Job Summary: The Patient Safety Program Manager is a member of the UNC Health Unified Quality Patient Safety team and reports to the System Director of Patient Safety. The position advances a consistent, high-reliability approach to patient safety across UNC Health. Team members are assigned to support one or more healthcare system sites while also contributing to enterprise priorities and may support other sites based on organizational need. In partnership with clinical, operational, quality, risk, and accreditation leaders, the Program Manager identifies and analyzes safety risks, promotes learning from events, supports effective improvement, and strengthens a culture of safety.
Description of Job Responsibilities: - Implements UNC Health patient safety strategy, standards, tools, and governance processes at assigned sites. Manages projects from planning through implementation and evaluation, supporting reliable system practice while accounting for local operational needs.
- Serves as a primary patient safety resource and liaison for assigned sites. Builds trusted relationships with site leaders and frontline teams, provides consultation, and escalates urgent or unresolved safety risks through defined system channels.
- Leads or supports review of safety events and conditions, including root cause analyses, learning from defects, and proactive risk assessments. Applies patient safety science, human factors, and systems thinking in partnership with Risk Management, Quality, and operational leaders.
- Facilitates interdisciplinary teams and difficult conversations to identify contributing factors, reach sound decisions, and develop strong corrective actions. Challenges ineffective processes and influences change without relying on direct authority.
- Tracks corrective actions and improvement plans for timeliness, completion, effectiveness, and sustained performance. Identifies barriers, recommends course correction, and escalates inadequate or overdue actions when appropriate.
- Collects, analyzes, and communicates safety event, culture, and performance data. Identifies trends and variation within and across sites, develops actionable insights, and supports transparent learning while maintaining applicable confidentiality requirements.
- Advances a culture of safety and high reliability through education, coaching, and consultation related to Just Culture, TeamSTEPPS, psychological safety, reporting, teamwork, and organizational learning.
- Supports administration and use of the Patient Safety Culture Survey, including communications, interpretation of results, leader consultation, action planning, and monitoring of improvement efforts.
- Participates in system and site patient safety committees and governance forums. Develops agenda content and reports, communicates decisions, completes follow-up, and promotes shared learning and spread of effective practices across UNC Health.
- Maintains knowledge of regulatory and accrediting requirements, National Patient Safety Goals, external measurement programs, current research, and emerging patient safety practices. Helps translate requirements and evidence into system policies, education, and standard work.
- Collaborates across Unified Quality and with clinical, operational, Risk Management, and other partners to align patient safety work with organizational priorities and reduce duplication or conflicting approaches. Travels within North Carolina to UNC Health sites as required. Overnight travel is estimated at up to five nights per month, although travel will not occur every month. Travel frequency is subject to change based on organizational needs.
Other InformationEducation Requirements: - Requires a bachelor's degree in nursing, public health, healthcare administration, epidemiology, human factors, psychology, engineering, quality/patient safety, or another healthcare-related field.
- Completion of the IHI Open School patient safety curriculum or equivalent UNC Health-designated patient safety education within three months of hire.
Licensure/Certification Requirements: - Current professional licensure or specialty certification preferred but not required.
- TeamSTEPPS Master Trainer training preferred; completion within one year of hire is required.
- Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS) certification required within two years of hire.
Professional Experience Requirements: - Minimum five years of clinical or healthcare experience, including demonstrated experience in patient safety, quality improvement, risk management, clinical operations, or a related field.
- Experience leading interdisciplinary teams, facilitating event reviews or improvement work, and managing projects or data is required.
- Experience supporting multiple sites or working in a matrixed health system is preferred.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Requirements: - Knowledge of patient safety science, human factors, systems thinking, high reliability, Just Culture, event analysis, change management, and methods for evaluating action effectiveness.
- Strong analytical, project management, facilitation, consultation, conflict-management, written communication, and presentation skills are required.
- Ability to work independently across multiple sites; establish trusted relationships; influence without direct authority; balance system standardization with local context; prioritize competing demands; and escalate concerns appropriately.
- Proficiency with Excel, PowerPoint, event-reporting systems, and data-visualization tools is required.
Job DetailsLegal Employer: NCHEALTH
Entity: Shared Services
Organization Unit: Unified Quality Medical Center SES
Work Type: Full Time
Standard Hours Per Week: 40.00
Work Assignment Type: Onsite
Work Schedule: Day Job
Location of Job: US:NC:Morrisville
Exempt From Overtime: Exempt: Yes
This position is employed by NC Health (Rex Healthcare, Inc., d/b/a NC Health), a private, fully-owned subsidiary of UNC Health Care System, in a department that provides shared services to operations across UNC Health Care; except that, if you are currently a UNCHCS State employee already working in a designated shared services department, you may remain a UNCHCS State employee if selected for this job.
