Director, Nursing Quality & Informatics

Human Resources Management: Work across the UI Health Care Medical Center system and with
medical and hospital leaders to create a consistent approach to HR management. Hold unit leaders
within a department accountable for high performance and high engagement by articulating
expectations, monitoring performance, and providing feedback consistently across areas of
responsibility. Approve resource allocations and staffing models. Develop and retain qualified nursing
leadership staff and build an effective leadership team.

• Provide supervision of daily operations of assigned staff providing service throughout the
organization.
• Evaluate and adjust roles of departmental staff on an ongoing basis to align with needs of
Department of Nursing Services and Patient Care and the organization.
• Develop and retain qualified nursing leadership staff. For direct reports, assure performance
expectations are clearly understood.
• Hold staff accountable to meet or exceed patient needs/expectations as well as maintain standards
of collaboration and respect within and among interprofessional teams.
• Build an effective divisional/cross divisional leadership team. Prepare divisional leadership staff to
lead/participate/serve as effective members of the interprofessional team.
• Demonstrate commitment to people; coach staff to participate in team decision-making.
• Actively seek participation from staff on decision-making and customer service improvement
activities.
• Adhere to all UIHC guidelines and respective collective bargaining agreements.
• Partner with Health Care Human Resources (HHR) to support and enhance comprehensive HR
support to the department.
• Delegate, while assuming full accountability for Departmental initiatives.

Financial and Data Management and Analysis: Develop strategy for budget priorities for the UI Health
Care Medical Center system and negotiate among them to address resource issues. Work with own
leaders within and external to area to innovatively address and resolve budget issues. Establish reliable
revenue cycle processes, including working with nurse managers, nursing supervisors, staff nurses, and
providers on documentation to support billed charges.
• Assume responsibility for development, implementation, evaluation, and maintenance of cost
accounting, rate setting, and pricing mechanisms as appropriate for areas of accountability.
• Utilize and analyze metrics to drive value to assure cost effective allocations of resources.
• Benchmark with academic medical centers to determine best practices related to areas of
accountability.
• Optimize skill mix, scope of practice, and operational efficiency.
• Participate in annual budget preparation, continuous monitoring of divisional/unit budgets, and
justification of variances as needed.

Operations, Standards of Care, Regulatory Compliance, Quality, and Patient Satisfaction: Work across
the UI Health Care Medical Center system to develop, monitor, and enhance quality and service
indicators and business processes. Oversee patient satisfaction and quality indicators. Assure that
clinical services, educational programs, and research activities are in compliance with all applicable
internal and external requirements, including The Joint Commission.
• Oversee strategic planning for areas of accountability.
• Gather, prepare, arrange, analyze, and display quality and informatics data in a meaningful, useful
format to partner with others to analyze for accuracy and patterns/concerns requiring follow up for
improvement.
• Submit quality and informatics reports as needed to the CEO, CNE, ACNO-Professional Practice,
other ACNOs, and other appropriate persons/areas. Ensure regulatory standards related to areas of
accountability are met and understood by personnel, e.g., the impact on patient safety and a plan to
mitigate the impact.
• Assist with preparation for regulatory/accreditation surveys. Deploy staff within areas of
accountability to assist as needed.• Nursing Quality:
o Partner with the Chief Medical Quality Officer (CMQO), Director, Quality Improvement
Program (QuIP), or designates to lead/co-lead initiatives to optimize patient care and quality
outcomes.
o Monitor outcome metrics = quality, safety, cost, and satisfaction across clinical units.
o Collaborate with ongoing and new methods supporting quality and safety management.
o Support nursing and interprofessional leadership to design efficient/effective safe systems
and processes to ensure patient safety and optimize patient outcomes.

• Nursing Informatics:
o Partner with the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Medical Information Officer
(CMIO) or designates to lead/co-lead initiative to optimize patient care and outcomes
through the use on informatics and technology.

o Collaborate with clinical and organizational leaders to identify, recommend, assist with
implementation, and support appropriate health information technology (HIT) solutions for
Nursing with respect to multidisciplinary stakeholders.
o Provide coordination of testing, vetting change and enhancement requests, upgrades, and
new HIT implementations to ensure quality, standardization, and safety in the electronic
medical record.
o Partner with organizational and clinical leaders to design systems and processes that
address strategic, regulatory, and quality improvement initiatives.
o Assure appropriate development, modifications, and ongoing review of order sets in
compliance with hospital division policy.

