Position Specification                                     

Vice President, Nursing (South)

The Organization

Founded in 1861, St. Elizabeth Medical Center has locations throughout Northern Kentucky and is one of the largest and most respected medical centers in the region. St. Elizabeth is the first and only Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky hospital to achieve Magnet ™ status, the internationally recognized gold standard for nursing excellence. HealthGrades has named St. Elizabeth a Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence, placing it in the top 5% in the nation for quality of care five years in a row.  With its recognition from Thomson Reuter as a Top 100 Hospital, St. Elizabeth is one of three hospitals in the Nation to have all three honors.

St. Elizabeth Medical Center is a not-for-profit Catholic healthcare ministry, whose Mission is to “provide comprehensive and compassionate care through partnerships that improve the health of the people [they] serve.”  Their Vision is to "be a national leader in healthcare excellence through experience, collaboration, and innovation."   Their Values include: Teamwork, Accountability, Respect, Giving, Excellence and Timeliness.  Originally founded by the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor, the organization has been sponsored by the Diocese of Covington since the early 1970s.

A recent merger between St. Elizabeth Medical Center and St. Luke Hospitals was completed on October 27, 2008. The new combined health system has major facilities in Covington, Fort Thomas, Florence, Edgewood and Williamstown, Kentucky and throughout Northern Kentucky. The merger creates a system with vast resources to serve the Greater Cincinnati area, including over a thousand licensed beds, 6,000 employees, 925 physicians with privileges and facilities with more than two million square feet. Under the sponsorship of the Diocese of Covington, the combined system provides over $71 million in uncompensated care and benefits to the community annually. A summary of some of the key facts includes:

• Licensed beds – 1,068

• Admissions – 46,929

• Emergency room visits – 194,914

• Births – 5034

• Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) 4,638

• Square footage of facilities – 2,134,436

• Physicians with privileges - 925

• Primary care office locations – 31

• Net patient revenue – $663,040,886

• Estimated community benefit - $71 million

The South Unit, which opened in 1978, is located on a 260-acre tract of land in suburban Edgewood. It includes a Family Practice Residency program, the Family Birth Place – a state-of-the-art maternity service with a special care nursery for newborns, pediatric services, a sports medicine center, a women's wellness center, specialized cancer treatment services, comprehensive behavioral health services, and a business health services program. A cardiac catheterization laboratory for diagnosing heart problems opened in 1981, followed in late 1984 by an open-heart surgery program. Surgeons now perform almost 800 coronary artery bypass grafts and heart valve replacements per year at this nationally recognized program. St. Elizabeth Medical Center has the only open-heart surgery program in Northern Kentucky and has the second largest program in Greater Cincinnati.  In late 2008, St. Elizabeth Medical Center began operating the first and only medical imaging device in the Midwest capable of producing functioning three-dimensional images of the bodies organs in less than a heartbeat.  Located at the South Unit, St. E’s Aquilion One 320-slice CT scanner is the most powerful X-ray imaging device in the world, and no other hospital in the area has this groundbreaking technology.

St. Elizabeth also recently completed a major $72 Million expansion of the South Unit.  The new additions greatly increase the size of the emergency department and added an eight-story patient tower. The eight story patient tower was completed and occupied in 2005. The tower increases the capacity of cardiology and radiology services and includes a dedicated observation bed unit, expansion of cardiac surgery recovery and family waiting area, a 24 bed ICU/TCU inpatient unit with adjacent physician on-call rooms. The total size of the expansion was about 300,000 square feet, about the same size as the South Unit when it opened in October 1978. Concurrent with the expansion of the medical center has been the construction of an Outpatient Surgery Center on the Edgewood campus. This 42,000 square foot facility with four operating suites was opened in 2004.

St. Elizabeth was also recently selected as one of five “Destination Hospitals for Nursing” in the nation and profiled as one of the best examples of hospitals that have created outstanding work environments for their nurses.

