The Vice President, Professional Practice is accountable for areas of responsibility that encompasses education, professional nursing practice and research, with a focus on nursing outcomes. This individual leads program planning, implementation, and evaluation of initiatives that support the Division of Nursing on both strategic and tactical levels. Programmatic areas include new staff orientation, nurse-sensitive quality indicators, regulatory compliance, evidence-based practice and nursing research. The Vice President collaborates with organizational nursing leaders to develop and sustain an environment that promotes excellence in nursing practice. Program management includes activities and structures that sustain nursing practice as well as promote an optimal work environment for professional nurses and care team members, resulting in outstanding patient care outcomes.

1. Onboarding & Educational Systems
   • Provides vision, strategy, and tactical plans for successful onboarding of new staff including a Nurse Residency Program.
   • Provides leadership for the development of orientation, staff education and skills validation programs that advance nursing practice to achieve quality patient outcomes. This is accomplished through collaboration with nursing leadership, clinical educators, clinical nurse specialists, and preceptors.
   • Proactively anticipates the need for educational activities that correlate with the unit/department, the nursing division, or organizational priorities and performance improvement activities.
   • Mentors direct reports to develop educational programs and systems that engage new learners and fosters the development of critical thinking skills.
   • Leads the department to develop and maintain employee professional development systems and process so that staff are engaged with the organization and support organizational initiatives.
   • Develops leadership initiatives and education for new and seasoned organizational leaders that enables them to foster staff engagement, promote initiatives for customer service and quality practice, and the development of accountability.
2. Advancing Nursing Practice
   • Integrates professional nursing concepts (NDNQI, standards of practice, Magnet) into nursing leadership, organizational programs, and hospital initiatives.
   • Provides administrative direction and consultation in the development and promotion of professional practice decision making.
   • Establishes an environment that values and supports the identification, introduction, assimilation and promotion of innovation and changes in practice.
   • Provides leadership in the development of evidence-based policies, procedures, protocols and best practice models/guidelines.
   • Monitors the relationships between nursing practice and outcome costs.
   • Uses benchmarking data to continually stretch the department towards higher levels of excellence and cost-effectiveness.
   • Promotes evidence-based practice (EBP). Develops systems and process to provide nurses with coaching and mentorship on the Professional Practice Model and other tenants of EBP.
   • Anchors nursing practice to include evidence-based information and standards of care in achieving nursing sensitive outcomes.
3. Accreditation & Regulatory Requirements
   • Develops vision, strategy, and tactical plans to ensure that The Joint Commission (TJC) requirements for patient care systems and processes are met. Collaborates with organizational leaders to ensure the maintenance of systems and process that meet TJC standards.
   • Develops vision, strategy, and tactical plans for achieving Magnet recognition. Manages preparation and logistics for Magnet annual reports, applications and site visits. Collaborates with organizational leaders to develop, achieve and sustain systems and processes that enable the organization to meet Magnet requirements.
   • Maintains compliance with all regulatory agencies and rules of accrediting bodies by continually monitoring nursing service and its programs and initiating required changes or improvements. Coordinates compliance activities for the Division of Nursing.
   • Establishes and monitors compliance with nursing sensitive outcomes related to service ensuring safe delivery of [patient care according to national standards for nursing practice.
   • Oversees nursing quality data collection, dissemination and evaluation (nursing dashboard, NDNQI, etc.).
4. Research
   • Provides oversight, facilitation and direction for the integration of structures and processes that inspire nursing research, clinical inquiry innovation and advances the science of nursing.
   • Leads the development of strong links between evidence-based practice, research, and clinical practice by promoting the utilization/understanding of the research/evidence-based processes into practice to improve patient outcomes, professional nursing practice and the work environment. Conducts and mentors others to conduct clinical inquires to identify research questions or clinical issues for further evaluation and analysis to determine the need to change practice to impact patient outcomes and organizational/department level improvement process. This includes initiating and/or participating in research or other evaluation projects to investigate clinical issues and mentoring others to interpret, conduct, and/or change practice standards based on evidence-based practice or research.
   • Identifies opportunities to acknowledge unit/organization for nursing best practices as seen through supporting nurses in publication and presentation (i.e., article development, author/co-author articles, development of posters or oral presentations).
   • Seeks external grants/funding, develops academic partnerships and builds capacity for nursing research the use of evidence to guide clinical practice and improve nursing outcomes.
   • Fosters collaborative partnerships with physician colleagues and leadership across the system to leverage all research and improvement resources and activities.
5. Leadership/Role Model/Change agent
   • Creates and maintains an environment where employees have the opportunity for self-expression, accountability for job performance and job satisfaction to improve the employee culture of participation. Creates a safe environment to identify, introduce, assimilate and promote change successfully in the practice environment.
   • Provides an environment that fosters teamwork, mentoring, coaching and learning as measured by staff engagement.
   • Reviews systems and processes for effectiveness and facilitates changes based on evidence-based practice that will promote quality patient care and outcomes.
   • Collaborates with nursing leadership in the innovative use of data systems (i.e., accessing, collecting, analyzing, and managing data) in driving decisions to improve nursing systems and practices.
6. Organization/Systems
   • Collaborates with leadership and nursing staff to implement nursing care activities to achieve goals at the unit, nursing division, departmental, organizational, and system levels.
   • Leads multidisciplinary groups and/or provides clinical expertise/consultation to represent nursing in multidisciplinary groups to implement innovative care programs that address issues across the full continuum of care for different population groups and different specialties.
   • Provides focused leadership that advances quality patient care across the continuum to influence patient care programs that align with the organization’s strategic comparatives: mission, vision, and values.
   • Influences patient care initiatives and changes in the system that reflect knowledge of cost management and revenue enhancement strategies.
   • Participates in professional nursing activities locally, regionally, and nationally to enhance clinical expertise, professional development, and to articulate the unique contributions and values of nursing care at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
7. Performs miscellaneous job related duties as requested.

Mission

To advance hope, healing and the best healthcare for children and their families

Vision

Phoenix Children's will be the leading pediatric health system in the Southwest, nationally recognized for exceptional care, innovative research and advanced medical education.

We realize this vision by:

• Offering the most comprehensive care across ages, communities and specialties
• Investing in innovative research, including emerging treatments, tools and technologies
• Advancing education and training to shape the next generation of clinical leaders
• Advocating for the health and well-being of children and families

Values

• We place children and families at the center of all we do
• We deliver exceptional care, every day and in every way
• We collaborate with colleagues, partners and communities to amplify our impact
• We set the standards of pediatric healthcare today, and innovate for the future
• We are accountable for making the highest quality care accessible and affordable