Patient Care/Services Delivery: Work across the UI Health Care Medical Center system and with nurse
managers, nursing supervisors, associate directors, and directors to implement best care practices and
new models of care/service. Address implementation issues across nursing functions and with other
departments. Incorporate WE CARE values to ensure positive patient/ customer relations.
• Identify, design, implement and evaluate the delivery of services in areas of accountability,
continually addressing opportunities for improvement related to patient care and outcomes.
• Seek and evaluate best practices and benchmark with like institutions to continuously improve
patient care and outcomes.
• Improve communication and collaboration across professions by developing working relationships.

Planning and Goal Management: Develop departmental strategic plan and integrate it with other
functions; guide nurse managers, nursing supervisors, associate directors, and directors in developing
action plans for implementation; monitor progress to goal completion. Assure integration of goals
across functions and across the UI Health Care Medical Center system.
• Manage daily administrative operations Nursing Quality and Nursing Informatics.
• Prioritize and manage strategic goals for division/ units within area of accountability. Achieve
alignment of division/ unit goals around strategic intent/aim.
• Communicate a shared vision for optimal care for patients included within areas of accountability.
• Participate, lead as assigned and monitor improvement achievements in relation to
assigned/delegated pillars of the Quality Improvement Program (QuIP)’s and the Department of
Nursing Services and Patient Care’s strategic plan, and in relation to Health Care Information
Systems (HCIS) and the Department of Nursing Services and Patient Care’s strategic plan.
o Correlate Nursing Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) initiatives with
Organizational and Nursing Strategic Plans.
o Incorporate current healthcare trends, and UIHC-related changes into annual Program.
• Understand the current Magnet® Recognition Program standards related to areas of accountability.
Assure NDNQI metrics meet or exceed expected Magnet requirements.
• Execute program objectives to fullest extent, escalating barriers to achieving goals.
o Participate in the design and evaluation of systems to measure and monitor outcomes of
care.

o Identify system and hospital operations strengths and weaknesses and act on opportunities
for improvement for patient care/quality, RN engagement, and overall operational
efficiency.
o Prioritize program and Departmental nimbleness and expediency of efforts based on
Nursing and organizational needs.

Communication/Collaboration: Serve as a liaison between staff, providers, and nursing and healthcare
leadership across the UI Health Care Medical Center system. Engage and collaborate with providers to
identify opportunities for improvement, program development, and capital budgeting. Communicate
with external agencies and constituencies to address issues and answer questions. Serve as a liaison
among multiple clinical functions to support collaboration in identifying opportunities for improvement
and program development.
• Communicate and follow-up regularly with UIHC leaders to identify data and information needs as
well as provide resources to requesting leaders and interprofessional partners.
o Establish/revise an annual quality assurance performance improvement (QAPI) plan
incorporating of patient safety, quality improvement, and practice initiatives.
o Establish, oversee, and maintain a dashboard for areas of accountability reflecting reflect
metrics of significance to the Department of Nursing Services and Patient Care.
o Require ongoing rounding by staff within areas of accountability with key stakeholders to
assure initiatives are known and are standardized across the Department on Nursing
Services and Patient Care; ensure just- in- time education is conducted.

• Develop effective working relationships among nursing and patient care leadership, other
interprofessional departments, clinical administrators, department/divisional/unit nursing
leadership, hospital administration clinical liaisons, and directors of hospital support departments.
o Infuse principles for areas of accountability into interdisciplinary initiatives.
o Standardize nursing initiatives for areas of accountability across the enterprise.
• Develop effective working relationships with medical leadership (e.g. Department Executive Officers
(DEO), Associate Chairs for Clinical programs, Medical Directors).
• Receive and disseminate information about strategic initiatives, process improvements, best
practices, and innovation through a formal plan for communication for the nursing divisions, UI
College of Nursing, and UIHC.
o Represent cutting edge nursing initiatives in shared governance.
• Develop and communicate a shared vision for patient- and family- centered care.
Education Programs: Support development and implementation of education programs for students
and staff in areas of accountability. Maintain a climate of learning that promotes collaborative
experiences for students in the University Health Science Colleges and other health care programs.
Participate in and present educational programs to staff and University colleges and programs. Develop
and support efficient systems for patient education.
• Maintain a climate of learning that promotes collaborative education, research, and evidence-based
practice opportunities for students in the University of Iowa Health Science Colleges and other
health programs. Cultivate an environment of continual learning.
• Provide staff with tools to learn and apply skills related to their role, change management/work
redesign.

