POSITION PURPOSE 

The Nurse Leader is a licensed registered nurse (RN) accountable for leading, managing & advancing people, processes & / or programs that support direct or indirect patient care.  The NL promotes & advocates for patients, nurses / colleagues & the practice of nursing as defined by clinical area(s) of expertise & assignment.  

FUNCTIONAL ROLE    

Provides operations & / or optimization leadership to professional & / or frontline staff, supervisors & / or managers; Retains accountability for staff coordination, training, hiring, performance, regulatory compliance & results of assigned department(s); Develops departmental plans, including organizational priorities; Controls resources, effectiveness & policy formation in area of responsibility; Collaborates with larger teams of health professionals to plan for long-term patient care needs.  

• Operations-focus: Directly manages department(s) / service line; Decisions are guided by resource availability as informed by operational need, functional objectives & clinical drivers of department; Responsible for driving outcomes through the daily management of resources; Primarily patient facing  

• Optimization-focus (advance, improve, enhance, leverage): Manages indirect or patient care department / program; Priorities are guided by the operational & clinical needs of patient care areas; Develops plans in concert with Nursing Operations Managers in support of the department functional objectives & clinical drivers where support is assigned.   

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS 

• Knows, understands, incorporates, and demonstrates the Trinity Health and MercyOne Mission, Vision, and Values in behaviors, practices, and decisions. 

• Our Trinity Health Culture: Knows, understands, incorporates & demonstrates our Trinity Health Mission, Values, Vision, Actions & Promise in behaviors, practices & decisions.  

• Professional Nursing Practice: Acts independently & appropriately within license, scope of knowledge & experience in practice area.  Supports safety by adhering to standards & acting as a champion role model.  Accountable for personal learning & development by participating in knowledge, skill & competency enhancing activities.   

• Professional Nursing Process: Knows, understands, incorporates & demonstrates (document, teach, coordinate, advocate) standard elements of professional practice: Assess, Diagnose, Outcomes Identification / Solutions, Plan, Implement, Evaluate (ANA); Participates in the development of clinical standards that are collaborative, collegial & supported by current & relevant evidence-based practices, science, trends & data (clinical & administrative) & patient care (AONL).   

• Professional Leadership Practice: Inspires team to embrace the organization’s Mission, Values & Vision; Cultivates excellence by supporting growth & development of team; Advocates for continuous development with focus on mentoring & succession planning; Engages & fosters transpersonal teaching & learning in the context of the caring relationship; Embraces & encourages humanistic-altruistic values & behaviors; Advances nurses & others in the provision of quality-focused, patient-centered & relationship-based healthcare; Utilizes transformational leadership principles (Magnet); Leads team effectively through change, recognizing reach beyond nursing to include broader healthcare implications; Embraces ideas & cultural differences while managing complex or competing priorities; Enhances a culturally proficient work team through respect, dialogue & inclusion.  

• Professional Leadership Process: Provides leadership & retains accountability for delegation, choices, decisions & outcomes; Collaborates with key stakeholders & contributes to quality & improvement practices; Empowers staff to creatively problem-solve through the caring process (Caritas); Enhances an environment that prioritizes patient & colleague safety utilizing established & evidence-based practices, tools, methodologies; Drives effective patient, process, performance & stewardship / financial outcomes as measured by established metrics & trended data; Exhibits agility & willingness to take on new & additional responsibilities.   

• Environment of Care: Facilitates a healing environment, reverentially encouraging and supporting basic needs as sacred acts, sustaining human dignity; Practices in an environmentally safe, professional manner; Values &  advocates for the patient’s cultural beliefs & faith; Monitors & initiates corrections or evidence-based practices; Promotes optimum physical & psychological behaviors; Influences effective, judicious & financially responsible use of resources (people, equipment, supplies, materials).   

• Colleague Experience & Well-being: Fosters a continuous learning & development environment; stimulates & adopts innovative practices; Cultivates caring by encouraging a work environment that is respectful of colleague well-being; Understands & embraces change through the active encouragement of innovation & provisioning teams with tools & resources necessary for successful transformation; Leads others through change process.  

• Compassion & Communication: Incorporates colleague well-being dimensions throughout the colleague experience as an essential component of leading nursing practices; Actively participates in building community by fostering trusting relationships; Visible and accessible to the team; Facilitates development of interpersonal relationships & use of effective & respectful written, verbal & nonverbal communications; Demonstrates authentic listening by forgiving & accepting positive & negative feelings; Encourages & models communication that respects diversity & divergent opinions; Employs communication strategies that shows the value of patient & family participation in care.   

• Maintains a Working Knowledge of applicable federal, state & local laws / regulations, Trinity Health Integrity & Compliance Program & Code of Conduct, as well as other policies, procedures & guidelines in order to ensure adherence in a manner that reflects honest, ethical & professional behavior & safe work practices.  

• Other duties as needed and assigned by the manager. 

• Maintains a working knowledge of applicable Federal, State, and local laws and regulations, Trinity Health’s Organizational Integrity Program, Standards of Conduct, as well as other Trinity Health and MercyOne policies and procedures in order to ensure adherence in a manner that reflects honest, ethical, and professional behavior.