About this role
Job Summary
The Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) provides executive leadership and strategic direction for nursing services and patient care throughout the organization. As a member of the executive team, the CNO is responsible for ensuring safe, high-quality, patient-centered care while developing a strong nursing and clinical culture built on accountability, teamwork, communication, professional growth, and continuous improvement. The CNO serves as the organizations executive nursing leader and works collaboratively with physicians, clinical leaders, administration, public health agencies, emergency response partners and staff to ensure nursing and clinical operations support the hospitals mission, strategic priorities, regulatory responsibilities, and the needs of the community.
Essential Functions
Nursing Leadership & Operations
- Provide leadership and oversight for nursing services and assigned clinical departments.
- Establish nursing standards, policies, staffing practices, and operational priorities consistent with organizational goals.
- Maintain a visible and approachable leadership presence throughout clinical areas.
- Develop nursing leaders and strengthen accountability at the director, manager, and frontline levels.
- Promote effective communication and collaboration among nursing, medical staff, ancillary departments, and administration.
- Evaluate nursing operations and identify opportunities to improve workflow, efficiency, staffing, and patient care.
Quality, Safety & Patient Experience
- Championing a culture of patient safety, clinical excellence, and continuous improvement
- Monitor nursing-sensitive quality indicators, patient outcomes, safety events, and patient experience measures.
- Partner with Quality, Risk Management, Infection Prevention, Medical Staff, and other departments to identify and address opportunities for improvement.
- Ensure nursing practice reflects current evidence-based standards and accepted professional practice.
- Promote an environment in which employees are encouraged to identify concerns, ask questions, learn from mistakes, and participate in improving care.
Emergency Service, EMTALA & Behavioral Health
- Provide executive nursing oversight of emergency services and ensure appropriate systems are maintained for the safe and timely evaluation, stabilization, treatment, and transfer of emergency patients.
- Ensure organizational compliance with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), including requirements related to medical screening examinations, stabilizing treatment, appropriate transfers, acceptance of patients when required, documentation, and staff education.
- Collaborate with the Medical Staff, Emergency Department leadership, Risk Management, and Administration to maintain EMTALA policies, education, monitoring, and corrective-action processes.
- Provide nursing leadership for the care of patients experiencing psychiatric and behavioral health emergencies.
- Ensure appropriate processes are maintained for emergency psychiatric assessment, patient safety, observation, suicide and violence risk precautions, crisis intervention, transfer, and coordination with behavioral health resources.
- Develop collaborative relationships with behavioral health providers, law enforcement, emergency medical services, county agencies, and other community partners involved in psychiatric emergency response.
Emergency Preparedness, ICS & Disaster Response
- Provide executive nursing leadership for organizational emergency preparedness and disaster response.
- Maintain working knowledge of the Incident Command System (ICS) and the hospitals emergency operations structure.
- Serve in an assigned Hospital Incident Command Systems leadership role during emergencies and disasters, as appropriate.
- Participate in the development, implementation, testing, and evaluation of the hospital Emergency Operations Plan.
- Ensure nursing leadership and staff understand their responsibilities during emergencies, disasters, evacuations, mass-casualty incidents, infectious disease events, utility failures, wildfires, and other community emergencies.
- Collaborate with EMS, fire law enforcement, public health, emergency management, healthcare coalition partners, and other community agencies to strengthen regional emergency preparedness and response capabilities.
Public Health & Community Health
- Provide nursing leadership in matters involving communicable disease, infection prevention, community health, emergency preparedness, and public health response.
- Support hospital activities related to disease surveillance, prevention, education, vaccination, and community health needs.
Workforce Development & Culture
- Recruit, develop, mentor, and retain a highly qualified nursing workforce.
- Support succession planning and leadership development within nursing.
- Establish clear expectations for performance, professionalism, teamwork, and accountability.
- Encourage curiosity, adaptability, lifelong learning, and professional development.
- Help staff successfully navigate organizational, technological, and operational changes.
- Foster a workplace culture in which employees feel respected, informed, supported, and responsible for the success of the organization.
Financial & Resource Management
- Develop and manage nursing budgets in collaboration with executive leadership and department leaders.
- Monitor staffing, productivity, overtime, agency utilization, supplies, and other nursing-related expenses.
- Balance responsible stewardship of organizational resources with patient safety and quality of care requirements.
- Participate in capital planning, equipment selection, technology implementation, and clinical facility planning.
Strategic Leadership
- Participate actively as a member of the executive leadership team.
- Translate organizational strategy into meaningful clinical goals and measurable results.
- Build effective relationships with medical staff, employees, patients, community agencies, first responders, and other stakeholders.
- Serve as an advocate for patients, clinical staff, and the healthcare needs of the community.
Non-Essential Functions
- Perform other duties as assigned
Functions Physical Requirements and Environmental Conditions
- Physically demanding, high-stress environment
- Exposure to blood and body fluids, communicable diseases, chemicals, radiation, and repetitive motions
- Pushing and pulling heavy objects
- Full range of body motion including handling and lifting patients
- Manual and finger dexterity
- Hand and eye coordination
- Standing and walking for extensive periods of time
- Lifting and carrying items weighing up to 20 lbs
- Corrected vision and hearing to within normal range
- Working under stressful conditions
- Working irregular hours including after hours
Qualifications
Education
- Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), or Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD) degree is required.
- Master’s in another subject such as an MBA or MPH is desirable.
License & Certification
- Current, unrestricted Registered Nurse license in California
- Public Health Nurse (PHN) preferred
- Current BLS, ACLS, and PALS required
- ICS/NIMS training
- Emergency management, emergency nursing, and leadership certifications preferred
- Minimum of five years’ experience in patient care services management required.
- Critical Care nursing, Surgical Services, Skilled nursing experience preferred.
- Prior experience as a Director of nursing or Chief Nursing Officer preferred.
- Labor relations experience required.