What are the responsibilities and job description for the RN Head position at Willis-Knighton Health System?
**RN Head Nurse Position**
The RN Head Nurse is a registered nurse responsible for planning, organizing, coordinating, directing, controlling, and supervising nursing care in a busy Labor, Delivery, Recovery, and Postpartum (LDRP) unit, as well as the Outpatient Infusion unit, on a 24-hour basis in collaboration with the Patient Care Coordinator (PCC). Qualifications for this role include a minimum of a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and strong skills in leadership, organization, communication, and conflict resolution. The Head Nurse should foster a positive culture of safety to ensure smooth workflows and high-quality nursing care. In addition to overseeing nursing staff, the Head Nurse will promote teamwork within the unit. The responsibilities of this position include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Assisting the PCC with collecting and reporting monthly data for the Maternal-Child dashboard, the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative (LaPQC), the Safe Birth Initiative (SBI), and the Birth Ready Designation (BRD). Examples of the data to be handled include delivery statistics, surgery cut and end times, daily census and length of stay data, postpartum hemorrhage reports, timely treatment of severe hypertension, three-day follow-ups, breastfeeding initiation and exclusivity measures, universal substance use screening, the Naloxone Project, Cribs for Kids, Leap Frog initiatives, and social determinants of health (SDOH) screening.
- Expanding the utilization of quality improvement projects aimed at decreasing preventable morbidity and mortality while ensuring equitable outcomes. Current improvement efforts focus on reducing the primary cesarean section rate, addressing substance use disorder, managing severe maternal hypertension, improving postpartum discharge transitions, monitoring postpartum cardiac conditions, responding to obstetrical emergencies, preventing surgical site infections, conducting early risk assessments, and achieving Birth Ready designation.
- Assisting the PCC with the daily operations of the Outpatient Infusion Unit by overseeing staff, managing appointment scheduling, maintaining communication with physicians and office staff, providing staff education, and ensuring the delivery of safe and effective outpatient care.
The head nurse will also collaborate closely with physician champions and other Maternal/Child units to provide safe, effective, and equitable care.