The Director of Surgical Services is responsible for the development, implementation, and evaluation of the strategic plan for surgical services and nursing practice within the acute care hospital, consistent with the organization’s strategic and business plans. Operational oversight includes Surgicare, PACU, Pain Clinic, STAR, Operating Room, Sterile Processing, and the Digestive Health Center. The Director works with the Vice President of Operations and patient care leadership team to create destination nursing departments for patients, families, staff and providers. The Director provides leadership and positive promotion of the services continuum from pre-procedure to immediate post-procedure programming with linkage to acute and critical care services and post-discharge resources. The Director is responsible for the development, communication and successful execution of established objectives (financial and clinical) within surgical services. 

At UnityPoint Health, you matter. We’re proud to be recognized as a Top 150 Place to Work in Healthcare by Becker's Healthcare several years in a row for our commitment to our team members.  

Our competitive Total Rewards program offers benefits options that align with your needs and priorities, no matter what life stage you’re in.  Here are just a few:      

• Expect paid time off, parental leave, 401K matching and an employee recognition program.   

• Dental and health insurance, paid holidays, short and long-term disability and more. We even offer pet insurance for your four-legged family members.  

• Early access to earned wages with Daily Pay, tuition reimbursement to help further your career and adoption assistance to help you grow your family.   

With a collective goal to champion a culture of belonging where everyone feels valued and respected, we honor the ways people are unique and embrace what brings us together.   

And, we believe equipping you with support and development opportunities is a vital part of delivering an exceptional employment experience. 

Find a fulfilling career and make a difference with UnityPoint Health.

Leadership

• Provides leadership in the implementation of patient care delivery strategies.
• Synthesizes and integrates divergent viewpoints for the good of the organization. Provides visionary thinking on issues that impact the organization.
• Establishes mechanisms that provide for early identification and mentoring of staff with leadership potential.
• Represents St. Luke’s Hospital on health-related topics and issues through community involvement and Board participation.
• Serves as a professional role model and mentor to future nursing leaders.
• Serves as a change agent, assisting others in understanding the importance, necessity, impact, and process of change. Supports staff during times of difficult transitions.
• Assures C.A.R.E. Professional Practice Model is implemented in all departments.

Communication

• Provides for two-way conversations between associates and leadership.
• Builds trusting, collaborative relationships with staff, peers, physicians, and administration to advance the core inpatient business strategy.
• Communicates a shared vision regarding the strategic goal of strengthening the core.
• Engage staff in shared decision making by facilitating unit practice committees and similar shared governance committees.
• Builds credibility with physicians as a champion for patient care, quality, and professional practice.
• Collaborates with medical staff to implement evidence-based practice and process improvement
• Builds partnerships that support and promote care coordination and case management strategies.

Business Responsibility

• Develops annual and multiyear capital budget.
• Develops annual operational budget to support strategic plan.
• Executes the established plan through measurement, monitoring, and analysis of resource utilization and adjusting direction when needed.
• Collaborates with VP-Chief Nursing Executive to support program/practice changes to continually improve resource utilization.
• Educates patient care team members on financial implications of patient care decisions.
• Measures and analyzes performance from multiple perspectives (customer, staff, growth & development, fiscal, etc.).
• Utilize hospital database management, decision support, and expert system programs to access information and analyze data from disparate sources for use in planning of patient care processes and systems.

Quality of Care

• Ensures timely patient flow throughout the organization, monitoring the data and contributing to process modifications and changes when needed.
• Designs safe clinical systems, processes, policies, and procedures.
• Interprets information from evidence-based nursing literature and research. Use research findings for the establishment of standards, practices, and patient care models in the organization.
• Leads the development of multidisciplinary rounds for the medical-surgical units.
• Articulates the organization’s quality improvement program and goals. Sets target outcomes that are evidence-based.
• Analyzes the root causes of variation from quality standards.

Compliance

• Ensures that written organizational clinical policies and procedures are reviewed and updated in accordance with evidence-based practice standards.
• Ensures compliance with the state Nurse Practice Act, state Board of Nursing regulations, and regulatory agencies’ standards.

• Undergraduate nursing degree
• Master’s degree in nursing, health administration, or business
• Five to seven years of professional experience
• Two to three years of leadership experience with evidence of successful change management
• Knowledgeable about patient care and nursing practice across service lines and management principles and practices including performance management and performance improvement
• Knowledge of Joint Commission, CMS, and state regulatory standards
• Knowledge of the current healthcare environment and its impact on nursing practice
• Use of usual and customary equipment used to perform essential functions of the position.