For additional information about St. Elizabeth Medical Center please visit: www.stelizabeth.com .

The Position

Location
Located directly across from Cincinnati, Ohio, on the Ohio River, the Northern Kentucky region is in so many ways the best of Cincinnati. The Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati airport is only ten minutes from St. Elizabeth South with access to the U.S. and international destinations. The economy in Northern Kentucky is thriving with companies such as Fidelity Investments, Ashland Oil, and Toyota making it home. The cost of housing is among the lowest for a major metropolitan area with choices from historic to new construction.

The three northernmost counties of Kentucky each has at least one major center of population: Florence in Boone County; Covington, Erlanger, and Independence in Kenton County; and Newport, Fort Thomas, and Alexandria in Campbell County. Immediately on the other side of the Ohio River is Cincinnati, Ohio. However, the entire core region is densely populated, with these cities surrounded by many smaller towns. The periphery of Boone, Kenton, and Campbell Counties, namely the extreme western part of Boone County, and southernmost parts of all three of the core counties are still primarily rural in nature, but a rapidly growing population means there is a lot of housing development. The four outer counties are still primarily rural, although suburban development is starting to reach them. Combined with part of Indiana, and Southwestern Ohio, all seven counties are a part of the Greater Cincinnati area, which has a population of over 2 million.

The area was served by ferry service across the Ohio River until the completion of the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge (prototype of the famous Brooklyn Bridge) in 1866, whereupon land values in the areas near the river quadrupled overnight. Beginning in the 1970s, many factors combined to create major growth. The proximity to Cincinnati, the completion of I-75, the nexus of rail service and river traffic, creation of several industrial parks, and the growth of Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (located near Hebron in northeastern Boone County near the Kenton County line) drew many industries into the area. Its geographically central location (within 800 miles of 80% of the US population) makes it ideal for distribution centers, and those shipping all over the country.
For additional information about Northern Kentucky, visit:   http://www.nkycc.org or http://staynky.com.

Reporting Relationships

The Vice President, Nursing reports directly to the Senior Vice President & Chief Nursing Officer, Jane Swaim.   Direct reports include Directors for Perioperative Services, Acute Care, Women’s and Children’s, Critical Care, and Emergency Services.

Responsibilities

The Vice President, Nursing will be responsible for managing operations and programs that affect the performance of hospital patient care services.  The Vice President will ultimately help ensure high quality service, patient satisfaction, a safe environment, and the overall efficient operational integrity of Patient Care Services at the South Unit and for three health system wide service lines—Surgical Services, Emergency Department and Women’s. This person will oversee all activities and personnel related to the day-to-day operation of these patient care services and programs.

The Vice President, Nursing will be expected to provide leadership and direction to nursing, guidance in the development of professional standards and practices and advocacy for nursing.  This person will serve as a member of the Administrative Council which also includes the most senior leadership in the St. Elizabeth Medical Center Health System.  The Vice President will also serve as the administrative representative to a number of committees such as IT Steering and as delegated by the CNO.  

The following comprise the major expectations of the person who accepts the Vice President, Nursing position:

• Lead patient care services operations at the South Unit while developing and maintaining a higher level of professionalism with consistency.

• Work together with others in senior leadership to help ensure that there is standardization of high quality patient care and services across the newly-merged health system.

• Become involved in the St. Elizabeth Medical Center EPIC CPOE conversion which is currently underway and scheduled for implementation by the third quarter of 2010.

• Improve and sustain nursing practices that would support the upcoming re-designation of Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Services by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).

• Participate in the St. Elizabeth Medical Center nursing strategic planning process.

• Foster growth and development among nursing staff and promote the St. Elizabeth clinical ladder, which is know as the Professional Development and Recognition Program.

• Establish collaborative, positive working relationships with physicians, while improving patient satisfaction levels and strengthen physician impressions of patient care at St. Elizabeth Medical Center.

