursing services remain appropriate and whether changes to the client's plan of care are necessary.
• Ensure clinical concerns identified during field visits are communicated to appropriate leadership and healthcare providers.

• Establish and oversee nursing competency requirements.
• Ensure nurses complete required competency and skills evaluations before independently performing assigned clinical procedures.
• Coordinate initial and ongoing competency evaluations for nursing personnel.
• Verify competency for client-specific skills, which may include medication administration, enteral feeding, tracheostomy care, ventilator care, seizure management, oxygen administration, catheter care, wound care, and other authorized nursing procedures.
• Ensure competency documentation is completed and maintained appropriately.
• Identify nurses requiring additional education, retraining, supervision, or competency validation.

• Participate in clinical orientation for newly hired nurses.
• Ensure nursing employees receive appropriate general and client-specific training.
• Develop or approve clinical training materials, nursing protocols, and competency tools.
• Provide continuing education and clinical updates when changes occur in policies, procedures, regulations, or standards of practice.
• Identify educational needs through audits, incidents, supervisory visits, performance reviews, and clinical observations.

• Collaborate closely with Scheduling and Human Resources to maintain adequate nursing coverage.
• Assist in determining whether nurses are clinically appropriate for specific client assignments.
• Ensure nurses are assigned within their authorized scope of practice and demonstrated competencies.
• Address clinical staffing concerns that could affect client health or safety.
• Assist with emergency staffing and continuity-of-care planning when necessary.
• Work with Scheduling to minimize missed shifts and gaps in nursing coverage.
• Escalate significant staffing shortages or safety concerns to agency leadership.

• Ensure nursing documentation is complete, accurate, timely, and consistent with the client's plan of care.
• Review clinical records, nursing notes, assessments, supervisory documentation, medication records, treatment records, and other clinical documentation as required.
• Monitor documentation for…