Chief Nursing Officer, SVP Details

UnityPoint Health - West Des Moines, IA

Employment Type : Full-Time

Overview: This search is being handled by WittKieffer, a Global Executive Search Firm. Please send your resume and interest in this role to Megan Welch via e-mail, to mwelch@wittkieffer.com.
The Chief Nurse Officer (CNO) SVP is responsible for leading and inspiring the nursing workforce across all regions and business entities with a focus on professional nursing practice, clinical operations, care management, quality and safety, the patient experience, performance improvement and workforce planning. The CNO is a strategic leader capable of effecting change and mobilizing high performing teams to drive quality, clinical excellence, operational improvements, and fiscal accountability. In a triad relationship with the Chief Clinical Officer (CCO) and the Chief Operations Officer (COO), the CNO shares responsibility for creating a vision and strategic direction for nursing and the clinical enterprise as UPH looks to transform the care experience across the system. The CNO will report directly to UPH's Chief Executive Officer, Clay Holderman. The CNO will be an integral member of the Core Council and collaborate closely with both the COO and CCO.
The CNO is supported by a team including:

  • Regional Chief Nurse Executives (matrixed to their regional presidents)
  • Director System Services Labor Pool & Nursing Operations

COVID-19 and Flu Vaccination Requirement:
It is required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and Influenza. Exemption requests based on medical or religious reasons may be submitted, but must be approved for active employment.


Why UnityPoint Health?

  • Culture – At UnityPoint Health, you Come for a fulfilling career and experience a culture guided by uncompromising values and unwavering belief in doing what's right for the people we serve.
  • Benefits – Our competitive Total Rewards program offers benefits options like 401K match, paid time off and education assistance that align with your needs and priorities, no matter what life stage you’re in.
  • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Commitment – We’re committed to ensuring you have a voice that is heard regardless of role, race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation.
  • Development – We believe equipping you with support and development opportunities is an essential part of delivering a remarkable employment experience.
  • Community Involvement – Be an essential part of our core purpose—to improve the health of the people and communities we serve.


Visit us at UnityPoint.org/careers to hear more from our team members about why UnityPoint Health is a great place to work. https://dayinthelife.unitypointResponsibilities: The successful Senior Vice President, Chief Nursing Officer candidate will provide leadership in the following areas:
Transformational Leadership
  • Sets strategy and execute on priorities to achieve organizational goals and deliver on the mission.
  • In a triad relationship with the COO and CCO, develops and leads a transformative strategy to improve delivery of patient care services across the continuum of care. Leads enterprise-wide initiatives to ensure safety, quality and exceptional patient experience.
  • Partners with key stakeholders across the system to build a consumer-focused delivery system.
  • Formalizes nursing operating model including core and flexible staffing methodologies, business operations, and support of system service line infrastructure.
  • Aligns workforce efforts with the future of work capabilities and build options within the system for long-term staff retention.
  • Works with information technology and innovation teams to identify and implement technology enablers to augment workflows and address nursing and clinical care pain points.
  • Builds trusting, collaborative relationships with system and regional leaders, key physician partners, and team members to advance core initiatives.

Clinical Excellence: Quality, Safety and Experience
  • Maintains Just Culture to assure safety/error prevention and team support.
  • Establishes a model and/or nursing governance structure for the diffusion and adoption of knowledge and best practices across the system.
  • Establish structures and provide adequate resources to create a culture of continual improvement.
  • Models FOCUS values and empathy and hold others accountable to set the environment for exceptional patient experiences.
  • Partners with innovation leaders to design, deploy and improve technology and workflows.
  • Decreases clinical variation by establishing reliable processes and consistent utilization of standards and protocols.
  • Directs clinical operations by developing procedures, policies and initiatives that support nurse sensitive patient care services and outcomes across the system.
  • Establishes sustainable processes for sharing and dissemination of lessons learned and hardwire prevention strategies in all regions.
  • Invests in communication skills development and coaching to enable team members to demonstrate how much patients and families’ matter. Incorporate tools into the interview and selection process to hire for best fit.
  • Serves as staff to the Board of Trustees and committees of the Board to provide clinical input required to make Board decisions. Operational Efficiency and Sustainability
  • Demonstrates leadership in forecasting trends in the effective management of human, financial, material and informational resources.
  • Leads patient care workforce planning efforts in conjunction with HR and the Regional CNEs through forecasting, recruitment, staff development, retention, and supplemental staffing.
  • Establishes and operationalizes a system Resource Pool to decrease external agency spend and assure UPH clinical standards and culture.
  • Establishes decision support tools to enable nursing departments to maximize productivity and achieve flexed targets, resulting in budget achievement.
  • Mentors regional CNEs to apply process engineering and process improvement principles to improve patient throughput and organizational capacity.
  • Evaluates outcomes and data in order to continuously improve operational processes, procedures and systems.

