What are the responsibilities and job description for the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) - Behavioral Health position at W3Global?
Job Title: Chief Nursing Officer (CNO)
Department: Nursing
Reports To: Executive Leadership / CEO
Status: Full-Time
Position Summary
The Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) is responsible for overseeing the Nursing Department and ensuring the delivery of high-quality, safe, and compliant patient care. This role provides strategic and operational leadership across all nursing functions, including clinical governance, regulatory compliance, performance improvement, and staff development. The CNO is a key member of the Executive Team and plays a central role in hospital leadership, culture, and continuous quality improvement initiatives.
Key Responsibilities
Clinical Leadership & Operations
Required
Preferred:
Department: Nursing
Reports To: Executive Leadership / CEO
Status: Full-Time
Position Summary
The Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) is responsible for overseeing the Nursing Department and ensuring the delivery of high-quality, safe, and compliant patient care. This role provides strategic and operational leadership across all nursing functions, including clinical governance, regulatory compliance, performance improvement, and staff development. The CNO is a key member of the Executive Team and plays a central role in hospital leadership, culture, and continuous quality improvement initiatives.
Key Responsibilities
Clinical Leadership & Operations
- Oversee all nursing operations to ensure safe, effective, and patient-centered care.
- Lead nursing performance improvement (PI) and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) activities to maintain regulatory compliance and patient safety.
- Maintain a therapeutic environment focused on quality patient care, including shift leadership, appropriate staffing assignments, and effective communication.
- Conduct and oversee patient admissions, daily assessments, treatment planning, and coordination of care.
- Provide clinical leadership in crisis intervention, mental health care, and management of cognitive, emotional, developmental, social, and behavioral disorders.
- Ensure adherence to hospital policies, procedures, regulatory standards, and applicable federal, state, and accrediting body requirements (e.g., Joint Commission, CMS).
- Actively participate in hospital governance through committee leadership and executive collaboration.
- Promote and sustain a culture of safety, quality, and risk management, including incident reporting and corrective action.
- Ensure compliance with HIPAA, documentation standards, and electronic medical record (EMR) and CPOE protocols.
- Oversee appropriate use of seclusion and restraint in accordance with policy and regulatory requirements.
- Ensure safe medication management practices, including reconciliation, administration, and monitoring of psychotropic and other medications.
- Maintain standards for EMR documentation, wristband scanning, and electronic order entry.
- Lead and mentor nursing leadership and departmental staff through effective communication, accountability, and ongoing education.
- Support staff performance management, including 90-day and annual reviews, counseling, and corrective action.
- Build strong collaborative relationships with physicians, therapists, administration, and all hospital departments.
- Model professionalism, integrity, compassion, and adherence to the organization's Mission, Values, and Standards of Behavior.
- Maintain accountability for departmental budgets, supply usage, procurement, and resource conservation.
- Support fiscal responsibility while maintaining service excellence and patient care quality.
- Foster a safe, healing environment for patients, families, and staff.
- Ensure prompt reporting and mitigation of safety incidents, near misses, and hazards.
- Advocate for patients and families at all times.
- Demonstrate cultural sensitivity, ethical decision-making, and confidentiality in all aspects of care.
Required
- Bachelor's degree in Nursing (BSN) from an accredited program
- Current, unencumbered Registered Nurse (RN) license in the state of employment
- CPR certification and hospital-approved de-escalation training
- Master's degree in Nursing or related healthcare field
- Advanced nursing certification or postgraduate education
Preferred:
- Minimum of 10 years' experience in behavioral healthcare
- Minimum of 5 years' experience in healthcare leadership or nursing management
- Demonstrated experience with regulatory surveys and compliance (Joint Commission, CMS, and state agencies)
- Executive leadership and strategic planning
- Clinical governance and patient safety
- Regulatory compliance and accreditation readiness
- Quality improvement and performance management
- Financial stewardship and resource optimization
- Communication, collaboration, and team development
- Ethical leadership, compassion, and professionalism