Director of Nursing

General Purpose

Define the roles and responsibilities of the Director of Nursing (DON). The DON is a registered nurse who oversees and supervises the care of all the residents. The DON also provides direct resident/patient care.

• Overall management of the entire nursing department and staffing levels.
• Develop and implement nursing policies and procedures and ensure compliance.
• Responsible for ensuring resident safety and that all residents are treated with utmost respect.
• Develop and conduct in-services for the clinical staff.
• Responsible for the recruiting, hiring and training of nursing staff.
• Coordinates pharmacy services and destruction of expired/discontinued medication.
• Liaison between the facility, physicians and family members.
• Being a witness at a trial in the event of litigation.
• Work closely with all other departments to ensure excellent overall resident care.
• Responsible for department budgeting and reporting.
• Responsible for keeping current on any regulation changes and disseminating this information appropriately.
• Participate in QA, Utilization Review and Patient Care conferences.
• Actively participate in and assist with all state surveys and required follow-up activity.
• Coordinate MDS and care planning.
• Conduct employee appraisals and resolve problems including disciplinary actions and terminations.
• Must maintain employee and resident/patient confidentiality at all times.
• Provide direct/hands-on resident/patient care as needed.

Based on experience.

Define the roles and responsibilities of the Director of Nursing (DON). The DON is a registered nurse who oversees and supervises the care of all the residents. The DON also provides direct resident/patient care.

• Overall management of the entire nursing department and staffing levels.
• Develop and implement nursing policies and procedures and ensure compliance.
• Responsible for ensuring resident safety and that all residents are treated with utmost respect.
• Develop and conduct in-services for the clinical staff.
• Responsible for the recruiting, hiring and training of nursing staff.
• Coordinates pharmacy services and destruction of expired/discontinued medication.
• Liaison between the facility, physicians and family members.
• Being a witness at a trial in the event of litigation.
• Work closely with all other departments to ensure excellent overall resident care.
• Responsible for department budgeting and reporting.
• Responsible for keeping current on any regulation changes and disseminating this information appropriately.
• Participate in QA, Utilization Review and Patient Care conferences.
• Actively participate in and assist with all state surveys and required follow-up activity.
• Coordinate MDS and care planning.
• Conduct employee appraisals and resolve problems including disciplinary actions and terminations.
  
  Must maintain employee and resident/patient confidentiality at all times.
• Provide direct/hands-on resident/patient care as needed.

The Director of Nursing is responsible for supervising and managing the ADON, and entire nursing staff either directly or indirectly.

Minimum requirements to perform this position include:
Graduation from an Accredited School of Nursing with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing, preferred (BSN). Must be in good standing with the State Board of Nursing and maintain all required continuing education/licensing requirements at all times. Minimum of 7 years nurse management experience preferred.

Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations. Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from managers and employees. Mathematical Skills Ability to apply concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios and proportions to practical situations.

Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished…