Nurse Educator

About the role

The Ohio Hospital for Psychiatry is an acute inpatient and outpatient treatment center for adults and seniors suffering from mental health disorders and addictions. The Nurse Educator will provide leadership in staff development, education, and infection prevention to support safe, quality, and compassionate patient care.

Responsibilities

• Facilitate orientation and onboarding programs to promote employee retention.
• Conduct orientation in a manner that fosters a positive learning environment and role models organizational commitment to new employee success.
• Participate in designing and identifying educational activities to address practice gaps for licensed and non-licensed healthcare personnel.
• Identify learning needs of staff and/or facility; assess practice gaps and crosswalk competencies to practice.
• Collaborate with Corporate Nursing Director/Educator to review outcomes data and refine competency management activities.
• Assist with development and/or instruction of didactic content and clinical skills for designated competencies.
• Develop education plans according to gap assessment or quality data/safety outcomes; align programs with facility and/or organizational policies and procedures.
• Implement and deliver educational curricula as required by regulatory agencies such as Joint Commission, CARF, CMS, and State agencies.
• Create engaging, evidence-based educational content tailored to the intended audience and maintain learner engagement.
• Serve as a general resource for nursing staff; collaborate with medical practitioners and CNO/DON to incorporate nursing processes into patient care plans.
• Provide educational leadership to patients and care providers to enhance specialized patient care within established clinical protocols.
• Assist patients and caregivers with education needs, problem-solving, and health management across the continuum of care.
• Educate direct patient care staff in the use of equipment and supplies; coordinate in-service training for appropriate staff.
• Support innovation in educational design and provide staff with resources and “just-in-time” education to implement immediate changes.
• Communicate therapeutically and professionally with patients, visitors, coworkers, and others.
• May provide direct care as needed.
• Conduct ongoing surveillance of infections; gather and interpret data; maintain accurate records of all infections.
• Compile and present Infection Reports to the Safety/Infection Control Committee and the Performance Improvement Council at assigned intervals.
• Inspect environment and observe personnel activities to detect infection hazards; monitor and evaluate compliance with facility and industry standards.
• Monitor and update department supervisors on area-specific policies and procedures related to infection prevention.
• Investigate exposure incidents; oversee post-exposure evaluation and follow-up; recommend appropriate actions.
• Notify designated medical, administrative staff, and health department authorities of all reportable communicable diseases.
• Develop and provide in-service and orientation programs on infection prevention, standard precautions, isolation techniques, and current infectious diseases.
• Train staff on infection prevention and control protocols; assess and reinforce infection prevention practices.
• Provide expertise in identifying professional development needs of individual staff; assist staff in identifying areas for growth.
• Identify and provide opportunities for skill enhancement and mastery; utilize the novice-to-expert continuum when developing staff.
• Promote certification in areas of nursing specialty.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in nursing, Healthcare Administration, Education, or other clinical field preferred; Bachelor’s degree in nursing or commensurate experience required.
• Three years of registered nurse experience required; five or more years strongly preferred.
• Two years of behavioral health experience as an RN required; inpatient psychiatry experience strongly preferred.
• One or more years of experience in infection control preferred.
• One or more years of experience in Clinical Education/Training and Development preferred.

Licenses, Designations, and Certifications

• Current state RN license required.
• Certification by the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology preferred.
• CPR and de-escalation/restraint certification required (training available upon hire).
• First aid may be required based on state or facility.

Preferred Qualifications

• Certification as an NPD Practitioner and/or clinical certification recognized by the American Nurse Credentialing Center.