Birth Center RN Lead

About the job

Whitman Hospital & Medical Clinics in Colfax is hiring a full-time registered nurse (RN) as Birth Center Lead. Keeping a bedside role, the lead is the unit's educator, staffing coordinator, clinical resource and project lead, and coordinates the Rural Obstetric Sustainability and Workforce Transformation Initiative. The lead works directly with the Director of Inpatient Services but has no independent authority to hire, fire, discipline or evaluate staff unless specifically delegated.

The Birth Center provides obstetric and newborn care in a rural community, and the hospital is working to strengthen and sustain those services, in part through grant-funded programs.

What you'll do

• Work regularly scheduled bedside shifts in the Birth Center, giving safe, evidence-based nursing care across the perinatal continuum and keeping obstetric and newborn nursing skills current
• Serve as a clinical resource and mentor for nurses, help manage obstetric and neonatal emergencies under policy, protocols and provider direction, and coordinate care with medical staff, anesthesia and other departments
• Help nursing leadership build and maintain the Birth Center staffing schedule, watching current and upcoming needs and handling schedule changes, time-off requests and coverage gaps
• Review patient volumes, staffing patterns, workforce vulnerabilities and staff competencies, recommend ways to make staffing more stable and flexible, and help develop a flexible staffing model for a rural Birth Center
• Coordinate orientation, continuing education, drills, simulations and competency activities for Birth Center nurses, help onboard new staff, and keep orientation tools, competency checklists and training plans up to date
• Identify education needs through observation, staff feedback, quality data, regulations and practice changes, and confirm that required education, orientation and competencies for Birth Center and cross-trained staff are completed and properly documented
• Develop individualized cross-training plans, coordinating preceptors, simulation and competency validation, so qualified nurses from other hospital areas can safely care for Birth Center patients, and help define their responsibilities and limits
• As the initiative's project coordinator, keep work plans, timelines and deliverables, coordinate meetings and communication with internal stakeholders and community and grant partners, and coordinate grant-supported education and equipment projects
• Collect program data, track grant activities and outcomes, help leadership and finance with reporting, update leaders on progress and barriers, and help plan how to sustain improvements after the grant ends
• Take part in Birth Center quality and patient safety work and maternal-child health committees, help standardize evidence-based practices and revise policies, and serve as a liaison between staff and nursing leadership

What you need

• A Washington State RN license at the time of application
• At least 3 years of recent obstetric nursing experience
• BLS certification within 30 days of hire, maintained while employed
• ACLS, PALS, NRP and STABLE within 3 months of hire, maintained while employed
• AWHONN Fetal Monitoring certification at the time of hire
• Effective written and verbal communication
• Frequently walking, lifting, carrying, reaching, kneeling, bending, stooping, pushing and pulling objects of up to 20 pounds
• Occasionally lifting and carrying up to 50 pounds and pushing or pulling more than 50 pounds
• Frequent bending, twisting, squatting, reaching (including overhead), sitting and standing; occasional climbing, kneeling and crawling
• Continuous finger dexterity and fine manipulation, along with hearing, seeing, speaking, standing and walking

Preferred

• A Bachelor of Science in Nursing
• Previous charge nurse or supervisor experience

Schedule

• Day shift, full-time
• Hours may be irregular, including weekends and on-call duties
• Possible travel to meetings, education and training held at off-site locations

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision and life insurance, with medical coverage starting on day one for both full-time and part-time employees
• Retirement options: 403(b) and 457 plans
• Discounts on medical services at Whitman Hospital and Medical Clinics
• Evening, night and weekend shift differentials
• A PTO plan whose accrual increases with each year of service