Culture, Leadership Development, and Performance Management
  • Creates and aligns a system vision for nursing in support of the organization’s mission, vision and strategic goals.
  • Accountable for the recruitment, selection, hiring, onboarding, mentoring and performance monitoring of regional CNEs.
  • Establishes effective process for career growth and development of emerging nurse leaders across the system.
  • Constructs a clinical workforce that reflects diversity and promotes culturally competent care.
  • Works with regional CNEs to establish standards for competency in evidence-based practices and ensure they are incorporated into essential functions of all clinical positions system wide.
  • Works with system leaders to consistently deploy processes and structures across the system to ensure expectations for performance are established and accountability maintained.
  • Models shared decision making with key stakeholders. Knowledge of the Health Care Environment
  • Understands national and regional healthcare environments and major market changes. Helps shape the clinical vision, priorities, and strategic plans for UnityPoint Health.
  • Creates a culture of learning around the health care environment, regulations, compliance, health care economics and health policy.
  • Maintains awareness of applicable laws and/or regulations. Remains current on regulation changes and accreditation bodies; recognizes implications to the organization. Recommends appropriate action and risk management measures to ensure regulatory compliance.
  • Maintains current knowledge of the state nurse practice act in all states under scope of responsibility.
  • Supports a philosophy of community involvement by participating in professional and community activities. Serves as a good community citizen through support of non-profit organizations that promotes a healthy lifestyle for both the current and future work force

Goals and Objectives
The following goals and objectives have been identified as priorities for this position:
  • Become an integral member of the Executive Core Council. The CNO will be seen as a trusted and valued team member.
  • Build a strong productive working relationship with the Chief Clinical Officer and Chief Operating Officer to advance clinical care and operational transformation initiatives. Shares accountability for the achievement of clinical excellence, through driving appropriate standardization across UPH. Achievement of goals across the continuum of care will be evidenced by excellent performance in quality of care, experience and clinical effectiveness metrics.
  • Be an integral partner and leader in the drive across UPH to greater systemness. Lead the advancement of specific work streams within the "Path Forward" framework to enhance care delivery across the system, in particular, care redesign. The CNO identify and execute, through collaboration across multiple disciplines, new models of care to address changing needs and the move to value.
  • Partner with human resources and nursing leadership to implement work and rewards redesign with a goal of attracting the best and brightest nurses to UPH facilities. Identify avenues to address nurse recruitment and retention strategies to enhance nursing culture across the system.
  • Provide a strategic vision for nursing moving forward, identifying and disseminating best practices across the system. They will advance the ability to think about nursing in new and innovative ways that create higher quality.
  • Build strong relationships and partnerships with regional and local universities and colleges with schools of nursing. Leverage those relationships to build a pipeline for nurse recruitment.
  • Lead efforts to standardize accreditation services across the system.
Qualifications:Education/Certification:
  • Master’s degree in nursing, health administration or MBA
  • Certification in nursing or health care administration
  • RN licensure in the State of Iowa

Knowledge and Work Experience:
  • Progressive track record of nursing executive leadership including within a complex health system. Demonstrated results in improving performance within a highly matrixed organization.
  • Strong knowledge of current initiatives and trends around value-based purchasing and population health; Proven success in developing, designing and executing clinical programs that create measurable outcomes in quality, service, finance, growth and people.
  • Experience with automation and technology and using AI, data analytics, informatics in transforming care delivery a plus.
  • Experience with Lean Management Systems and/or in High Reliability organizations preferred.
  • Experience managing and enhancing nursing operations across the full continuum of care, particularly with developing staff skills through competency assessment, training and professional development programs.
  • Experience with, and leadership of, service excellence programs, continuous quality improvement, and patient safety.
  • Well-developed financial and business skills, as well as a strong analytical orientation; the ability to make evidence-based decisions in a collaborative manner.
Leadership Skills and Competencies:
  • Communication and relationship building qualities including effective demonstration of shared decision making; influencing behaviors; diversity; trust and credibility with physicians, system leaders and team members, and academic partners; and community involvement.
  • Leadership capabilities including foundational and systems thinking; change management; succession planning; and development of emerging leaders across the system.
  • Demonstrated professionalism including personal and professional accountability; ethics; engagement and networking with system CNEs across the country; use of evidence-based clinical and management practices; advocacy; and active membership in professional organizations.
  • Competencies in human resource management; strategic planning; marketing; information technology; financial accountability; and business research.
  • Demonstrates and lives UPH's values and demonstrates that through alignment with key behaviors as outlined below:
    • Foster Unity
      • Leverage the skills and abilities of each person to enable great teams.
      • Collaborate across departments, facilities, business units and regions.
      • Seek to understand and are open to diverse thoughts and perspectives.
    • Own the Moment
      • Connect with each person treating them with courtesy, compassion, empathy and respect.
      • Enthusiastically engage in our work.
      • Accountable for our individual actions and our team performance.
      • Responsible for solving problems regardless of the origin.
    • Champion Excellence
      • Commit to the best outcomes and highest quality.
      • Have a relentless focus on exceeding expectations.
      • Believe in sharing our results, learning from our mistakes and celebrating our successes.
    • Seize Opportunities
      • Embrace and promote innovation and transformation.
      • Create partnerships that improve care delivery in our communities.
      • Have the courage to challenge the status quo.

Posted on : 2 years ago