Behavioral Health, Patient Care Director (RN)

About the Role

The Behavioral Health Patient Care Director (PCD) oversees and manages all inpatient detox services for adult, geriatric, and child populations in the hospital. This includes outreach, patient safety, quality control, staffing, throughput, and coordinating care on a 24-hour basis. A key priority is serving as the Chief Retention Officer, fostering staff development, satisfaction, and retention through principles of service excellence. The PCD ensures a seamless, integrated system of care that is high-value, cost-effective, and customer-focused, while creating a work environment that promotes pride, teamwork, and continuous learning.

Responsibilities

• Patient Care
  • Leads nursing practice to enhance the patient experience.
  • Demonstrates proficiency in Purposeful Hourly Rounding and role-models expected behaviors.
  • Ensures integration of rounding into clinical activities and validates team performance through direct observation and patient feedback.
  • Assesses team member competency in rounding and provides consistent, meaningful feedback.
  • Conducts daily patient rounding and weekly team rounding.
  • Communicates patient experience and staff engagement insights to the Interdisciplinary Patient Care Team to develop and implement action plans.
  • Collaborates with physicians and escalates concerns as appropriate.
  • Follows up on patient concerns promptly and provides service recovery as needed.
  • Demonstrates caring, agility, respect, compassion, empathy, and active listening in all interactions.
• Quality & Safety
  • Designs, supports, and leads a safe, therapeutic, and efficient patient-centered care environment.
  • Identifies and investigates practice/operations variances, participates in Root Cause Analysis (RCA), and implements corrective action plans.
  • Engages in unit and hospital-based quality, safety, and patient experience improvement initiatives.
  • Fosters a Just Culture that encourages error and near-miss reporting.
  • Leads interdisciplinary quality improvement teams using high-reliability principles.
  • Reviews unit progress, changes, and compliance with quality and safety metrics alongside clinical nurses and healthcare team members.
  • Responds to escalations of potential safety hazards or gaps in best practices by correcting concerns following institutional protocols.
  • Monitors institutional IT infrastructure and corrects gaps in clinical nurse documentation.
  • Leads staff participation in quality, safety initiatives, and mandated compliance measures.
  • Ensures accountability for unit quality, safety practices, and compliance, including staff competency evaluations.
• Operations & Administration
  • Supports the implementation of the department’s mission, vision, goals, and objectives.
  • Provides administrative and clinical oversight to ensure staffing, support services, interdisciplinary collaboration, resources, and financial viability align with organizational goals.
  • Collaborates with physician dyads and healthcare team members to promote patient care and regulatory standards.
  • Prioritizes staff engagement and retention strategies in line with system and hospital goals.
  • Maintains compliance with regulatory agency mandates, including NJ DOH and The Joint Commission.
  • Oversees 24-hour patient care delivery, throughput, staffing, and processes to ensure efficient operations across all clinical specialties.
  • Implements and monitors unit budgets, including capital equipment allocation, budget variances, overtime, and vacancies according to financial goals.
  • Monitors availability and maintenance of nursing equipment and supplies.
  • Manages recruitment, retention, and performance evaluation of qualified staff.
  • Maintains patient and employee confidentiality in information management.
  • Evaluates nursing staff performance, mentors, coaches, counsels, and disciplines staff as needed.
  • Ensures all team members meet orientation goals, weekly progress reports, and annual competency requirements; participates in Competency Skills Day.
  • Conducts regular department meetings to communicate progress, changes, and compliance with hospital policies and procedures; maintains meeting minutes.
  • Encourages, recognizes, and rewards team member participation in quality, safety, compliance, and success initiatives.
  • Facilitates organizational change using effective strategies.
  • Leads a shared decision-making model through shared governance, Just Culture, and staff engagement in practice councils and initiatives.
  • Interprets and implements collective bargaining agreements affecting staff.
  • Responds to protest of assignment in a timely manner as detailed in collective bargaining agreements and discusses resolutions in unit staff meetings.
  • Participates in staffing planning committees to meet NJ mandatory safe staffing requirements.
• Professional Development
  • Serves as a clinical leader who actively creates and supports nursing practice and an environment of care reflecting clinical excellence.
  • Organizes the environment of care to support clinical colleagues, patients, families, and healthcare team members.
  • Projects and cultivates a professional image by communicating caring, respect, compassion, empathy, and trust.
  • Incorporates ethical principles into decision-making for patients and families in collaboration with clinical nursing staff and the healthcare team.
  • Fosters a spirit of scholarship, inquiry, lifelong learning, and innovation for self and others.
  • Acquires and disseminates knowledge and skills relative to the role, patient population, clinical specialty, and global/local health community needs.
  • Leads shared decision-making through unit/service practice councils, nursing department and hospital committees, and clinical initiatives.
  • Serves as a professional role model and preceptor for new leadership staff and students.
  • Integrates values of research and evidence-based practice into nursing practice and the environment of care.
  • Contributes to the profession of nursing through leadership and participation in professional organizations.

Requirements

• 3-5 years of progressive nursing leadership experience demonstrating solid management abilities.
• Relevant clinical expertise in adult, geriatric, child, and detox services.
• Proven clinical and nursing administrative expertise in the assigned practice area.
• Critical thinking and organizational skills.

Qualifications

• Licensed as a Registered Nurse in New Jersey.
• Master’s degree in Nursing required.
• Child abuse certification required.
• Basic Life Support (BLS) certification from the AHA required.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation based on experience and qualifications, including consideration of years of relevant experience, credentials, union contracts, education, and internal equity.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
• 401K retirement savings plan.
• Generous Paid Time Off (PTO) and paid holidays.
• Tuition reimbursement.
• Opportunities for professional growth, development, and continuing education.
• Employee wellness programs and resources.

Influenza vaccinations are required for employment. If not currently vaccinated, you will be required to receive the vaccination prior to the hire date, during the influenza season, unless an approved medical exemption is requested and received.