Director of Nursing

The Director of Nursing (DON) is the senior nursing leadership position at Harbor Village Rehabilitation. The DON provides strategic, operational, and clinical oversight of all nursing services and teams to ensure high-quality resident care in a skilled nursing and rehabilitation environment. The DON is responsible for directing the nursing department in accordance with facility mission, vision, standards, regulatory requirements (state/federal), and best practices. The DON serves as a key member of the leadership team and collaborates closely with interdisciplinary partners (rehab, therapy, social services, activities, admissions, administration) to ensure resident outcomes, team engagement, and fiscal stewardship.

Key Responsibilities

Clinical Leadership & Quality of Care

• Provide leadership and accountability for the overall delivery of nursing care and clinical services for residents. LeaderStat+2BOS Medical Staffing+2

• Develop, implement, monitor and refine nursing policies, procedures, and protocols to ensure resident safety, regulatory compliance, best practices in care, infection prevention, wound care, restorative nursing, and rehabilitation support.

• Work collaboratively with the interdisciplinary team to ensure resident care plans are comprehensive, person-centered, updated, and carried out effectively; review outcomes and adjust as needed.

• Conduct nursing rounds, assessments, audits, and ensure documentation processes are accurate, timely, and compliant with state and federal regulations.

• Oversee clinical quality improvement programs: monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) (e.g., falls, pressure injuries, hospital readmissions, medication errors), develop action plans, and lead root-cause analyses.

• Serve as a resource and mentor to nursing supervisors/charge nurses regarding clinical issues, regulatory citations, and professional development.

Operational & Administrative Oversight

• Manage nursing department operations including staffing, scheduling, recruitment, onboarding, performance evaluations, retention strategies, training and competency verification.

• Develop and manage the nursing budget: oversee labor costs, supply costs, equipment needs, and resource allocation to ensure fiscal responsibility while maintaining quality standards.

• Collaborate with Human Resources, QA/Risk, Rehab, Admissions, and Administration in designing workflows, coordinating admissions/discharges, and optimizing nursing resource utilization.

• Ensure proper staff coverage across shifts (including nights, weekends) and respond to emergent staffing needs or critical incidents.

• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of federal and state regulatory frameworks (e.g., CMS SNF requirements, CT Department of Public Health regulations, OBRA, Medicaid/Medicare standards) and ensure facility readiness for surveys, audits, and internal inspections.

• Prepare, review and report departmental metrics, outcomes, staffing analytics, and contribute to facility strategic planning efforts.

Team Development & Culture

• Foster a positive, engaged nursing team culture aligned with Harbor Village’s values—promoting collaboration, transparency, professional growth, accountability and resident-centered care.

• Provide coaching, development plans, and performance feedback to nursing leadership and staff; ensure continuing education and competency updates are met.

• Lead staff meetings, facilitate communication between nursing, therapy, other clinical departments and administration.

• Ensure orientation and ongoing education processes are robust (e.g., new nurse orientation, preceptor programs, cross-training rehab/nursing interface).

• Create and implement recognition and retention initiatives to reduce turnover, increase engagement and support succession planning.

Qualifications

Education & Licensure

• Current, unrestricted Registered Nurse (RN) license in the State of Connecticut.

• Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) required; Master’s in Nursing Administration, Healthcare Management or equivalent strongly preferred.

• Certification such as Nurse Executive (NE-BC) or Director of Nursing Services – Certified (DNS-CT) preferred.

Experience

• Minimum of 5+ years of progressive nursing leadership experience in a long-term care, skilled nursing, rehabilitation or acute care setting, with at least 2 years in a supervisory/managerial role. MedBest Senior Care Executive Recruiter

• Demonstrated experience managing nursing operations in a skilled nursing facility or similar environment, including staff scheduling, clinical outcomes improvement, regulatory compliance, and budget oversight.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Strong leadership, communication, critical thinking and organizational skills.

• Ability to translate strategic goals into operational actions, and drive continuous improvement initiatives.

• In-depth knowledge of nursing care standards, long-term care regulations, accreditation requirements, Medicare/Medicaid nuances, infection prevention, quality assurance and resident rights.

• Proficient in using electronic health records (EHRs) and clinical information systems.

• Ability to build collaborative relationships with rehabilitation, therapy, social services, and administrative teams.

• Commitment to resident-centered care and promoting a culture of dignity, respect and excellence.

Working Conditions

• Full-time, on-site at the facility in New London, CT; may require occasional evenings, weekends or early mornings to support coverage, emergencies, or leadership meetings.

• The role may involve walking between nursing units, participating in resident rounds, reviewing documentation, managing meetings, and interacting with staff, residents and families.

• The DON will report and respond to critical incidents, regulatory surveys, and crises when needed.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) / Success Metrics

Examples of metrics the DON will be accountable for:

• Staffing metrics: nurse-to-resident ratios, overtime hours, turnover rate, agency usage.

• Quality/care outcomes: fall rate, pressure injury rate, hospital readmission rate, infection rate, survey citations.

• Financial metrics: departmental labor cost variance, supply cost variance, budget adherence.

• Engagement/retention: nursing staff satisfaction scores, retention rate, professional development uptake.

• Compliance: timely completion of competencies, surveys passed without major findings, audit performance.

Why Harbor Village Rehabilitation?

Harbor Village Rehabilitation is committed to providing comprehensive, high-quality rehabilitative and long-term care services in a resident-focused environment. As the DON, you will have the opportunity to lead and shape our nursing services across a multi-unit skilled nursing/rehab setting, drive meaningful outcomes, and support a team dedicated to excellence, compassion and innovation in senior care.