• Select and develop the patient care directors and managers who will be compatible with a newly-organized, progressive nursing leadership paradigm and be able to help achieve the organization’s goals and objectives. One critical new hire will be the Director of Critical Care.

• Lead, manage and re-energize the patient care management team to become an effective, motivated, cohesive and high performance group. 

• Become an advocate for high quality patient care. 

Opportunity

This position provides an opportunity to join a progressive, nationally-distinguished healthcare organization that provides excellent care in a collaborative, team-oriented   work setting.  As one of the pre-eminent healthcare providers in the region, St. Elizabeth offers a financially sound, stable environment where personal and professional development takes place.  The newly-expanded South Unit, together with the North Unit, St. Elizabeth Grant County and the newly-merged St. Like Hospital entities combine to offer a state-of-the-art medical environment with innovative design and technologies. 

The Vice President, Nursing will have the opportunity to participate in the re-creation of a new nursing organization for St. E’s.  Moreover, there will be much opportunity for personal and professional growth as the organization establishes itself as a world class medical center.

Travel

Some local travel between the various St. Elizabeth Medical Center campuses is anticipated. Active involvement with appropriate professional societies and organizations might also involve some limited regional or national travel.

Compensation

An attractive, competitive compensation program will be tailored to the specific needs of qualified candidates.

Education

A BSN is required for this position.  A Master’s degree in nursing is also required, while an additional MBA or related business-related credential is highly desirable. 

Professional Qualifications

Five to seven years experience with progressive leadership roles in a relevant setting and a track record of nursing operational excellence. 

• A strong operations leader with strong team building and team development skills.

• Experience with or the ability to work in a matrix organizational structure with complex and sometimes dual lines of authority.

• Particularly strong transformational leadership skills, the ability to work in partnership with other strong leaders toward progressive cultural change.

• A financial business acumen, that is, experience with business and the financial aspects of clinical management, a good understanding of the budget process.

• Strong negotiation skills with the ability to motivate others toward common objectives. 

• Experience working across lines of authority and demonstrated success with breaking down traditional silos.  Demonstrated ability to develop collaborative teams and integrated services and programs.

• An understanding of information systems and technology related to the management and analysis of clinical data.

• Strong problem-solving skills.

• An understanding and working knowledge of the American Nurses Credentialing Center and the Magnet Recognition for Excellence program.

• A track record of active involvement in the nursing profession and related professional organizations (i.e. AONE, ANCC, ACHE, etc.).

• Excellent physician relationship skills and the ability to work collegially with medical professionals and institutions in partnership toward common objectives. 

• Strong patient safety and quality improvement skills.

• Clinical knowledge, but possessing leadership skills gained from the experience of facilitating or managing successful patient care services.

• Effective written and oral communication and presentation skills and the ability to communicate at all levels of the organization.

Personal Characteristics

• A collaborative team player and colleague who can work closely with others in a team-oriented setting with consensus decision-making.

• An understanding and respect for the St. Elizabeth culture, and an appreciation of what it is like to work in a faith-inspired organization.

• Someone willing to set clear expectations, assure accountability and who can motivate others to achieve.  Collaborative, yet decisive; willing to empower staff.

• A visible patient care executive who leads by example.

• A passionate advocate for the nursing profession and for nurses.

• A polished nurse executive with a professional demeanor.

• A charismatic leader who leads and enriches more than manages.

• Someone who can quickly establish credibility with physicians and other medical professionals based upon his/her personal characteristics. 

• A person of integrity, who is confident, poised, secure, relaxed, and positive in their approach to issues and people.

• A results-oriented, self-motivated person with a strong work ethic focused on success.

• An open, outgoing, extrovert with a sense of humor who takes their work, but not his or herself, seriously.

• A constructive, positive person with a “can-do” attitude.

• A thick-skinned, tenacious person who stays the course.

• Someone who recognizes others for contributions and achievements.

• A common-sense rational thinker.

• Someone with a strong work ethic and the ability to roll up the sleeves and get things done.