DON

Director of NursingSwift River Addiction Campus | Cummington, Massachusetts 01026

Swift River is seeking an experienced, hands-on Director of Nursing (DON) to lead nursing operations at our behavioral health and substance use treatment campus in Cummington, Massachusetts. This is an opportunity for a nursing leader who wants more than a traditional maintenance role. We are looking for someone who can take real ownership of the nursing function, strengthen clinical operations, develop a high-performing team, establish consistent standards, and work alongside facility leadership to continue building an exceptional treatment environment.

The Director of Nursing will be a key member of Swift River’s leadership team and will have meaningful influence over how nursing services are structured, delivered, measured, and improved.

The Role

The Director of Nursing is responsible for the leadership, oversight, and day-to-day performance of nursing services across Swift River. You will ensure patients receive safe, responsive, compassionate, and clinically appropriate nursing care while creating the structure, accountability, and consistency necessary to support a strong nursing team.

This role requires someone who is equally comfortable leading from the front and building the systems behind the scenes. You should be able to walk the units, support your nurses, solve problems in real time, develop managers and staff, analyze staffing and performance, strengthen documentation and medication-management practices, and confidently represent Nursing as a member of the facility leadership team.

Key ResponsibilitiesNursing Leadership amp; Operations

• Provide overall leadership and direction for nursing services.
• Build, develop, and maintain a strong and accountable nursing team across all shifts.
• Establish clear expectations for nursing performance, communication, professionalism, documentation, and patient care.
• Ensure appropriate nursing coverage based on census, acuity, regulatory requirements, and operational needs.
• Develop effective schedules while maintaining appropriate staffing and controlling unnecessary overtime.
• Maintain visible leadership throughout the facility and remain connected to day-to-day nursing operations.
• Ensure appropriate leadership and escalation coverage when the DON is not onsite.
• Participate as an active member of the facility leadership team.

Quality of Care amp; Clinical Standards

• Promote a culture of patient safety, dignity, compassion, and clinical excellence.
• Ensure nursing assessments, medication administration, withdrawal-management protocols, documentation, and other nursing functions are completed accurately and consistently.
• Monitor clinical trends, incidents, medication issues, and nursing-related quality indicators.
• Identify opportunities to improve clinical practice and implement corrective action when necessary.
• Ensure nursing care supports continuity throughout the patient’s treatment experience.
• Partner closely with Medical, Clinical, Operations, and Compliance leadership to coordinate patient care and resolve barriers quickly.

Regulatory amp; Compliance Oversight

• Maintain nursing operations consistent with applicable Massachusetts requirements, professional nursing standards, organizational policies, and licensing expectations.
• Ensure nursing documentation is complete, timely, accurate, and audit-ready.
• Maintain appropriate medication-management, controlled-substance, infection-control, and clinical safety practices.
• Participate in regulatory reviews, audits, plans of correction, quality initiatives, and other compliance activities.
• Ensure nursing staff maintain required credentials, competencies, education, and training.
• Partner with Compliance and facility leadership to identify and address risk proactively.

People Leadership

• Recruit, develop, retain, and lead a high-performing nursing team.
• Create an environment where strong nurses want to work and stay.
• Establish effective onboarding and orientation for nursing employees.
• Provide ongoing education, coaching, feedback, and performance management.
• Develop charge nurses and other nursing leaders so accountability does not depend solely on the DON.
• Address performance, attendance, or conduct concerns promptly and consistently.
• Build a culture centered on teamwork, ownership, communication, accountability, and patient care.

Staffing amp; Workforce Management

• Maintain staffing plans based on census, acuity, program needs, and regulatory requirements.
• Monitor overtime, agency utilization, callouts, vacancies, and scheduling patterns.
• Partner with HR and Recruiting to anticipate staffing needs rather than operating reactively.
• Maintain an appropriate mix of full-time, part-time, per diem, and other nursing resources.
• Develop contingency plans for unexpected staffing challenges.
• Monitor staffing trends and recommend changes that improve both clinical coverage and operational efficiency.

QualificationsRequired Qualifications

• Active and unrestricted Registered Nurse (RN) license in Massachusetts
• Minimum of 5 years of professional nursing experience.
• Minimum of 3 years of nursing leadership, management, or supervisory experience.
• Demonstrated experience managing nurses and clinical staff within a healthcare environment.
• Experience managing staffing schedules, coverage, performance, and operational priorities.
• Strong leadership, communication, organizational, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to work effectively with physicians, clinicians, operations leaders, HR, Compliance, and other members of an interdisciplinary team.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, highly regulated healthcare environment.
• Strong understanding of confidentiality, patient rights, professional boundaries, and clinical documentation standards.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) preferred.
• Master’s degree in Nursing, Healthcare Administration, Business Administration, or a related field is a plus.
• Previous Director of Nursing, Assistant Director of Nursing, Nurse Manager, or comparable senior nursing leadership experience.
• Experience in substance use disorder treatment, detoxification, behavioral health, psychiatric care, residential treatment, or addiction medicine.
• Experience managing nursing operations in a 24/7 treatment environment.
• Experience with withdrawal management and medically monitored substance use treatment.
• Familiarity with Massachusetts behavioral health or substance use treatment regulations.
• Experience with medication-management systems, controlled-substance processes, and pharmacy coordination.
• Experience leading through organizational growth, transition, turnaround, or operational change.
• Experience preparing for regulatory surveys, audits, accreditation reviews, or corrective-action plans.

The Leader We Want

Credentials matter, but leadership style matters just as much. We are looking for someone who:

• Takes ownership.
• Creates structure where it is needed.
• Holds people accountable without losing the human side of leadership.
• Does not manage exclusively from an office.
• Can earn the trust of nurses, patients, physicians, clinicians, and operational leaders.
• Understands that great nursing leadership requires both clinical judgment and operational discipline.
• Communicates directly and solves problems.
• Recognizes problems early and acts.
• Develops people rather than simply manages schedules.
• Builds systems that continue working even when the leader is not in the room.
• Wants to leave a department stronger than they found it.

What Success Looks Like

A successful Director of Nursing will create a nursing department where:

• Staffing is stable and predictable.
• Nurses understand what is expected of them.
• Leadership coverage is clear.
• Overtime and callouts are actively managed.
• Documentation is timely and reliable.
• Medication processes are tightly controlled.
• Clinical concerns are identified and escalated quickly.
• Regulatory readiness is part of everyday operations.
• Nursing works effectively with Medical, Clinical, and Operations.
• Employees feel supported while remaining accountable.
• Strong nurses are recruited, developed, and retained.
• Patients experience safe, compassionate, and consistent care.

About Swift River

Swift River is located on a unique campus in Western Massachusetts and serves individuals at an important point in their recovery. We are continuing to strengthen our organization, leadership team, clinical infrastructure, and patient experience. That creates a meaningful opportunity for the right Director of Nursing.

You will not be stepping into a role where your job is simply to preserve the status quo. You will have the opportunity to build a nursing operation, develop a team, strengthen standards, influence the broader organization, and see the impact of your leadership.

If you are a strong nursing leader looking for meaningful responsibility, executive partnership, and the opportunity to build something you are proud of, we would like to speak with you.

Swift River Addiction Campus
Cummington, Massachusetts
Full-Time | Leadership Position