Title: Charge Nurse Permanent

Department: NICU - Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Hours of Work: Full-Time Position; Rotating Shifts

Pay Band: $44.81-$63.15

Union: ONA

Location: Kingston General Hospital Site

DESCRIPTION:

The Charge Nurse provides clinical leadership in the planning, implementation and evaluation of care for the (enter program) program clients in a manner consistent with the College of Nurses of Ontario standards of Professional Practice, the Regulated Health Profession Act and the Mission, Vision and Values of Kingston General Hospital.

Within this role the Charge RN is accountable for contributing to the delivery of the Kingston General Hospital strategy. As an employee, one must demonstrate an awareness of and be responsible for actively promoting and supporting patient and family centered engagement and care in all we do.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES:

Ensures safe, high-quality, patient & family centred care in the patient care area and supports continuity of care.

• Displays a genuine commitment to achieving patient- and family-centred care and exceptional patient and family experience, quality and safety outcomes

• Coordinates care and discharge planning and implementation within the interprofessional team and helps to identify, and address, any gaps in care

• Leads care planning rounds, as well as patient/family/caregiver education

• Ensures adherence to patient care protocols, clinical pathways, quality standards, best practices and patient care policies through observation, audit, feedback and coaching. (E.g. falls/delirium/pressure ulcer risk assessments and interventions, hand hygiene, patient mobilization, pain control, documentation, least restraints, frequent rounding, etc.)

• Ensures that standardized tools and processes for information sharing are used for transitions in care such as discharge, transfer, escalation of care through observation, audit, feedback and coaching (e.g. SBAR, discharge teaching/ “Teach Back”, etc.)

• Provides input into the development and revision of policies and directives

• Actively communicates and supports the goals and policies of the organization

• Cultivates a positive and caring environment for the patients wellbeing and for families

Takes primary responsibility for day-to-day resource utilization decisions and effective operations in the patient care area

• Directs nursing resources appropriately within the patient care area through creating assignments that take into account the patient’s complexity, acuity and needs**;** the nurse’s skill, competency and level of experience**;** and patient care area factors and resources (Three Factor Framework)

• Takes an organizational perspective for nursing/Patient Care Assistant resource allocation and patient flow decisions and collaborates with Managers, Operations Managers and other leaders to facilitate the assignment of resources based on prioritized need and competency

• Ensures Collective Agreements are followed and/or Managers are consulted for all staffing changes

• Ensures Patient Observation requests are reviewed daily for appropriateness and participates in discussions about safe alternative strategies

• Ensures necessary staffing, equipment and supplies required for patient care area operations are in place and communicates gaps and needs in a timely fashion to Manager or other MRP

• Ensures decisions reflect fiscal responsibility and effective resource management, in collaboration with the manager as needed

Creates a welcoming, professional, supportive, collaborative, patient-centred and healing environment in the patient care area for patients, families, and staff.

• Models and supports professional behavior and adherence to relevant standards and expectations within the interprofessional team such as commendable work ethic, respectful communication, limiting noise levels**,** and personal cell phone use

• Embraces patient-centred care by actively and purposefully partnering with patients and families, involving them in care, and treating all persons with dignity, compassion, and respect

• Ensures the patient care area is accessible for patients and families with language, communication, visual, hearing or mobility or physical barriers (e.g. ensuring patient or family has access to translation and interpretation services, etc.)

• Ensures that patients know their rights and responsibilities and participates in issue-resolution with patients and/or families in the patient care area. Involves others to address issue including Manager, Ethicist or other members of the interprofessional team as appropriate

• Acts as a trusted and fair mediator in the event of conflict between the patient, family and care team, or within the care team. Displays effective conflict resolution behaviours.

• Displays a genuine commitment for creating a positive and collegial workplace and contributing to positive morale

Takes a leadership role in developing highly skilled nurses in the patient care area

• Takes primary responsibility for mentoring nursing staff of all experience levels, from novice to expert, through observation, feedback and coaching and a genuine desire to enhance professional development

• Seeks opportunities to provide informal and formal positive feedback and recognition to team members in order to promote clinical excellence and desired individual and team-based behaviours

• Provides input into formal Performance Agreements for patient care area interprofessional staff

• Identifies education and training needs for nursing staff or interprofessional team and communicates to Manager or other MRP

Takes a leadership role in ensuring the highest level of patient, family and staff safety in the patient care area

• Ensures a clean and clutter-free environment

• Takes a proactive role and preventive approach to safety

• Ensures impeccable hand hygiene standards are met

• Ensures timely SAFE reports are completed for actual or near-miss events and participates in post-event debriefs/huddles and the implementation of recommendations arising from incident analyses

• Ensures interprofessional team use 2-patient identifiers with every patient interaction

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Eligible for registration with the College of Nurses of Ontario

• Baccalaureate degree in Nursing preferred

• Current annual certifications

• Related CNA Certification, specialty certification (if appropriate) from accredited program preferred

• Minimum 3 years’ experience in clinical specialty within past 5 years.

• Experience in leadership role (e.g., team; weekend charge; project)

• The ability to be a role model who displays excellent leadership, communication, problem solving, and interpersonal skills as part of the interdisciplinary team

• The ability to identify trends and patterns related to infection prevention and control

• Leadership within the practice of nursing and the interprofessional team

• Capacity to ease human suffering through compassionate, evidence based professional care giving

• Proficient clinical skills and sound decision making for coordinating care, optimizing patient care, and patient flow with consideration of human and fiscal resources

• The emotional well-being consistent within the expectations of registered nurses caring for and working with others

• The ability to embrace people from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds

• Commitment to lifelong learning

• Effective communication skills at all levels with an ability to defuse work related conflict issues

• Ability to support ‘best practice’ within the scope of nursing through utilizing evidenced based research

• Ability to advocate for patient-centred care, including the knowledge and facilitation of the patient/family complaint process

• Accountability to responsibilities as set out in Occupational Health & Safety Act. Compliance with KHSC policies and procedures specific to workplace conduct and reporting

• This job posting is subject to the provisions of the Attendance Management Policies. Please refer to the Attendance Management policies for more information (policies can be found on the KHSC Intranet site)

• Satisfactory criminal reference check and vulnerable sector search required.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

The physical demand will vary dependent on the specific unit or service. The incumbent will be required to meet the physical demands described for that unit of services.

KHSC is located on the ancestral lands and waters of the Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee and serves a wider geographical area that encompasses many Indigenous communities including Tyendinaga, Katarokwi, as well as communities within the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority. As we partner in care, discovery, and learning to achieve better health outcomes for our communities, KHSC is committed to actively advocating for and acting upon the Truth and Reconciliation Committee’s Calls to Action on Health.

KHSC is committed to recruitment practices that support and contribute to building a respectful, diverse and inclusive workplace. We welcome all applications from women, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples, persons in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and members of other equity deserving groups.

We thank all applicants, but only those selected for an interview will be contacted. Kingston Health Sciences Centre is committed to inclusive and accessible employment practices. If you require an accommodation to fully participate in the hiring process, please notify the Recruitment Team.