Job Requirements The
Quality and Safety Leader collaborates with department or service line leadership, hospital Quality Improvement, Patient Safety, and Infection Prevention ("quality and safety") leadership; and UMMS Maryland Medicine Comprehensive Insurance Program (MMCIP) leadership to promote a patient safety culture and to adhere to national clinical standards, utilizing principles and practices of quality and safety.
This role facilitates adherence to national practitioner and nursing clinical standards and promotes service line/department quality and safety. This role provides formal and informal quality and safety education, and it actively leads or participates in quality and safety committee meetings and related initiatives.
The
Quality and Safety Leader proactively liaises with MMCIP and hospital quality and safety leadership regarding safety issue identification, adverse events, and service line/department quality and safety performance improvement initiatives. This role will engage with senior leadership, providers, front-line management, and staff to lead project discussions, facilitate meetings, initiate formal/informal education on continuous improvement, and provide regular communication or updates on quality and safety initiatives supporting UMMC's strategic goals.
- Serves as a quality and safety advocate and clinical role model for the service line/department.
- Evaluates clinical practices in collaboration with others to ensure alignment with organizational goals.
- Leads or participates in committees, work groups, and projects related to quality and patient safety, driving local and hospital-wide improvement priorities.
- Collects, analyzes, and reports data for clinical service quality evaluation, including chart/documentation review; provides trend analysis and input to leadership and supports development of action plans.
- Collaborates with multidisciplinary teams to build buy-in and ownership of action items; leads project discussions and develops progress reports identifying barriers, risks, and issues.
- Maintains an active, visible presence on units, promoting a safe culture through rounds, audits, and assessments to identify performance trends and risks.
- Tracks and communicates clinical outcomes and compliance with quality/safety initiatives across the healthcare team.
- Reviews UMMSafe events and supports debriefings, RCAs, and apparent cause analyses (ACA) with Patient Safety leadership.
- Provides real-time feedback to clinicians and maintains a database of reviewed records, issues, and corrective plans.
- Participates in developing clinical policies/procedures and UMMC/UMMS committees to resolve quality and safety issues.
- Participates in clinical drills and simulations; identifies and recruits resources for educational activities.
- Maintains evidence-based practice by integrating research, tracking national standards, and leading improvement initiatives per service line/hospital guidance.
- Maintains required clinical competencies and seeks opportunities to develop staff.
- Performs other duties as assigned.
Work Experience Education & Experience - Required- Minimum of five (5) years of experience in healthcare required.
- Current RN License in the State of Maryland.
- Current BLS certification is required.
Education & Experience - Preferred- Master's degree in nursing or healthcare leadership preferred.
- Quality or safety experience preferred.
Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities- Strong verbal and written communication.
- Demonstrates the drive to go beyond the stated requirements to ensure an excellent level of customer service.
- Direct experience in project leadership capacity with emphasis on group facilitation, root cause investigation, auditing, and implementation planning/execution.
- Strong foundational knowledge of evaluating data sets for integrity, comprehensiveness, and scope
- Exceptional communication (written and verbal) skills, including ability to interact with a variety of stakeholders and audiences at all levels within the organization
- Advanced knowledge of process improvement methodologies, lean or six sigma tools, benchmarking, and auditing. Working knowledge of statistics and process control.
- Ability to understand staffing and scheduling functions
- Strong analytical and organization skills
- Proficiency in standard computer applications, including MS Office suite applications (graphics, database, word-processing, and presentation software), project-related software, and the use of related peripheral equipment.
- Ability to understand, analyze, synthesize and manage highly complex information.
- Ability to think critically.
- Strong customer service
