Chief Nursing Officer

PRIMARY DUTIES

The Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) is Waco Family Medicine’s senior nursing executive and a member of the Clinical Leadership Team. The CNO leads nursing practice, clinical support operations, workforce strategy, patient safety, and evidence-based standards across all sites, with oversight of nursing leaders and designated clinical support roles. In partnership with the Chief Medical Officer and Senior Director of Clinical Operations, the CNO shares accountability for access, quality, staffing, productivity, and patient experience and collaborates with clinical, operational, quality, population health, SDoH, HR, Finance, IT, and site leaders.

• Lead nursing and designated clinical support services across all sites, setting goals, policies, scopes of practice, protocols, and standardized evidence-based workflows
• Ensure safe, high-quality care through competency validation, clinical supervision, performance monitoring, and continuous improvement
• Oversee infection prevention, medication and vaccine safety, emergency preparedness, incident response, test-result follow-up, care transitions, and other high-risk workflows
• Use clinical, operational, workforce, patient-experience, and equity data to identify variation, drive corrective action, and sustain improvement
• Maintain regulatory and survey readiness, including applicable HRSA, FTCA, Texas Board of Nursing, Texas DSHS, OSHA, CMS, payer, CLIA, PCMH/accreditation, and organizational requirements
• Supervise nursing leaders and ensure effective recruiting, onboarding, performance management, retention, staffing, and succession planning
• Partner with clinical and operational leaders to improve care quality, efficiency, team-based care, staffing, and organizational performance
  • Achieve annual targets for UDS, HEDIS, value-based care, safety, access, patient experience, utilization, care gaps, and health equity
  • Manage staffing models, position control, labor productivity, vacancies, turnover, contingency coverage, and leadership development
  • Lead nursing and interprofessional education, workflow training, competency programs, career pathways, preceptorship, mentorship, and professional development
• Lead nursing quality and safety governance, measures, improvement methods, and corrective-action follow-through
• Promote a just culture of safety and ensure timely reporting, investigation, learning, disclosure, and follow-up for concerns and adverse events
• Prepare and manage the nursing budget, labor and overtime, productivity and variances, equipment and capital needs, vendors, and business cases
• Foster a mission-focused culture of quality, transparency, inclusion, and joy in practice
• Report regularly to executive leadership and, as requested, the governing board on quality, safety, workforce, access, productivity, regulatory readiness, and clinical risk

OTHER DUTIES

• Provide occasional patient care or clinical coverage when needed and within current licensure, privileges, and competency; this is not the position’s primary function
• Perform other duties as assigned

PHYSICAL AND MENTAL REQUIREMENTS

• Frequent sitting, computer and telephone use, and verbal communication
• Occasional reaching, walking, squatting, bending, kneeling, twisting and climbing
• Occasionally carrying, lifting, pushing and pulling of up to 25 lbs.
• Ability to conduct regular travel among WFM sites; valid driver’s license and insurability when driving is required
• Physical accommodations will be implemented where necessary and feasible

REPORTS TO: Chief Clinical Officer

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor of Science in Nursing from an accredited school of nursing
• Current, unrestricted Texas RN license in good standing, or eligibility to obtain one by the start date
• Current BLS certification; ACLS certification required only when necessary for assigned clinical duties
• Seven years of progressive nursing leadership, including three years in multi-site ambulatory, primary care, or community health operations
  • Demonstrated leadership in quality improvement, patient safety, clinical risk, and performance improvement
• Preferred:
  • Master’s degree in nursing, healthcare administration, public health, business, or a related field
  • CENP or NEA-BC certification
  • Experience with FQHCs, HRSA, FTCA, PCMH, UDS, HEDIS, and value-based care

SKILLS

• Excellent communication, relationship-building, and conflict-resolution skills
• Ability to prioritize, solve problems, delegate, and lead projects to completion
• Strong team leadership, personnel management, and change-management skills
• Proficiency with office software, EHRs (e.g., Epic), clinical analytics, dashboards, and technology-enabled workflows