Description
Job Summary
The Chief Nursing Officer & Vice President, Post-Acute Care (CNO/VP), serves as the senior nursing leader responsible for advancing clinical excellence, patient safety, and quality outcomes across Covenant Health’s post-acute care network. This executive provides strategic leadership to nursing and clinical teams across all Covenant’s skilled nursing and post-acute facilities and is accountable for fostering a high-reliability culture that consistently achieves top-tier quality, safety, and regulatory performance. Working closely with the system President of Post-Acute Care, the SVP & Chief Medical Officer and facility Medical Directors, the CNO/VP ensures strong clinical alignment between nursing and medical leadership to improve care transitions, enhance interdisciplinary collaboration, and meet Covenant Health’s publicly reported quality and safety performance goals. Through a matrix leadership structure, the CNO/VP offers strategic oversight, mentorship, and performance accountability to Directors of Nursing throughout the system, ensuring consistent standards of clinical practice and leadership across facilities. The CNO/VP is a member of the Post-Acute Executive Leadership Team and plays a vital role in advancing Covenant Health’s mission of delivering compassionate, high-quality care across the continuum.
Job Responsibilities
Enterprise Nursing Leadership
Serve as the senior nursing executive for Covenant Health’s post-acute care network.
Establish and maintain a systemwide framework for nursing excellence, professional and evidence-based practice, and clinical leadership.
Develop and implement a strategic nursing plan aligned with Covenant Health’s mission, clinical priorities, and growth strategy.
Foster a culture of professional accountability, interdisciplinary collaboration, and ongoing improvement.
Quality, Safety, and High-Reliability Culture
In collaboration with the system President of Post-Acute Care and the SVP & Chief Medical Officer, lead enterprise initiatives to improve patient safety, clinical quality, and regulatory performance across post-acute facilities. Ensure compliance with state/federal regulations and company policies.
Ensure the achievement of key publicly reported quality metrics, including CMS Five-Star Quality Rating indicators.
Oversee systemwide Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) processes.
Promote the adoption of high-reliability organization (HRO) principles to decrease preventable harm.
Drive standardization of nursing processes and workflows across facilities.
Support Root Cause Analyses (RCA) and Failure Mode and Effects Analyses (FMEA) for important events, ensuring prompt reporting and follow-up.
Lead initiatives and conduct audits addressing key clinical performance improvement needs, including but not limited to:infection prevention
fall prevention
pressure injury reduction
medication safety
hospital readmission reduction.
Alignment with Medical Leadership
Partner closely with the system President of Post-Acute Care, the SVP & Chief Medical Officer and facility Medical Directors to align nursing practice and medical leadership across the post-acute network.
Strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration among physicians, advanced practice providers, and nursing teams.
Support improved clinical management of complex patients transitioning from hospital to post-acute care.
Collaborate with medical leadership to improve care coordination and care transitions across the continuum.
Collaborate with medical leadership to optimize use of the EMR (Point Click Care), especially to improve utilization of PCC’s CPOE for medication orders.
Matrix Leadership of Nursing Operations
Provide strategic leadership and oversight to Directors of Nursing across Covenant Health post-acute facilities through a matrix reporting structure.
Establish consistent standards for:nursing staffing models
competency validation
clinical documentation
leadership development
performance accountability.
Collaborate with facility Administrators to ensure clear alignment between the Administrator and the Director of Nursing leadership.
Partner with facility and system MDS staff to ensure adherence to the highest standards of clinical documentation and coding.
Workforce Strategy and Leadership Development
Develop and implement a comprehensive strategy for the nursing workforce to improve recruitment, retention, and leadership training.
Build and strengthen leadership capability among Directors of Nursing and nurse managers.
Establish succession planning programs for future nursing leaders.
Promote a work environment that supports professional development, engagement, and workforce stability.
Regulatory Excellence and Survey Readiness
Maintain a systemwide culture of continuous survey readiness.
Ensure compliance with all relevant federal and state regulations, including:CMS
State departments of health
Infection Control Regulations
OSHA standards
Life Safety standards
Coordinate and implement processes for mock surveys and regulatory preparedness initiatives.
Data-Driven Clinical Performance
Implement a data-driven clinical performance management framework for nursing operations.
Analyze quality metrics, patient outcomes, staffing data, and operational indicators to identify improvement opportunities.
Lead regular clinical operations reviews and improvement initiatives to achieve targeted outcomes.
Partner with Operations and IT to expand and integrate technology platforms for improved clinical performance.
Lead annual and ongoing quality benchmarking efforts, comparing performance against national and state data to prioritize and drive targeted improvements.
Partner with the system SVP & Chief Medical Officer and the quality data analysts on the continual development of the PAC Quality Dashboard.
Participate in the PAC Quality Monthly Operations Reviews (MORs).
Financial and Operational Stewardship
Partner with operational leaders to align clinical excellence with financial performance.
Support efficient nursing staffing models that balance quality outcomes with labor stewardship.
Ensure that each facility develops and implements local workforce development programs.
Partner with operational and clinical leaders to develop efficient admission protocols that meet facility volume goals.
Oversee nurse staffing and demand modeling, optimizing full-time/part-time ratios for cost efficiency and quality outcomes.
Manage controllable costs and implement efficiencies in staffing and resource utilization.
Contribute to developing post-acute value-based care strategies and readmission reduction programs.
Manage controllable costs and enhance efficiencies in staffing and resource use.
Job Skills
Strong leadership skills in change management, clinical management, and nursing operations.
Comprehensive understanding of nursing practices, procedures, and long-term care regulations.
Extensive experience with driving excellence in patient care quality and safety.
Expert user of PointClick Care
Demonstrated integrity and commitment to the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct.
Strong alignment with the values and mission of Catholic health care, with an ability to lead in a faith-based organizational culture.
Approachable leadership style with the ability to inspire, challenge, and engage cross-functional teams.
Advanced critical thinking and analytical skills; capable of evaluating complex situations and implementing strategic solutions, and data-driven decision-making skills
Exceptional communication abilities—verbal, written, and presentation—with skill in engaging diverse internal and external stakeholders.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite; familiarity with data analytics and post-acute reporting tools.
Requirements
Job Requirements
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Required.
Master’s degree in Nursing, Healthcare Administration, or Business Administration Preferred.
Active and unrestricted Registered Nurse license.
Minimum 10 years progressive nursing leadership experience.
Minimum 5 years in senior leadership roles within post-acute care.
Demonstrated experience leading multi-site clinical operations.
Proven success in improving quality outcomes, regulatory performance, and workforce engagement.
Experience in integrated health systems preferred.
Experience aligning acute and post-acute clinical care models preferred.
Experience within mission-driven or faith-based healthcare organizations preferred.
An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered if it provides the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities.
