Director Emergency Department

The Director of Emergency Department provides strategic and operational leadership for all functions within the hospital's emergency services area. This role is responsible for managing departmental staff, quality of care, patient safety, regulatory compliance, fiscal oversight, and process improvement initiatives. The Director works in close collaboration with nursing leadership, physicians, and interdisciplinary teams to deliver timely, high-quality emergency care to diverse patient populations.

Essential Functions

• Provides strategic, operational, and clinical leadership for Emergency Services, ensuring safe, timely, patient-centered care across all hours of operation.

• Establishes and monitors departmental goals, policies, procedures, and standards consistent with evidence-based emergency nursing practice and organizational priorities.

• Maintains compliance with applicable laws, regulations, accreditation standards, emergency medical treatment requirements, and hospital policies.

• Monitors emergency care quality, safety, and service indicators and leads corrective actions and performance improvement initiatives based on identified trends.

• Optimizes triage, patient flow, throughput, transfer, and discharge processes in collaboration with physicians, nursing leaders, ancillary departments, and community partners.

• Oversees workforce planning, recruitment, orientation, scheduling, competency validation, performance management, and professional development for assigned staff.

• Develops and manages the departmental operating and capital budgets; monitors productivity, staffing, supplies, and resource utilization against approved targets.

• Partners with the Emergency Department medical director and medical staff to promote consistent clinical practice, timely escalation, and effective resolution of operational concerns.

• Ensures departmental readiness for high-risk events, including emergency preparedness, disaster response, surge capacity, behavioral health emergencies, and other time-sensitive conditions.

• Promotes a culture of safety, accountability, staff engagement, service excellence, and continuous learning within the department.

• Responds to patient, family, physician, and staff concerns; identifies systemic issues and ensures timely, appropriate follow-up.

• Represents Emergency Services on hospital committees and contributes to strategic planning, program development, and organization-wide initiatives.

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities/Expectations

• Advanced knowledge of emergency nursing practice, triage, stabilization, and care of high-acuity and time-sensitive conditions.

• Knowledge of laws, regulations, accreditation standards, and emergency medical treatment requirements applicable to Emergency Services.

• Skill in leading multidisciplinary teams and making sound decisions in high-pressure, rapidly changing situations.

• Ability to analyze patient flow, throughput, quality, safety, and utilization data and translate findings into measurable improvement.

• Knowledge of workforce planning, staffing models, productivity management, budgeting, and resource allocation.

• Skill in change leadership, performance management, coaching, conflict resolution, and staff engagement.

• Effective written, verbal, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills with staff, physicians, patients, families, and community partners.

• Proficiency with electronic health records, clinical information systems, and standard business and reporting applications.

Qualifications

Education

• Postsecondary (Cert/Diploma/Program Grad) from an accredited nursing program (Required) And

• Bachelor’s Degree or higher in nursing, healthcare administration or a related field (Preferred)

Licenses/Certifications

• RN - Registered Nurse - State Licensure and/or Compact State Licensure in the state of practice Upon Hire (Required)

• BCLS - Basic Life Support from American Heart Association or other approved provider Upon Hire or within facility-specified time frame (Required)

• ACLS - Advanced Cardiac Life Support from American Heart Association or other approved provider Upon Hire or within facility-specified time frame (May be Required-Facility Specific)

• PALS - Pediatric Advanced Life Support from American Heart Association or other approved provider Upon Hire or within facility-specified time frame (May be Required-Facility Specific)

Experience

• 5+ years progressively responsible nursing experience (Required) And

• 2+ years leadership or management experience in an acute care or emergency setting (Required)