Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist

We are seeking a highly skilled Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist to join our team at Duke University Health System. As a CNS, you will play a critical role in enhancing patient care by serving as an expert resource and consultant to nursing staff and providing evidence-based clinical expertise to patients.

1. Direct Care

• Conduct comprehensive patient assessments and synthesize data to inform clinical decisions.
• Develop and implement evidence-based clinical practice guidelines tailored to individual patient needs.
• Support the development, implementation, and evaluation of standards of practice, guidelines, policies, procedures, and protocols.
• Select, develop, and implement evidence-based clinical interventions and systems to achieve defined patient and system outcomes.
• Prescribe nursing therapeutics, interventions, diagnostic measures, equipment, procedures, and treatments to meet patient needs.
• Evaluate outcomes of nursing practice for safety, timeliness, effectiveness, efficiency, efficacy, and patient-centered care.
• Differentiate between outcomes that require care process modification at the individual patient level and those that require modification at the system level.
• Coordinate patient care with the use of system and community resources to ensure successful health/illness/wellness transitions, enhance delivery of care, and achieve optimal patient outcomes.

1. Coaching

• Assess learning needs of nursing staff and plan and implement educational forums and opportunities to address critical learning needs and skills.
• Participate in education of nurses and other healthcare providers, including pre-professional, graduate, and continuing education opportunities.
• Contribute to the advancement of the profession by disseminating expert knowledge and outcomes of CNS practice through presentations and publications.
• Mentor healthcare professionals in applying the principles of evidence-based care.
• Use coaching and advanced communication skills to facilitate the development of effective clinical teams.
• Provide leadership in conflict management and negotiation to address problems in the healthcare system.
• Identify patient/family education needs and priorities.
• Coach patients and families to help them navigate the healthcare system.
• Participate in developing, implementing, and evaluating patient education resources and programs appropriate to the patient's developmental level, health literacy level, learning needs, readiness to learn, and cultural values and beliefs.
• Provide education to individuals, families, groups, and communities to promote knowledge, understanding, and optimal functioning across the wellness-illness continuum.

1. Collaboration

• Assist staff in the development of innovative, cost-effective programs or protocols of care.
• Assess the quality and effectiveness of interdisciplinary, intra-agency, and inter-agency communication and collaboration.
• Establish collaborative relationships within and across departments that promote patient safety, culturally competent care, and clinical excellence.
• Facilitate intra-agency and inter-agency communication.
• Provide leadership for establishing, improving, and sustaining collaborative relationships to meet clinical needs.
• Practice collegially with medical staff and other members of the healthcare team to enhance all providers' unique contributions to health outcomes.

1. Systems Leadership

• Facilitate the provision of clinically competent care by staff/team through education, role modeling, teambuilding, and quality monitoring.
• Role model advanced practice professional nursing through conduct, appearance, communication, mutual respect, leadership, ethical decision-making, critical thinking, continuous learning, and problem-solving skills.
• Perform system-level assessments to identify variables that influence nursing practice and outcomes, including but not limited to population variables, environment, system of healthcare delivery, regulatory requirements, internal and external political influences/stability, healthcare financing, and recurring practices that enhance or compromise patient or system outcomes.
• Determine nursing practice and system interventions that will promote patient, family, and community safety.
• Use effective strategies for changing clinician and team behavior to encourage adoption of evidence-based practices and innovations in care delivery.
• Provide leadership in maintaining a supportive and healthy work environment.
• Provide leadership in promoting interdisciplinary collaboration to improve care through outcome-focused patient care programs, performance improvement, clinical research, and other initiatives.

1. Evidence-Based Practice, Quality Improvement, and Research

• Analyze research findings and other evidence for their potential application to clinical practice.
• Integrate evidence into the health, illness, and wellness management of patients, families, communities, and groups.
• Apply principles of evidence-based practice and quality improvement to all patient care.
• Assess system barriers and facilitators to adoption of evidence-based practices.
• Design programs for effective implementation of research findings and other evidence in clinical practice.
• Cultivate a climate of clinical inquiry across spheres of influence.
• Foster an interdisciplinary approach to quality improvement, evidence-based practice, research, and translation of research into practice.
• Participate in establishing quality improvement agendas for units, departments, programs, systems, or populations.
• Use quality monitoring data to assess the quality and effectiveness of clinical programs in meeting outcomes.
• Develop quality improvement initiatives based on assessments.
• Provide leadership in the design, implementation, and evaluation of process improvement initiatives.
• Provide leadership in the system-wide implementation of quality improvements and innovations.
• Participate in the conduct or implementation of research.

1. Ethical Decision-Making, Moral Agency, and Advocacy Competency

• Engage in a formal self-evaluation process, seeking feedback regarding one's own practice, from patients, peers, professional colleagues, and others.
• Foster professional accountability in self or others.
• Facilitate resolution of ethical conflicts.
• Facilitate patient and family understanding of the risks, benefits, and outcomes of proposed healthcare regimens to promote informed decision-making.

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist with a graduate degree from an accredited MSN or DNP Clinical Pediatric Nurse Specialist program. The ideal candidate will have a current unrestricted RN license issued by or recognized by the NCBON with recognition to practice as a CNS, as well as CNS-P (Pediatric) certification. A minimum of 3 years of pediatric RN clinical experience and 1 year of pediatric critical care RN clinical experience are required. The ability to work collaboratively with all levels of personnel, navigate the Hospital and DUHS, and provide leadership in clinical areas of expertise is essential.

Duke University Health System is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual's age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Duke aspires to create a community built on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Our collective success depends on the robust exchange of ideas—an exchange that is best when the rich diversity of our perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences flourishes. To achieve this exchange, it is essential that all members of the community feel secure and welcome, that the contributions of all individuals are respected, and that all voices are heard.

Essential physical job functions may include specific physical and/or mental abilities. Additional information and provision for requests for reasonable accommodation will be provided by each hiring department.