Director of Nursing

Director of Nursing (DON) 55-Bed Skilled Nursing Facility | Full-Time

We are seeking an experienced and highly motivated Director of Nursing (DON) to provide clinical leadership and oversight for our 55-bed Skilled Nursing Facility.

This is a key leadership position for an RN who is passionate about clinical excellence, strong documentation, positive resident outcomes, medication safety, regulatory compliance, and developing a high-performing nursing team.

We are looking for a DON who is visible, engaged, and accountable—a leader who understands that exceptional clinical outcomes begin with strong systems, clear expectations, consistent follow-through, and a nursing team that is supported and held to a high standard.

Position Overview

The Director of Nursing is responsible for the overall leadership and performance of the facility's nursing department. The DON will work closely with the Administrator and interdisciplinary team to ensure residents receive high-quality, person-centered care while maintaining compliance with federal, state, and facility requirements. A primary focus of this position is strengthening clinical documentation and accountability . The DON must ensure that the medical record accurately reflects each resident's condition, interventions, physician communication, response to treatment, and overall plan of care.

The ideal candidate understands that documentation is not simply a regulatory requirement—it is essential to continuity of care, resident safety, clinical decision-making, reimbursement, risk management, and successful survey outcomes.

Key Areas of ResponsibilityClinical Documentation & PointClickCare (PCC)

Maintain high standards for timely, accurate, and complete nursing documentation. The DON should have well-established knowledge and proficiency with PointClickCare (PCC) and be comfortable utilizing the platform to review clinical documentation, physician orders, assessments, progress notes, alerts, incidents, treatments, and resident trends.

The DON will routinely work closely with our medical records team and go through audits, identify documentation gaps, educate nursing staff, and ensure corrective actions are implemented and maintained.

Clinical Outcomes & Quality Improvement

Monitor clinical indicators and utilize data to identify opportunities for improvement(fall rate, send outs, med error% etc). The DON will lead initiatives focused on improving resident outcomes, reducing avoidable hospitalizations, identifying changes in condition early, and preventing adverse events. Key areas of focus include falls, pressure injuries, weight loss, infections, rehospitalizations, changes in condition, pain management, and other high-risk clinical indicators.

Medication Management & Error Reduction

Medication safety is a critical responsibility of this position. The DON will establish and reinforce systems designed to reduce medication errors, missed medications, transcription errors, treatment errors, and medication-related adverse events.

Medication errors and near misses should be thoroughly reviewed to determine root causes, provide appropriate staff education, and implement meaningful interventions that reduce the likelihood of recurrence.

Survey Readiness & Regulatory Compliance

Maintain a culture of continuous survey readiness. The DON should have a strong understanding of skilled nursing regulations and be prepared to lead the clinical team through regulatory surveys, complaint investigations, Plans of Correction, audits, and follow-up monitoring.

Our expectation is simple: survey readiness should be part of everyday operations—not something that begins when surveyors enter the building. Change in Condition & High-Risk Resident Management

Ensure nursing staff are appropriately identifying, assessing, documenting, communicating, and following up on changes in resident condition.

The DON will maintain strong oversight of high-risk residents, including residents with wounds, falls, infections, significant weight changes, frequent hospitalizations, complex medication regimens, and other clinical concerns, and work closely with our IP/treatment nurses to ensure an outstanding clinical product. Care Planning & Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Promote individualized and clinically appropriate care planning that accurately reflects each resident's current condition, risks, goals, preferences, and interventions. Collaborate closely with the Administrator, Medical Director, MDS, Therapy, Social Services, Dietary, Pharmacy, Infection Prevention, and other members of the interdisciplinary team to ensure coordinated and effective resident care.

Staff Development & Accountability

Build, mentor, and develop a strong nursing department by establishing clear expectations and maintaining accountability for clinical performance. The DON should be comfortable providing education and coaching while also addressing performance concerns when standards are not being met. Areas of focus include documentation, medication administration, change-in-condition reporting, infection prevention, resident safety, professionalism, attendance, and communication.

Qualifications

• Current and unrestricted Registered Nurse (RN) license

• Previous DON, ADON, Nurse Manager, or comparable nursing leadership experience in a Skilled Nursing Facility strongly preferred

• Strong working knowledge of PointClickCare (PCC)

• Thorough understanding of skilled nursing clinical documentation requirements

• Knowledge of federal and state long-term care regulations

• Experience with survey preparation, Plans of Correction, QAPI, and regulatory compliance

• Strong understanding of medication management and medication-error prevention

• Experience managing falls, wounds, infections, hospital transfers, changes in condition, and other clinical quality indicators

• Knowledge of MDS, care planning, Medicare/Medicaid requirements, and interdisciplinary care processes

• Strong leadership, organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills

• Ability to analyze clinical trends and translate findings into effective action plans

• Ability to educate, coach, develop, and hold nursing staff accountable

The Leader We Are Looking For

• We are looking for a DON who takes ownership of the clinical department and leads from the front, and a leader who is striving to work with department heads/Administrator to build something special here at Valley Skilled Nursing Center, and bless the lives of those that come into our facility.

As a 4 star Medicare facility, we are looking for a clinical leader to get us to that 5 star rating! The right candidate will be comfortable reviewing a resident's chart and recognizing what is missing, rounding on the nursing units and identifying potential clinical risks, coaching a nurse on stronger documentation, and developing systems to prevent the same issue from happening again.

We value a leader who is proactive rather than reactive—someone who recognizes trends early, addresses concerns promptly, follows through on corrective actions, and continuously evaluates how clinical systems can be improved. Above all, we want a Director of Nursing who understands that great outcomes are not accidental—they are the result of strong leadership, excellent documentation, effective systems, accountability, and a nursing team committed to providing exceptional care. If you are an experienced nursing leader who takes pride in developing teams, strengthening clinical systems, and achieving measurable improvements in resident care, we encourage you to apply!

Join our leadership team and help us continue building a culture of clinical excellence, accountability, safety, and exceptional resident care.

Pay: $120,000.00 - $160,000.00 per year Work Location: In person