• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Building: John Jay Hall
• Salary Range: $115,000 - $130,000

Position Summary

Under the leadership of the Director of Nursing, the Associate Director provides overall planning, quality management, supervision, and coordination of clinical care provided by, registered nurses in the Medical Service.  The incumbent will provide administrative oversight, guidance, and accountability by effectively structuring the work, defining goals and objectives, and ensuring integration of services into the overall offerings of Columbia Health. This position is expected to cultivate and sustain strong, collaborative working relationships with colleagues and other university partners and units so that students are provided a seamless health and wellness experience on campus. Direct day-to-day management and evaluation of services to accomplish effective service delivery. Maintain accreditation standards and assist with articulation efforts to meet accreditation requirements. This is an essential, onsite role. 

Responsibilities

Leadership and Personnel Management (50%) 

• Provides professional nursing leadership and day-to-day functional supervision of nursing staff. Assess, coaches, and evaluates nurses’ clinical competency and foster continued clinical development to positively impact patient care and career satisfaction of staff.
• Ensures effective communication with other leaders to align nursing services and support interdisciplinary change initiatives, process improvement, workflow, and standard of care.
• In collaboration with Medical Services leadership team, manage nursing schedules (including time off request), assignments, and workflow to ensure optimal staffing and patient care.
• Participates in the Medical Services strategic planning process. 
• In partnership with the Laboratory Manager and the Director, Clinical Services and Training ensures initial and annual competency evaluation for laboratory personnel including clinicians, medical assistants, and nursing staff.   
• Ensures refrigerator temperature compliance.  In coordination with the Manager, Health Facilities & Operations ensures repairs and maintenance of refrigerators.
• Enforces medication administration storage procedure including response to temperature excursions.  Ensures appropriate inventory levels of medication and clinical supplies.
• Ensures compliance with healthcare regulations and standards, and implements policies and procedures to maintain patient and staff safety. Partners with relevant staff members to review safety issues; recommends or implements changes based on review when indicated.  Develops and updates policies and procedures consistent with the AAAHC standards. 
• Facilitates organizational change initiatives by using effective strategies to support and promote the implementation of the mission, vision, goals, and objectives of Columbia Health. Instrumental in implementing procedures, and designs that improve or enhance the function of the department.
• Consults and works in partnership with other units of Columbia Health to develop and implement patient care plans.  Fosters a professional practice environment through the facilitation of collegial interdisciplinary relationships, peer review, innovation, and joint practice arrangement. 
• Interface with student groups, parents, faculty, and staff as necessary to promote the mission of Columbia Health/Medical Services.   
• Designs and implements in-service training for nursing staff; develops meaningful orientation programs including infection control orientation for new employees, Safe Injection Practices review and Bloodborne Pathogens.  
• Leads the search, hiring, and onboarding processes for direct reports; support searches for other Medical Services team members. 
• In coordination with HR, evaluates staff performance, mentors, coaches, and supports staff development. 
• In the absence of the Assistant Director of Infection Control, serve as a back-up for new employees' immunization history review, fitting for N95 respirators and clearance for fit testing with external vendor, arrange for laboratory testing for titers when indicated for Medical Services employees, maintain a log of occupational exposures to blood-borne pathogen, coordinate the evaluation of exposure and treatment of exposed employee, including interview of source patient, facilitate exposed worker’s follow up at designated external vendor, and oversees Columbia University students working in laboratories and the Columbia University community where appropriate.   

Nursing Practice (30%) 

• Leads nursing practice using the tenets of patient-centered care for the promotion of the patient experience.   
• Oversees onsite and telephone patient flow for urgent and acute care and works with all members of the healthcare team to support best practice patient care decisions.  
• Oversees the process for follow-up of patients who have been transferred to hospitals or referred to PCP.  In collaboration with the clinical case management team, facilitates the continuity of care of hospitalized discharge patients. 
• Supports the coordination and continuity of care of patients with complex complicated medical conditions and collaborates with other clinical services providers to manage the coordination of care with new incoming students.   
• Implement Telephone Triage Protocols for Nurses and other ambulatory care protocols for common concerns likely to present without scheduled appointments, and develop protocols for triage for patients presenting to or calling into medical services for clinical care consistent with established standards of quality care.   
• Work in tandem with the Assistant Director, Travel Health to support Travel Medicine services.  
• Assumes responsibility and accountability for effectively managing nursing care of individual patients – documents nursing assessment, interventions, and outcomes to reflect comprehensive and integrated patient care. Completes accurate and timely documentation in the EMR.

Risk and Quality Management (15%) 

• Contributes to QI projects and collaborates with Medical Services leadership on QM committee and activities.
• Serve as an active member of the Pharmacy, Emergency Procedure, and Accreditation Committee as well as tasks force when warranted to achieve integrated quality care for patients.  Assures nursing participation in Medical Services and Columbia Health’s committees.  
• Develops and maintains a program of Risk Management.  Reports high-risk patients to the Senior Vice President, Associate Vice President, and Directors or designee in a timely manner and reviews cases periodically and as warranted.   
• Ensures overall integration of risk management into Quality Improvement activities.   

Performs other duties as assigned. 5%

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science in nursing or health-related field required.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant work experience with a progressive scope of responsibility managing personnel and coordinating clinical care.
• Thorough knowledge of, and demonstrable success in, developing collaborative teams that work from shared values to achieve strategic priorities. 
• Evidence of ability to maintain and promote interpersonal relationships. 
• Excellent communication skills .
• Ability to organize tasks, problem solve, and respond in times of multiple demands and urgent situations.
• Effective analytical thinking and reasoning. 
• Demonstrated ability to interact with a culturally and ethnically diverse population of students, faculty, and staff, including those with physical and learning disabilities, and a sensitivity to gender issues. 
• Working knowledge of accreditation processes. 
• Excellent computer skills, especially with Electronic Health Records (EHRs), and the ability to learn new systems quickly. 
• BLS and Infection Control Certification required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in healthcare administration or closely related field. 
• Experience in student health or community health.
• Healthcare administrative leadership experience. 
• General knowledge of local, state, and federal regulations (e.g., HIPAA, FERPA, Clery Act). 
• Experience supervising employees who are part of a collective bargaining unit.
• Experience with AAAHC (Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care) standards. 

Other Requirements

• Some Saturdays during the academic term may be required.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.