RN, Clinical Educator

Established in 1980, the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, Inc. (GLFHC) is a multi-site, mission-driven, non-profit organization employing over 700 staff whose primary focus is providing the highest quality patient care to a culturally diverse population throughout the Merrimack Valley. Nationally recognized as a leader in community medicine (family practice, pediatrics, internal medicine, and geriatrics), GLFHC has clinical sites throughout the service area and is the sponsoring organization for the Lawrence Family Medicine Residency program.

Reporting to the Chief Nursing Officer, (CNO) the Clinical Educator supports and drives practice transformation initiatives that align with GLFHCs strategic pillars and the nursing division strategic plan, including building out critical components of ambulatory care nursing practice such as telehealth, care coordination, and transition management, patient-centered medical home (PCMH) care, and population management The Clinical Educator is a professional development specialist within Nursing and clinical support / Medical Assistants (MA) services at GLFHC. As a Clinical Educator, the primary responsibilities are to identify professional development needs, develop a training program, facilitate training sessions, and conduct in-service sessions for nursing and clinical support staff. Under the direction of the Director of Nursing and in collaboration with the VP of Workforce Development, supports leadership development and other relevant trainings to support the leadership development of nurse managers, charge nurses, and MA supervisors. In addition to fulfilling these responsibilities, the Clinical Educator serves as a mentor to Nurses and Medical Assistants who want to grow in their careers. The Clinical Educator collaborates with the nursing leadership team and other Clinician stakeholders to ensure competencies for nursing and MAs align with accepted scopes of practice as governed by industry standards, evidence based frameworks, and regulatory guidelines. As part of a comprehensive education program, the Clinical Educator works with training support staff to ensure training and competency development curriculum, training guides, and job aides are designed to advance learning and achieve independent practice outcomes.

Job Responsibilities and Performance Standards:

• Assess, plans, implements and evaluates training and competency development initiatives that align with the populations served and learning gaps identified.
• Sets forth an annual plan to support safe and high quality patient care, including, identifying training programs needed based on ongoing skills assessment, regulatory, (HRSA, Joint Commission, DPH, Mass Health contracts, etc.) requirements, and new program development initiatives.
• Collaborates with subject matter experts in order to design training content and leverages these experts to drive training efforts in their area of expertise
• Designs, implements and evaluates new staff orientation and on-boarding programs that align with the learning needs of new hires, including their progression toward independent practice.
• Ensures preceptor programs are designed to reflect evidence based models and applicability to GLFHCs needs and patient populations.
• Continuously assesses and improves the quality of the preceptor programs based on input from preceptors, new hires, leadership, etc.
• Ensures the preceptors identified for nursing and MA orientation are practicing at their highest proficiency and clinical judgment.
• Supports the nursing leadership in employee retention initiatives, including the coordination of reward and recognition programs that support the nursing and MA team and improves their overall job satisfaction.
• Serves as a collaborative partner with HR and the VP of Workforce Development to coordinate placement of students and interns, based on aligned needs and learning opportunities.
• Oversees CPR certification program and serves as a liaison to the external vendor (American Heart Association) to ensure proper documentation and tracking is completed.
• Provides EMR training to the extent it aligns with clinical practice scope for nurses and MAs. May contribute to organizational EMR training needs, with approval from the DON or CNO.
• Stays current on latest evidence based practice protocols applicable to GLFHCs population and American Academy of Ambulatory Nursing standards.
• Contributes to the development of clinical policies and ongoing revision of clinical policies and practice guidelines.
• Serves as the primary point of contact for on line triage applications that guide triage practice.
• Plays a key role in survey preparation, including assessing compliance gaps with standards related to practice, patient safety, and documentation.
• Supervises and delegates to the Clinical Support Coordinator to insure training materials, training schedules/logistics, training evaluation and other programmatic details are addressed and closed.
• Serves on committees that require clinical input and or input based subject matter expertise and scope of practice.
• Serves as the primary education liaison as applicable within Mass League/NACH forums and communicates locally as needed.
• Travel between sites is required.

Qualifications:
Experience

• Minimum 5-7 years practicing in acute care, ambulatory care, health center, other settings that care for complex high risk chronic populations.
• Minimum 2 years in a training and education role in a healthcare setting targeting nursing, assistant staff, MAs or other support staff to the delivery of nursing care.
• Experience working in staff development programs, orientation and on-boarding initiatives as directed by nursing leadership.
• Bilingual (English and Spanish) desirable, but not required.
  

Education

• A valid Massachusetts nursing license is required.
• Bachelors in Nursing required.
• Master’s Degree in Nursing Education highly desirable Certified Nurse Educator credential is desirable.

#GLFHC offers a great working environment, comprehensive benefit package, growth opportunities, and tuition reimbursement.