Position Summary:

Assists the Director of Nursing to direct and coordinate resident care activities for this facility to maintain standards of residents’ care, and advises medical staff, department heads, and administrators in matters related to nursing services by performing the following duties personally or through subordinate supervisors; assists the Director of Nursing in directing the activities of licensed and non-licensed personnel who provide healthcare and nursing service to the residents of the facility on a 24-hour, 7 day per week basis; directs and coordinates infection control program for the facility including Antibiotic Stewardship efforts; coordinates focused training and competency checks for nursing staff.

Summary of Duties:

• The Assistant Director of Nursing Services reports to the Director of Nursing Services
• Reporting to this position are Registered Nurses (RNs), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), Certified Medication Aides (CMAs), Certified Nurse Aides (CNAs), Restorative Aides (RAs), Nutritional Assistants
• The Assistant Director of Nursing Services compliments the Director of Nursing Services in planning, developing, and supervising the activities of licensed and non-licensed personnel who provide healthcare and nursing services to residents of the facility
• This position assists with the development and implementation of nursing services, objectives, and policies and procedures in accordance with Federal and State regulations
• The incumbent shares, with the Director of Nursing Services, the responsibility for selecting Nursing Department staff, completing employee appraisals, and resolving problems involving employee disciplinary action
• The Assistant Director of Nursing Services shares responsibility for backing up RN staff on a 24-hour per day, 7 day per week basis
• The Assistant Director of Nursing Services may confer with residents’ physicians on an occasional basis to clarify medical orders and direct care
• In the absence of the Director of Nursing Services, the Assistant Director of Nursing Services performs the duties of the Director of Nursing

Supervision:

The Director of Nursing is under the direct supervision of the facility’s Director of Nursing

Assist in managing all of facility nursing staff

Assist in overall direction, coordination, and evaluation of all nursing department

Carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with facility policies and applicable laws

Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, and training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance, rewarding and disciplining nursing employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems

Qualifications and Position Requirements:

The desired minimum requirements necessary to effectively perform position responsibilities include graduation from an accredited School of Nursing; three years of responsible nursing experience, preferably in a long-term care facility; excellent management skills or an acceptable equivalent combination of education and experience, and the ability to communicate in English both orally and in writing, to complete required Nursing Department documentation, and respect for the principles of resident rights, confidentiality, EEO and ADA.

Required Competencies:

• Analytical
• Managing People
• Cost Consciousness
• Organizational
• Motivation
• Planning/Organizing
• Visionary Leadership
• Initiative
• Innovation
• Delegation
• Quality Management
• Technical skills
• Supportive
• Customer service
• Professionalism
• Teamwork
• Attendance/Punctuality
• Leadership
• Project Management
• Diversity
• Strategic Thinking
• Interpersonal Skills
• Written Communications
• Safety and Security
• Dependability
• Problem Solving
• Business Acumen
• Ethics
• Judgment
• Oral Communication
• Quality
• Adaptability
• Change Management

Other Training, Skills and Experience Recommendations:

Computer skills, knowledge of medical terminology, dementia training.  Employee must demonstrate on an ongoing basis the ability to develop and maintain good working relationships with co-workers and other departments.

Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete and abstract variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form

Ability to consistently perform root-cause analysis in problem solving

Essential Functions (with or without reasonable accommodations):

The duties and responsibilities included under the essential functions listing have been determined by management to be essential to the successful performance of this position.  However, this listing may not be inclusive of all the duties and responsibilities that may be required.  The omission or exclusion of duties and responsibilities from this description does not infer that the designated employee will not be required to perform additional job-specific duties if the work is similar, related or becomes an essential function of this position.

