Nursing Professional Development Specialist

BASIC FUNCTION:

The Nursing Professional Development Specialist is a leader in the clinical management of a selected patient population and is responsible for providing education programs of varying length and complexity for the staff at Ellis Medicine.  These educational programs include development of inter-professional education, orientation for all skill levels within unit/service-line structure, continuing education programs and professional development programs. Leadership is evidenced through collaborative program design, implementation, and evaluation; as well as through education consultative services, collaborating across disciplines and practice settings, and commitment to enhancing personal professional growth and facilitation of staff engagement in process improvement. These actions are guided by hospital mission, vision, values and goals.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENT(S):

• Education: Current Registration and Licensure as a professional Registered Nurse in New York State.  A MSN from an accredited nursing school is required; with specialization in Education is preferred.  Candidates with MS in a related field plus a BSN from an accredited school of nursing may be considered.
• Experience: A minimum of 3 - 5 years of relevant clinical experience is required.  Previous educational or leadership experience is preferred. 
• Certification: Certification in Nursing Professional Development is required, and in specialty for population is preferred.      

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE POSITION:

• Clinical Accountability:  Expert in the Nursing Process and knowledgeable of resources for self and staff to meet needs for patient population.  Clinical expertise is utilized to coach and guide staff in assessment, Nursing diagnosis and treatment of health/illness states, disease management, health promotion, and prevention of illness and risk behaviors among individuals, families, groups and communities based on the focused population, incorporating patient’s values when facilitating decision making and planning for care.   
• Evidence-Based Practice: Identifies barriers to utilization of EBP: knowledge deficit, accesses culture, time, resistance to change and develops strategies to challenge/remove barriers.
• Nursing Educational programs [including Orientation, Residency, Preceptor and other programs] are evidence based and include content on scope, standards of practice, nursing’s code of ethics and social policy, as well as regulatory components as pertinent to the subject matter.  Learning facilitation is accomplished through identification of knowledge/practice gaps and needs assessment for target audience.  Program evaluations are utilized to assess for further program development and improvement.
• Competency Management: develops tools and assesses demonstrated performance by staff of knowledge, skills abilities and clinical judgment for described performance criteria.  Collaborates with Nursing Leadership to develop plan for further education based on outcomes.
• Provides coaching support to preceptors and staff / students to support learning environment and facilitate on-boarding process.  Develops Mentoring program to support continued development of nursing staff.
• Develops inter-professional education programs, collaborating with various disciplines and practice environments to assess current practice, identification of issues and trends as well as proposed regulatory changes to define program and educational goals that will achieve desired clinical outcomes.
• Continuing Nursing Education (CNE): participates in the development, planning and review of programs to build educational experiences that will support practice, education, administration, research and/or theory development, per the CE Provider Unit guidelines at Ellis Medicine.
• Mentor: Supports life-long learning.  Promotes professional development in others, encouraging participation in professional organizations. 
• Promotes Healthy Work Environment through Transformational Leadership through collaboration with nursing staff and leaders, as well as other disciplines/departments. 
• Effective communication and interpersonal skills demonstrated through written, oral and body language.
• Consultation:  Links others to appropriate, relevant resources for development and practice issues.  Evaluates professional practice, developing and enhancing competencies to achieve desired practice standard and EBP.  Guides development of educational programs for staff to achieve goals.
• Research:  Participates in research as investigator, collaborator, translator, integrator, and evaluator.
• Lean principles are applied to process improvement activities.
• Change Agent:  Incorporates changes into learning.  Facilitates adoption through development of Champions on units.  Utilizes education process to create change and promote quality in practice and continuous learning environment.
• Leadership: Adheres to regulatory agency standards.  Advocates for support of nursing practice and patient population needs.  Demonstrates sensitivity to ethical, cultural and spiritual needs of clients and facilitates ethical discussions.  Participates in Magnet Committees / Teams.
• Program and Project Management: creatively designs and implements innovative programs to achieve outcomes.  Evidence of team building through collaboration with other disciplines and front-line staff.
•  Adheres to hospital policies and procedures related to:

• Mandatory education
• Annual health assessment

Ellis Medicine is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, creed, color, religion, sex/gender, age, national origin, disability, genetic information, predisposition or carrier status, military or veteran status, prior arrest, or conviction record, marital or familial status, sexual orientation, transgender status, gender identity, gender expression, reproductive health decisions, or domestic violence victim status.