Job Description

The Nurse Manager assumes accountability and responsibility for translating the philosophy, objectives, policies and procedures of the Tufts Medical Center and nursing/patient care services into effective action.  Responsibility is centralized within six major areas:  leadership, clinical practice, professional development, strategic planning, and management of the environment and resource management. The Nurse Manager provides an environment, which supports and fosters the patient and family centered model of care.

PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

The Nurse Manager provides the leadership and the environment in which staff can develop and integrate their visions, ideas and passions about the practice of nursing. Together they will achieve high quality, effective, and efficient patient care.

LEADERSHIP:

• Serves as a high visibility leader, role model and professional mentor; represents a positive image of the unit/practice area to the organization
• Ensures excellence in quality, safety and regulatory requirements
• Ensures patient care delivery is safe, of high quality and is cost effective
• Manages systems in order to accomplish patient, unit, departmental and institutional goals
• Effectively defines and communicates a vision of excellence for the unit/practice area
• Creates opportunities for multidisciplinary forums in order to solve problems and facilitate planning
• Embraces the concept of change and leads staff through the change process
• Seeks opportunities to build working alliances with other professional groups
• Responsible for patient and family satisfaction
• Facilitates and promotes achievement of unit based/practice area goals in line with the medical center mission

CLINICAL PRACTICE DEVELOPMENT:

• Monitors and ensures excellence in the clinical practice of nursing and the delivery of patient care on unit/practice area
• Assures standards of care are consistently achieved on the unit/practice area
• Integrates the nursing service philosophy into all unit practices and programs
• Keeps current with literature regarding changing practices, interventions and research in patient care and health care delivery
• Utilizes a performance improvement process to assess the response to care from patients, families and others
• Develops and monitors systems that promote and support nursing practice
• Consults with patients and families in response to staff nurse requests, direct family requests and/or direct assessment of patient/family responses to hospitalization
• Interacts with staff nurses for the purpose of assessing the care provided and the nurses’ capabilities to provide care in changing circumstances

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:

• Creates an environment that supports and celebrates the professional growth of the nursing staff
• Communicates and consistently supports, by behavior, the philosophy and goals of the unit department and the hospital
• Seeks out opportunities for forums that will meet the professional and clinical goals of staff and self.
• Seeks guidance for appropriate resources in achieving unit and departmental goals.
• Demonstrates skill to identify and negotiate conflict.
• Participates on and provides leadership to departmental and hospital committee as requested.
• Creates an environment that fosters collaborative relationships.
• Ensures clinical competence of staff.
• Supports the ongoing development of staff through coaching, mentoring and role modeling.
• Promotes staff’s participation in unit and hospital committees.
• Creates a unit culture that values and supports ongoing inquiry and learning.
• Provides timely feedback and evaluation to staff through formal and informal forums.
• Provides appropriate education and opportunities for development of unlicensed personnel.

STRATEGIC PLANNING:

• Provides leadership in setting the direction of the unit and is responsive to changing internal and external factors
• Remains knowledgeable about external forces that are influencing health care and patient care management
• Utilizes relevant data and outcome measures in analysis and planning
• Develops unit goals and plans to respond to external and internal factors that affect the delivery of patient care
• Utilizes knowledge of patients, personnel and practice to plan initiatives that ensure positive patient outcomes in an effective and efficient manner
• Collaborates with other disciplines in practice initiatives to improve and maintain quality while managing costs
• Collaborates with other colleagues within the institution to insure the delivery of service to meets patient care needs
• Ensures all unit/practice area staff are trained and achieve medical center services standards

MANAGEMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Establishes and maintains relationships and open communication with departments which provide support services to the clinical area in order to insure the appropriate level of service at all times
• Develops and participates in creating systems that monitor operational activities.
• Consults with members of the Nurse Executive Group and/or other members of Senior Management when unable to resolve environmental issues in a timely manner
• Follows issues through until resolution occurs

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT:

• Promotes responsible, creative and efficient use of resources; adheres to budget
• The Nurse Manager is accountable for managing human, fiscal and other resources needed to support clinical nursing practice and positive patient outcomes
• On an ongoing basis, monitors and critically analyzes resource utilization of the unit
• Develops budget proposals based on the changing needs of the patient population and clinical programs
• Collaborates with physicians, hospital administrators, and other relevant groups on methods of delivering care
• Communicates with nursing staff on opportunities for expectations of cost-effective methods of delivering care
• Provides leadership in developing quality driven and cost-effective programs of care
• Selects unit staff and ensures that all members are competent to fulfill their assigned responsibilities. Overall responsibility for recruiting, staff retention, staff development and performance
• Adheres to appropriate staffing plan, accommodates to changing needs of the unit
• Utilizes knowledge of federal, state, hospital, unit and accreditation agencies standards, policies and procedures to direct patient care
• Ensures operational needs of the unit/practice area are met

Qualifications

• Must have BSN
• Must have demonstrated clinical competence in nursing practice.
• Demonstrate leadership qualities.
• Ability to work collaboratively with nurses, physicians and administrative colleagues.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Ability to navigate complex electronic clinical and administrative information systems and applications
• Strong commitment to the nursing profession.

AGE SPECIFIC COMPETENCIES:

• Knowledge of growth and development.
• Ability to interpret age specific data and response to care.
• Engaging in age appropriate communication.

Additional Information

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES STATEMENT:

Must be able to perform all essential functions of this position with reasonable accommodation if disabled.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed. They are not intended to be construed, as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of personnel so classified. Tufts Medical Center reserves the right to modify position duties at any time, to reflect process improvements and business necessity.

COVID-19 POLICY:

Please note that effective October 1, 2021, as a condition of employment at Tufts Medical Center, all employees and new hires must have received their complete dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, unless they have been granted an exemption.