Nursing Professional Development Specialist - Adult Services

Promotes professional development through the application of principles of adult learning in broad-based program development. Leveraging expertise in Kaiser Permanentes electronic medical record, KP HealthConnect (KPHC), responsible for identifying, prioritizing, and evaluating, the educational and professional development needs of a clinical area; develops and delivers clinical educational programs, including specialty training, new graduate/hire training, continuing education for staff, and training for upgrades and changes to KPHC. Coordinates nursing competence & professional development programs for Patient Care Service Area for an assigned/defined clinical area. Conducts ongoing assessments of proficiencies for PCS staff and management and provide feedback and formal action plans management. Serves as the KPHC expert and applies this knowledge into clinical and operational workflows.

• Clinical Educator


• Provides educational opportunities that benefit nurses at all stages of their career development. Assists learners in the assessment of needs and identification of outcomes. Incorporates principles of adult learning in implementation of education programs. Identifies and evaluates high quality, culturally diverse instructional materials in all types of media and formats. Adjusts content and teaching strategies to meet learner needs. Provides ongoing assessment of individual performance in clinical and KPHC proficiencies for PCS staff and management and reports to Director of Clinical Education, Practice, and Informatics. Identifies individuals who do not meet established competency expectations and recommends a formal action plan to PCS Management.


• Program and Curriculum Development / Evaluation


• Develops, designs, evaluates, and manages professional development programs based on principles of adult learning that foster the development of competence in the nursing staff. Conducts ongoing evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of educational activities to ensure they maintain and enhance professional development and promote the delivery of cost-effective high quality healthcare. Develops/coordinates education plans related to orientation of new staff to the organization, initial and ongoing competency validation, core education to address patient population specific nursing care, and core education for the development of beside leaders.


• Clinical practice standards


• Responds to changes in nursing practice / nursing theory and develops programs to support those changes. Conducts research into professional and community practice standards, technology, clinical informatics, and clinical innovations for improved patient care.


• Clinical informatics expert


• Ensures that KPHC is leveraged for the benefit of nursing practice and improved excellence in patient care systems and processes. Assesses opportunities to support clinical practices through the use of KPHC by analyzing clinical workflow to determine current practices and facilitating the improvement of specific nursing practices and processes.


• Clinical practice and Informatics interface


• Maintains up-to-date knowledge of trends and advances in the field of Nursing and Healthcare Informatics, as well as new developments in hardware and software technology. Maintains up-to-date knowledge of nursing practices, regulatory standards, and organizational priorities. Consults staff and leadership in areas of clinical expertise (e.g. workflow and clinical use recommendations), provides information on current clinical practice, and addresses clinical questions. Ensures optimization efforts are identified and implemented to support clinical decision making that supports high quality and safe patient care.


• Partnerships / Leadership Duties


• Participates in interdisciplinary committees to integrate educational activities into clinical care and clinical informatics / appropriate use of KPHC into educational activities and clinical care.  Addresses KPHC and workflow issues through Regional Domains, local Domains and Cross Functional Domain. Provides leadership for clinical IT enhancements.


• Oversight


• Provides investigation, recommendation, prioritization and evaluation of clinical risk, and correction plans for arising concerns and issues as a result of KPHC and clinical education. Monitors, tracks, and follows up on such concerns / issues. Escalates any patient safety issues identified with workflow disruptions. Assures education, programs, and classes meet budget guidelines.


• Strategic Communication


• Maintains flexibility when managing multiple roles and responsibilities. Interprets and communicates across multiple disciplines. Promotes a safe and healthy work environment.  


• Kaiser Permanente conducts compensation reviews of positions on a routine basis. At any time, Kaiser Permanente reserves the right to reevaluate and change job descriptions, or to change such positions from salaried to hourly pay status.  Such changes are generally implemented only after notice is given to affected employees.

Secondary Functions: 

• Adult (Generalist) Specialty.

Qualifications:

• Minimum three (3) years of nursing experience.
• Minimum one (1) year of experience coordinating or managing education program /curriculum design, development and evaluation/assessment.
• Minimum one (1) year in staff professional development and/or clinical training/teaching.

• Masters degree in nursing or related field required.
• Graduate of accredited school of nursing.

• Registered Nurse License (California) required at hire
  

• Basic Life Support
  

• Knowledge of Nurse Practice Act, federal, state, and local requirements.
• Demonstrated knowledge in KP HealthConnect including functionality and expertise in workflows (or for external hires, similarly integrated medical record).
• Demonstrated knowledge of medical center policy and procedure requirements, specialty training and competency requirements.
• National Certification required within one year of hire
• Must be able to work in a Labor/Management Partnership environment.

• Minimum six (6) months of experience coordinating or managing education program /curriculum design, development and evaluation/assessment preferred.
• Doctorate of Nursing Practice or PhD in related field preferred.