Director of Nursing (In-Person)

Position Summary

The Director of Nursing provides administrative and nursing leadership for the Guidance Center of Lea County's Medication Management Clinic and integrated Primary Care Clinic. Working under the clinical oversight of the Medical Director, the DON is accountable for nursing practice standards, clinic workflow, medication safety, staff supervision, and regulatory compliance across both service lines.

As a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC), GCLC delivers whole-person care that integrates behavioral health, medication management, and primary care. The DON is the operational link that makes that integration function day to day - ensuring clients move smoothly between behavioral health, prescriber, and primary care services with coordinated documentation, follow-up, and outcomes tracking.

The Medical Director retains authority over medical practice, standing orders, protocol approval, and prescribing. The DON is responsible for translating those clinical directives into consistent nursing practice, staffing, and clinic operations.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Nursing Leadership and Practice Oversight

• Direct all nursing practice in the Medication Management Clinic and Primary Care Clinic in accordance with the New Mexico Nurse Practice Act, GCLC policy, and Medical Director-approved protocols.
• Establish, maintain, and annually review nursing policies, procedures, standing orders, and clinical workflows, submitting all clinical content to the Medical Director for approval.
• Serve as the nursing subject-matter expert for scope-of-practice questions, delegation decisions, and escalation pathways.
• Maintain nursing coverage models that keep clinic access, triage, and follow-up functioning without interruption.

Medication Management Clinic Operations

• Oversee daily clinic operations including scheduling, triage, injection and long-acting injectable (LAI) administration, lab monitoring, prior authorizations, refill protocols, and prescriber support.
• Ensure accurate medication reconciliation, allergy verification, and documentation at every clinical encounter.
• Manage medication storage, inventory, controlled-substance accountability, sample and voucher tracking, refrigeration and temperature logs, expiration monitoring, and disposal in compliance with state and federal requirements.
• Coordinate metabolic monitoring, clozapine and lithium protocols, and other high-risk medication monitoring in collaboration with the Medical Director and prescribers.
• Track and reduce no-show and medication-lapse rates through outreach, reminder, and re-engagement workflows.

Primary Care Integration

• Direct nursing operations for the Primary Care Clinic, including intake vitals, point-of-care testing, chronic-disease monitoring, immunizations, and preventive-health screening.
• Maintain and communicate the clinic's eligibility boundary: primary care services are currently available to established GCLC behavioral-health clients rather than the general public. Ensure staff, scheduling, and client-facing communication reflect this consistently.
• Build bidirectional referral and warm-handoff workflows between behavioral health, medication management, and primary care.
• Support integrated care measures including screening completion, chronic-condition follow-up, and closure of care gaps.

Supervision and Workforce Development

• Recruit, hire, orient, schedule, supervise, and evaluate nursing and clinic support staff.
• Verify and monitor licensure, certification, CPR/first aid, competency validation, and required annual training for all supervised staff.
• Conduct competency assessments, chart audits, and skills validation; deliver coaching, corrective action, and performance evaluations in coordination with Human Resources.
• Develop nursing orientation and continuing-education plans; promote retention and a positive, client-centered team culture.

Compliance, Quality, and Risk Management

• Ensure compliance with New Mexico Department of Health and Health Care Authority requirements, CCBHC criteria, COA accreditation standards, CLIA/waived-testing requirements, OSHA and infection-control standards, HIPAA/42 CFR Part 2, and Medicaid/MCO documentation rules.
• Participate in Performance and Quality Improvement (PQI), risk management, and safety committee activities; own nursing-related performance measures and improvement plans.
• Investigate, document, and report medication errors, adverse events, near-misses, and client incidents; implement root-cause corrective actions.
• Maintain audit readiness for licensure surveys, accreditation reviews, payer audits, and grant monitoring visits.
• Support emergency preparedness, infection control, and clinical safety planning across both clinics.

Administrative and Fiscal Responsibilities

• Collaborate with the CEO and Finance on nursing staffing plans, clinic budgets, supply purchasing, equipment needs, and grant-funded positions.
• Support accurate documentation and coding that enables clean claims and appropriate billing for medication management and primary care services.
• Contribute clinical and operational content to grant applications, program reports, and funder deliverables.
• Optimize use of the electronic health record for nursing workflows, order sets, templates, registries, and reporting.

Collaboration and Communication

• Meet regularly with the Medical Director on clinical protocols, prescriber support needs, high-risk client management, and practice standards.
• Coordinate with crisis services, autism services, community support, residential programs, and care coordination to keep integrated care aligned.
• Maintain working relationships with hospitals, pharmacies, laboratories, primary care providers, MCOs, and community partners.
• Represent nursing in leadership meetings, board reporting, and community or regional initiatives as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Current, unrestricted Registered Nurse license issued by or recognized in the State of New Mexico.
• Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) required.
• Minimum of five (5) years of clinical nursing experience, including at least two (2) years in a supervisory, charge, or management role.
• Demonstrated experience in psychiatric/behavioral health, medication management, ambulatory care, primary care, or community health.
• Current BLS/CPR certification.
• Valid driver's license, insurable driving record, and ability to travel locally as needed.
• Ability to pass background checks, caregiver criminal history screening, and pre-employment requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Nursing, Public Health, Healthcare Administration, or a related field.
• Experience in a CCBHC, FQHC, or integrated behavioral health/primary care setting.
• Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing certification (PMH-BC) or equivalent.
• Experience with COA, CARF, or Joint Commission accreditation and with Medicaid/MCO compliance.
• Experience with EHR implementation or optimization and clinical quality reporting.
• Bilingual English/Spanish.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Working knowledge of the New Mexico Nurse Practice Act, delegation rules, and scope-of-practice boundaries.
• Strong understanding of psychotropic medications, LAIs, high-risk medication monitoring, and common chronic-disease management.
• Ability to build and sustain clinic workflows that serve high-acuity, trauma-affected, and underserved populations.
• Sound clinical judgment under pressure, including crisis and medical-emergency response.
• Effective supervision, coaching, conflict-resolution, and team-building skills.
• Clear professional writing and data literacy sufficient for policy development, audits, and performance reporting.
• Commitment to client dignity, cultural responsiveness, confidentiality, and least-restrictive care.

Physical and Working Conditions

Work is performed in outpatient clinic and office settings with periodic community and partner-site travel. The position requires frequent sitting, standing, walking, and computer use; occasional lifting or moving of up to 25 pounds; visual and auditory acuity sufficient for clinical assessment; and the ability to respond quickly during behavioral or medical emergencies. Exposure to blood, bodily fluids, communicable disease, and behaviorally escalated clients is possible; standard precautions and de-escalation training apply. Some evening or weekend availability may be required for coverage, on-call consultation, surveys, or organizational events.

Authority and Reporting Structure

The Director of Nursing reports administratively to the Chief Executive Officer and functions under the clinical oversight of the Medical Director. The Medical Director approves all medical protocols, standing orders, and scope-of-practice parameters. The Director of Nursing holds independent authority over nursing assignments, clinic scheduling and workflow, nursing personnel actions (in coordination with Human Resources), medication-handling procedures, and nursing quality-improvement activities.

CONDITIONS OF WORK

Hiring and promotion will be accomplished in compliance with the GCLC's Personnel Policies and Procedures. This position is exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act. This position requires a minimum of 40 hours per week, generally Monday through Friday. Hours or days may vary according to need. Personal transportation is mandatory. Travel may be required for delivery of services, training, or conferences.