• Support staff education including, but not limited to, competency assurance and professional
development/mentorship.
• Plan, implement, train and support health system technologies.
Research Administration: Collaborate with other leaders to identify evidence-based practice and
research opportunities. Assure access to nursing research and healthcare information. Benchmark best
practices with comparable settings to apply across the UI Health Care Medical Center system.
• Benchmark best practices with comparable settings.
• Assure access to nursing research/evidence-based practice and UIHC information about clinical,
financial, and customer service outcomes for best practices.

Budgeting: Knowledge of, and ability to apply, policies and practices for planning and administering a
budget.
• Ensures organizational budgeting practices meet regulatory requirements.
• Discusses alternative budgeting strategies versus business situations.
• Champions importance of rigor in budget managing, reporting, and explaining.
• Monitors and ensures adherence to organization’s financial practices and standards.
• Reviews and approves all major budget adjustments; negotiates and reconciles line-item variances.
Introduces technologies, policies, and programs for more effective budget management.
Clinical Service/Department Operations Management: Knowledge of and ability to manage effective
and smooth operations in a clinical service or department by utilizing various management principles
and technique.
• Designs operational standards, for qualified services, in a clinical service/department.
• Elaborates on the use of techniques and management systems for clinical service/department
operations.
• Establishes policies, regulations, and protocols for a clinical service/department.
• Advocates the mission, vision, and values of clinical services throughout the organization.
• Develops clinical service/departmental operations best practices to ensure an effective and smooth
workflow.
• Predicts the future perspective and direction of clinical service/department operations
management.
• Consults on development and implementation of effective standards across specialties.

Decision Making and Critical Thinking: Understanding of the issues related to the decision-making
process; ability to analyze situations fully and accurately and reach productive decisions.
• Analyzes and discusses alternatives with multiple stakeholders.
• Discusses optimal timing and circumstances for either refraining from or making a decision.

• Coaches others in decision-making models, processes, and practices.
• Differentiates between content and context of a decision.
• Focuses on special issues and considerations for effective decision-making during a crisis.
• Monitors industry for examples/models of critical thinking or decision-making.

Healthcare Regulatory Environment: Knowledge and understanding of legislation and regulatory bodies
affecting healthcare and clinical research practices.
• Monitors and evaluates adherence to laws and regulations affecting the organization.
• Establishes healthcare and/or clinical policies, strategies, and best practices.
• Describes the impact of pending legislation on the organization.
• Directs policies and influences healthcare legal compliance and practice within the organization.
• Represents the organization in regulatory and legal proceedings.
• Discusses industry experiences with all major legal issues and relate to own organization.

Performance Management:
Ability to apply organization’s performance management system, practices, and tools in developing and
improving individual, team, and organizational performance.
• Takes part in developing and implementing enterprise-wide performance management systems.
Identifies key issues in integrating selection, development, recognition, and reward systems.
• Plays a leading role in designing individual and team reward and recognition systems.
• Champions a climate that supports and rewards excellent group and individual performance.
• Monitors industry for new approaches or ideas regarding performance management.
• Addresses the evolution of clinical and industry standards.

Effective Communications:
Understanding of effective communication concepts, tools, and techniques; ability to effectively
transmit, receive, and accurately interpret ideas, information, and needs through the application of
appropriate communication behaviors.
• Communicates effectively with diverse audiences, using appropriate media and language.
• Ensures important messages are clearly understood.
• Writes reports, articles, or books for distribution to the business or professional community.
• Works to create a climate that values and rewards good oral and written communication.
• Coaches others on methods of improving their own communications.
• Monitors developments in communications tools for potential use by the organization.