Assistant Director of Nursing

Job Title; Assistant Director of Nursing / Patient Flow

  Department ; Nursing Administration

Reporting Relationship ;Director of Clinical Services

Date ; 2024

Purpose of the Post:

The Assistant Director of Nursing Patient Flow (ADON) will report to the Director of Clinical Services in the day to day clinical operations. This will involve the provision of exceptional care for the patient in line with the vision and values of Beacon Hospital where quality, respect, caring and compassion are promoted whilst leading excellence in clinical practice.

The delivery of a patient focused service must be the principle underpinning in the delivery of the Patient Flow service. The Assistant Director of Nursing Patient Flow is responsible for the coordination of all activities within the service. The post holder will have a clinical background and will be required to co-ordinate and guide the implementation of the Hospital's service plans in consultation and in collaboration with the senior hospital management team. He/she will have the authority to work directly with consultants, senior nurses and hospital management. The ADON will provide leadership and direction for Bed Management and Nurse supervisors while supporting and actualising the goals of the department, division and service within Beacon Hospital.

The overall purpose of the job is to facilitate the efficient movement of patients through the hospital and to assist with establishing pathways within Beacon Hospital and between Beacon and other hospitals, the community and Nursing home sector. Central to this role is the practice of effective leadership in the management of all available resources. This will include clinical practice supervision and guidance, human resources management, including staffing and evaluations, financial planning and budget management.

Management areas:

o  Access to care

o  Bed management

o  Nursing supervisor

o  Bank/pool HCA's

o  Discharge Program

o  Patient Lounge

o  Transporters

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

The appointee will have a significant and important role in ensuring that the strategic direction of the hospital is guided by the best principles of resource management.

The areas that will be a priority for the Assistant Director of Nursing.

They are: -

a)      Ensure the maintenance of patient safety at all times.

b)     Maintenance of effective throughput of patients within the service.

c)      Ensuring that workloads are arranged in a manner that maximises the use of resources.

d)     Continually monitor and control activities that impact on financial expenditure.

e)     Line Manager to the bed management and nurse supervisor team

f)       Management of the Bank/pool HCA's within the organisation

g)      Management of the transporters

The role will also be responsible for: -

        Analysing, monitoring and forecasting trends relevant to the service

        Direct and active participation in service planning, implementation and evaluation in overall resource management of the service, including continuous quality audit and performance measurements

        Ensuring the application of best practice including the generation of action plans to continuously improve the provision of services.

        The ADON Patient Flow has a key role in the management of patient flow to and from the ED, flow throughout Beacon Hospital with scheduled and unscheduled patients.

        The ADON Patient Flow will engage and influence the performance of the hospital patient flow pathways and support systems to facilitate optimum efficiency and effectiveness.

        The ADON Patient Flow will provide leadership and be accountable and responsible to further develop governance structures and within those have the authority to assess, plan, action, improve and review unscheduled and scheduled care patient flow.

        In order to enhance the effectiveness of patient flow across the hospital, the ADON will engage and influence the prioritisation of patient access to diagnostic facilities in collaboration with clinicians and other key flow management personnel.

        The ADON will work collaboratively with her team who have the responsibility to drive processes essential to timely admission and discharge such as plan for every patient, discharge planning, predicted date of discharge, criteria led discharge use of Discharge Lounge etc.

        The ADON will identify and support opportunities to develop IT practices to enhance patient care and flow, developing systems such as electronic bed mapping and navigational hub.

        The ADON Patient flow will work closely with bed manager to assist the patient through their hospital experience ensuring all appropriate multidisciplinary staff are involved in their care when required.

        Along with his/her team, collaborate with patients and their families as well as Consultants and MDT to deliver care consistent with best Evidenced Based Practice

        Analyse clinical information and make recommendations regarding appropriateness of care, keeping in mind patients holistic needs and limitations.

        Liaise with the Director of Clinical Services to develop service plans and report frequently on progress against them.

        Define and communicate local objectives that will ensure the achievement of the organisational strategy within resource limitations.

        Monitor fiscal budget to control operational and capital expenditures while monitoring and adjusting staffing patterns to improve unit productivity.

        Implement effective controls to monitor, evaluate and report the standards of delivery within the acute services.

        Create a culture of accountability, openness to change, respect for the individual and teamwork that supports the ethos of the hospital.

        The ADON will ensure that relevant timely data is available to support decision making and to assess quality improvement deliverables.

        Provide expert senior nursing experience with proactive management of key tasks associated with acute demand, bed management whilst supporting improved patient care experience.

        Assist ANP's/CNS's and CNM's with the smooth flow of admissions and discharges by working with all teams to ensure opportunities are maximised in processes around patient flow in the hospital.

        Bed Huddle, along with his/her ADON and CNM 3 colleagues oversee a daily review with the nurse supervisors, Bed management and CNM 2 regarding patients who are in wards and or outside their service and work with the team to repatriate where possible.

        Oversee weekly forecasting/planning meeting.

        Oversight and management of the bank/pool HCA's to include rostering, training, education and performance reviews

        Oversight and management of the transporters ensuring appropriate cover and training

        Be familiar with the Major Disaster plan, Fire plan, CPR plan using judgement in terms of appropriate escalation of information.

        Maintain a high standard of nursing care in accordance with Hospital policies, procedures and guidelines and the scope of nursing practice framework.

        Undertake other relevant duties as may be determined from time to time by the Director of Clinical Services.

Key Working Relationships:

         Provide a high level of professional and clinical leadership to maintain efficient patient flow within Beacon hospital. Work effectively with consultants, department managers, nursing and other clinical staff to ensure effective service delivery.