• Recommends establishment or revision of policies, procedures, and methods and develops organizational structure and standards of performance
• Advises and assists Director of Nursing, and medical staff in planning and developing nursing administrative and operational policies and procedures, facilities use and planning, and strategic planning for the nursing department
• Coordinates implementation of methods and procedures to ensure achievement of objectives
• Coordinates, integrates, and evaluates functions and activities of nursing program
• Consults with Director of Nursing, other department heads, and others to coordinate nursing activities with other facility activities
• Interprets policies and objectives of nursing service to staff and community groups
• Analyzes and evaluates overall resident care program
• Confers with managers and staff concerning problems of resident care
• Evaluates the education and training needs of personnel and directs development and implementation of in-service programs through nursing staff
• Makes periodic rounds of resident care units
• Develops and promotes cooperative working relationships with hospitals and community agencies, and with other departments
• Assists in the preparation and monitoring of nursing services budget
• Performs personnel management functions such as establishing personnel qualification requirements, drafting procedure manuals, initiating in-service programs, and installing record and reporting systems
• Initiates studies to evaluate effectiveness of nursing services in relation to their objectives and costs
• Prepares periodic reports concerning resident care service
• Facilitates a working relationship with institutions of higher learning
• Oversees the clinical operations (i.e., monitoring resident conditions, psychopharmacological drugs, restraint use, Foley catheters, pressure ulcers, etc.) of the Nursing Department
• Assists the Director of Nursing Services in the design, implementation, and evaluation of nursing systems that ensure consistent delivery of care and maintains and promotes resident rights
• Conducts nursing rounds on all units several times per day, including the beginning and end of each working shift
• Works at least one shift per month on each shift to ensure full understanding of challenges of job performance related to shift differences
• Provides reports/recommendations as needed/required for the Director of Nursing Services concerning the operation of the Nursing Department
• Assists the Director of Nursing Services in the development, implementation, and evaluation of facility policies, procedures and guidelines on an annual and ongoing basis (i.e., nursing, pharmacy, lab, physicians, medical records, etc.)
• In the absence or at the request of the Director of Nursing Services, conducts staff meetings
• Assists the Director of Nursing Services in ensuring that residents are free from abuse, mistreatment, and neglect
• Assists the Director of Nursing Services in ensuring nursing staff awareness and compliance with Federal and State regulation relative to resident rights issues
• Assists in nursing administrative functions as assigned by the Director of Nursing
• Assists the facility training initiatives for all staff, to include General Orientation, required in-service training, clinical training for the nursing department, INTERACT training, Hand-in-Hand training and staff competency skills fairs
• Assists the Director of Nursing Services in the development and implementation of the Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) program
• Serves as the Infection Control Preventionist/Practitioner and Coordinator for the facility by performing the following duties:
  • Compares laboratory reports with communicable diseases list to identify conditions that require infection control procedures
  • Advises and consults with physicians, nurses, and facility personnel concerning precautions to be taken to protect residents, staff, and other persons from possible contamination or infection
  • Performs surveillance and tracking and trending of all infections to determine causal factors for trends in infections within the facility
  • Investigates infection control problems and arranges for follow-up care for persons exposed to infection or disease
  • Instructs facility personnel in universal and specific infection control procedures
  • Ensures resident and staff immunizations are done and recorded per regulatory requirements
• Must consistently display and model the facility behavior models

Physical and Emotional Requirements:

The employee must be able:

• To move intermittently throughout the work day
• See, hear or use prosthetic devices to enable use of the senses adequately
• Assist with the evacuation of elders if necessary
• Sits, bend, stoop, for extended periods of time
• Dexterity of hands and fingers to operate equipment
• Speak English language in an understandable manner
• Able to cope with mental and emotional stress of position
• Function independently and have flexibility, personal integrity, and ability to work effectively with elders, family members, personnel and support agencies
• Be in good general health and demonstrate emotional stability
• Able to relate to and work with ill, disabled, emotionally upset and at times, hostile people within the facility
• Sits, stand, bend, stoop lifts & moves for extended periods of time
• Dexterity of hands and fingers to operate equipment
• Subject to frequent interruptions
• Involved with elders, personnel, visitors, government agencies/personnel under all conditions and circumstances
• Subject to hostile and emotionally upset elders, family members, personnel and visitors
• Communicates with medical staff, nursing personnel and other department supervisors
• Works beyond normal working hours and in other positions temporarily when necessary
• Ability to lift, move, push or pull a minimum of fifty (50) pounds

Work Environment:

• The primary work environment is throughout the facility and at times the work is stressful
• The employee may be exposed to blood, body fluids, infectious diseases and air contaminants
• The employee may be subject to work call-back during times of facility emergency or disaster preparedness functions
• This is an extremely sedentary position where the employee is required to sit for prolonged periods of time
• Employee is able to sit and stand as tolerated
• Employee must be organized and detail-oriented
• Employee may be requested to perform other duties or tasks that are not listed, but are within the competence and training of the individual

Summary of Occupational Exposures:

Bloodborne Pathogens:

Tasks and procedures performed by employee involve risks classified by CDC as: Category III (Task/activity does not entail predictable or unpredictable exposure to blood.)

Specific Task Exposure:

• General Elder Care: Blood, urine, feces, vomitus, wound exudates, semen/vaginal secretions other body fluids-cerebrospinal, synovial, pleural, peritoneal, pericardial
• Handling soiled linens and clothing: Blood, urine, feces, vomitus, wound exudates, semen/vaginal secretions, other body fluids-cerebrospinal, synovial, pleural, peritoneal, pericardial
• Cleaning elder rooms and common areas-Blood, urine, feces, vomitus, wound exudates, semen/vaginal secretions
• Refer to Exposure Control Plan for additional information

Confidentiality of Information:

• The employee in this position may not disclose any record (via any media format, known or unknown
• May not disclose any elder or facility information, any system log-in codes or password assigned or permit any unauthorized access to elder/resident or facility information without express written consent of the facility management

Fair Labor Standards Act:

This facility’s compensation for this position exceeds the mandates of the Fair Labor Standards Act and as such this position is exempt from overtime coverage

Position Acknowledgement:

By accepting this position, the employee agrees to perform the tasks outlined in this job description, as well as other tasks that may become necessary to the position.  Failure to perform the duties in a safe and professional manner and in accordance with the facility established policies and procedures may result in disciplinary action including termination of employment.  The employee will receive a copy of this job description and a signed copy will be placed in the employee’s personnel employment file.