Assistant Director of Nursing

Description:

Job Description

Position Title: Assistant Director of Nursing

Department: Nursing Administration

Reports To: Director of Nursing

FLSA Status: Exempt

About Us:

Sonoma Specialty Hospital, as the county’s only Long\-Term Acute Care Hospital, is dedicated to caring for patients that require an extended acute care stay due to severe illness or catastrophic injury. We accept patients from the ICU, Step\-Down and Telemetry units of partner hospitals and continue their care for as long as 45 days. This care focuses on the challenges of getting patients off of ventilator support, healing severe wounds, aiding their recovery following surgical procedures, and providing rehabilitation to speed their return to daily life. Our Hospital provides ICU, Surgical, and Step\-Down care with dialysis, multi\-specialty therapies and ongoing planning for the patient’s transition back home or into a lower level of care. Please contact us with any questions, and welcome to Sonoma Specialty Hospital.

Job Summary:

Responsible for daily operations including planning, managing and evaluating all aspects of the program including faculty and staff, curriculum development and implementation, compliance with California Board of Registered Nursing rules and regulations. This position will oversee the operations of the Long Term Acute Care unit. The Assistant Director of Nursing performs the Director of Nursing duties in the absence of the Director.

Job Duties and Responsibilities (including but not limited to):

• The ADON acts as the direct liaison between the bedside staff and the Director of Nursing (DON).
• Conducts interdisciplinary rounds with physicians, case managers, and respiratory therapists to manage complex, high\-acuity patients (ventilator weaning, complex infectious disease, poly\-trauma).
• Ensures adherence to CMS, CDPH, DNV, state and federal survey agency standards specific to hospital\-level care.
• Responsible for LTRAX data entry and performs audits of medical records to ensure accuracy in MDS (Minimum Data Set) coding, criteria for continued stay, and physician documentation.
• Supervises House Supervisors, RNs, LVNs, tele techs and CNAs/Patient Care Technicians. Assigns patient acuity\-based assignments to ensure safe staffing ratios.
• Manages the daily staffing grid to ensure compliance with the hospital’s mandated nurse\-to\-patient ratios. Fills in for call\-offs when necessary.
• Coordinates the orientation of new graduate nurses and experienced hires with the clinical educator as needed.
• Conducts annual performance reviews, counsels staff regarding disciplinary issues and collaborates with HR on employee relations.
• Acts as the point person during state surveys, CMS audits, and accreditation surveys. Manages the Plan of Correction (PoC) for any deficiencies found during inspections.
• Often serves as or supports the Infection Preventionist. Monitors infection control surveillance, isolation protocols, and employee health compliance (flu shots, TB tests).
• Enforces life safety codes, fall prevention programs, and restraint reduction protocols.
• Provides bedside training on high\-acuity skills such as hemodynamic monitoring, tracheostomy care, ventilator alarms, and IV vasoactive drips.
• Coordinates mandatory in\-services as needed with the clinical educator.
• Ensure all nursing staff maintain current competencies and licenses.
• Reviews potential admissions to ensure they meet LTACH medical necessity criteria (e.g., requiring daily physician intervention and intensive nursing services not available in a SNF).
• Collaborates with case management to facilitate safe discharges, ensuring patients are appropriately transitioned to SNFs, home health, or hospice.
• Assists the DON in managing the nursing department budget, focusing on overtime reduction, agency staff utilization, and supply cost containment.
• Oversees the management of high\-cost clinical supplies (specialty beds, wound vacs, ventilator circuits).
• Investigates all incident reports (falls, medication errors, patient/family complaints) and implements corrective actions to prevent recurrence.

Supervisory Requirements:

This position supervises the LTAC and the clinical teams: Sitters, CNA’s, RN’s, LVN’s, Tele\-Techs, and Clinical Supervisors.

Requirements:

Education, Training and Licenses Required:

• Graduation from an accredited school of nursing.
• Current license by the California State Board of Nursing.
• Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing or related field preferred
• Master’s degree in nursing or related field preferred.
• Specific knowledge of the following is sought:
• a) Current theoretical approaches to delivering nursing care and strategies for examining and applying relevant concepts and
• b) Current leadership, management, and performance improvement concepts and the ability to participate in developing and implementing strategies to address opportunities for improving the nursing care delivered to patients.
• BLS and ACLS required.

Experience Preferred:

• 1 year of nursing management experience related to the job specification.
• Five or more years of acute care nursing experience, one of which is in critical or emergency care.

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities Required:

• Organizational ability to plan, implement, and evaluate activities of the Nursing Departments in relation to patient care and services.
• Cooperates with interdisciplinary staff to maintain a well\-organized facility.
• Adheres to professional decorum at all times.
• Willingness to accept direction from administrative team.
• Maintains tactful and cheerful relationships with patients, visitors, and staff.
• Must speak, read, write, and comprehend English.
• Must respect patient confidentiality. Math knowledge including algebra to evaluate statistical data and to make various computations in planning departmental operations and budget.
• Participates in In\-service Education programs.

Equipment Knowledge Required: Ability to understand functions of machines utilized in patient care for product evaluation and purchase. Ability to assist MD/RN with procedures. Ability to use office equipment and A.V. equipment with dexterity. Competency with the electronic documentation system must be obtained within 30 days of hire with full proficiency by 90 days of hire.

Working Conditions (Noise, Environmental, Demands, Shift, Setting, Human Interface, etc.):

Work is sedentary. Walking about office and to/from various hospital areas. Low noise level.

Safety Requirements:

Employees are responsible for all aspects of the hospital safety and health program including compliance with safety rules and regulations, remedying unsafe working conditions, and for continuously practicing safety while performing duties.

Physical Requirements:

While performing the duties of this job, the position is frequently required to do the following:

Stoop, kneel, crouch, reach, and stand for sustained period of time.

Walk, push, pull, lift, carry objects from a lower to higher position or horizontally from position to position or otherwise move objects.

Feel sizes, shapes, temperatures, and textures by touching with skin, particularly that of the fingertips.

Express or exchange ideas orally and potentially loudly, accurately, or quickly.

Perceive the nature of sound with no less than a 40 db loss @ 1000 Hz and 2000 Hz with or without correction.

Exert up to 50 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 20 pounds of force frequently.

Minimum standard of visual acuity with or without correction.

While worker may possibly be subjected to temperature changes, the worker is generally not substantially exposed to adverse environmental conditions as the work is predominantly inside.