        The ADON will collaborate with the Head of Surgical, Cardiac and Oncology services with the Scheduling department weekly to access hospital grid for all activity recognising overall oversight to implement change where needed.

        Work with all of the clinical specialities to ensure management of the throughput of patients within the service

        Lead the communication process across all areas of responsibility.

Operational Role:

        Assist with the running of the organisation on a day to day basis so that optimum care is delivered when rostered as part of Operational team.

        Chair committees and steering groups as designated by the Director of Clinical services

        Assist in implementing protocols, guidance and policies. This must be done in accordance with joint commissioning international accreditation (JCI) standards.

        Direct the provision of quality patient care in collaboration with the Director of Clinical Services by identifying, analysing and refining clinical and system processes and operations to improve and ensure positive patient outcomes.

        Facilitate planning and implementation and evaluation of patient flow initiatives to enhance care delivery and patient satisfaction.

        Regular timely reporting of resource utilisation to The Director of Clinical Services and circulating on a regular basis reports for key clinical decision makers on resource utilisation.

        A significant and important role will be in the planning and co-ordination of initiatives to match resource usage with patient throughput. This will include active direct participation in relevant committees.

        Participate fully in all Health and Safety related hospital initiatives and policies.

        Oversee and manage departments under the remit of the role.

        Along with human resources be responsible for the recruitment and retention of staff in your areas.

        Cross cover for departmental managers/other ADON's as necessary

        Substitute for the Director of Clinical Services as required

        There may be a requirement to provide an on-call service, providing back up to the operational team 24/7

Strategic Role:

        Liaise with the Director of Clinical Services to develop service plans and report frequently on progress against them.

        Define and communicate local objectives that will ensure the achievement of the organisational strategy within resource limitations.

        Be responsible for and monitor fiscal budget to control operational and capital expenditures while monitoring and adjusting staffing patterns to improve unit productivity.

        Implement effective controls, while ensuring patient safety to keep costs to a minimum within your service including agency/overtime costs. 

        Implement effective controls to monitor, evaluate and report the standards of delivery within the acute services.

        Create a culture of accountability, openness to change, respect for the individual and teamwork that supports the ethos of the hospital.

        Coordinate, when required, any projects deemed fit by the executive management team to include but not exhaustive of capital projects.

Information Technology:

     Be proficient in Meditech's Scheduling/Bed Management and Admissions and related software.

     Be aware of 'IT Meditech Downtime Policy' and be able to put into effect if required.

Quality /Accreditation:

        Participate and collaborate with the Senior Management team, ADON colleagues and Quality department on designated projects as required

        Contribute to quality improvement activities through facilitating the collection of accurate data entered on to the IT system.

        Lead out and take ownership of a JCI chapter ensuring all standards are being met and audited as designated by the Director of Clinical Services and Director of PSQI

        Understand the importance of quality in relation to every day work and participate in quality system measures to ensure that services are provided at an agreed quality standard

        Utilise quality improvement approach to problem solving and actively participate in the timely follow up of complaints and incidents as appropriate. Ensure a safe working environment and safe working practices.

        Understand the importance of providing an excellent Customer Care Service to all patients, consultants and colleagues to uphold the mission, vision and values of the hospital.

        Participate in performance productivity measures.

        The ADON Patient Flow will ensure that prompt action is taken to identify general and specific health and safety risks.

        Comply with the policies, procedures and safe professional practice of the Irish Healthcare system by adhering to relevant legislation, regulations and standards.

        The post holder has a duty to familiarise themselves with Beacon Hospital policies and guidelines.

        Implement metrics to ensure Key clinical performance Indicators (KPI) outlined annually in Beacon Hospital Quality Service plan are appropriate and that continuous audits are carried out to ensure performance improvement and quality is optimum.

Person Specification:

Qualifications and/or experience

         Are registered, or are eligible for registration, in the General Nurse Division, and other divisions as relevant to the specific service, of the Register of Nurses and Midwives, as appropriate, maintained by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland

(NMBI) (Bord Altranais agus Cnaimhseachais na hEireann)

And

Have successfully completed a post registration programme of study, as certified by the education provider, which verifies that the applicant has achieved a National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) Level 8 or higher award in a health care or management related area.

Qualification at Level 9 in Healthcare/Management is desirable and /or willingness to undertake same within 2 years.

        Excellent organisational skills.

        Excellent IT skills

Experience

        Have 7 years post registration nursing experience with 5 years clinical experience at CNM 2/3 level or above in an Acute setting.

Job Specific Competencies and Knowledge

        Must possess good decision-making ability, and a capacity for analytical thinking and problem-solving.

        Be capable of communicating effectively and courteously with a wide variety of departments and individuals, including hospital consultants, senior nursing staff, and hospital management

         The appointee should have a strong awareness of the need for confidentiality, discretion, precision, and a methodical approach in all matters.

        An ability to maintain motivation to get things done with attention to detail, within the constraints of a busy hospital.

Personal Competencies

        All posts in Beacon Hospital require a high level of flexibility to ensure the delivery of an effective and efficient service in a developing environment. The post holder will be required to demonstrate flexibility as and when required by their manager.

        Ability to play an active part in the multi-disciplinary team

        Be self-motivated with a high capacity for responsibility and individual initiative

        Demonstrate an ability to prioritise work and handle large volumes of activity

Important Note: The extent and speed of change in the delivery of health care is such that adaptability is essential in this position. The incumbent will be required to maintain and enhance their professional knowledge, skills and aptitudes necessary to respond to a changing situation. The Hospital is at the developmental stage and therefore, the job description must be regarded as an outline of the major areas of accountability at the present time. In light of the changing needs of the Hospital this job description may be subject to review as the Hospital and post holder's role develops.

Job Description received by employee 

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