Chief Nursing Officer (CNO)

I. Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Nursing Leadership: Provide overall leadership and supervision of nursing services across inpatient, outpatient, emergency, theatre, maternity, critical care, renal, and other clinical areas, ensuring nursing services are aligned to Plains view Hospital’s strategic objectives across the Balanced Scorecard pillars of Financial Sustainability, Customer/Patient experience, Internal Processes, and Learning & Growth/People.
  
• Financial Sustainability and Resource Management: Support financial sustainability by
   ensuring optimal nursing staffing levels, proper shift coverage, efficient use of supplies and consumables, reduction of wastage, accurate nursing documentation for billable services, and timely support for admissions, discharges, procedures, investigations, and patient flow.
• Customer/Patient Experience: Champion compassionate, respectful, responsive, and patient-centred nursing care across all units. Monitor patient feedback, complaints, response times, service recovery, bedside care standards, communication, and patient satisfaction to improve patient confidence and retention.
  
• Internal Processes, Quality and Patient Safety: Ensure nursing care is delivered in line with hospital policies, Ministry of Health requirements, SafeCare standards, infection prevention and control protocols, approved clinical guidelines, medication safety standards, handover procedures, and documentation requirements.
  
• Clinical Governance and Risk Management: Oversee nursing-related incident reporting, investigation, escalation, corrective action follow-up, adverse event reduction, infection prevention compliance, medication error prevention, clinical audits, and patient safety improvement initiatives.
  
• Patient Flow and Interdepartmental Coordination: Coordinate with Clinical Services, Operations, Diagnostics, Pharmacy, Finance, and Support Services to support timely admissions, discharges, referrals, investigations, medication administration, handovers, bed management, and continuity of care.
  
• Performance Monitoring and Accountability: Track nursing KPIs including documentation compliance, patient satisfaction, incident reporting, medication safety, infection prevention compliance, patient care standards, response time, staff attendance, and staff performance. Use performance data to drive corrective action and continuous improvement.
  
• Learning & Growth / People Leadership: Lead nursing workforce planning, rota management, leave planning, workload distribution, staff supervision, mentorship, coaching, competency assessment, CMEs, continuous professional development, succession planning, and performance management across nursing units.
  
• Employee Engagement and Productivity: Promote a culture of accountability, teamwork, professionalism, empathy, timely communication, patient-centred care, and continuous improvement. Work with HR to address staffing gaps, staff concerns, attendance, conduct, retention risks, and performance issues.
  
• Accreditation and Compliance Readiness: Lead nursing readiness for SafeCare, ISO, MOH, and other applicable quality standards by ensuring nursing policies, SOPs, audit evidence, training records, corrective actions, and compliance documentation are maintained and updated.
  

• Nursing Quality & Patient Safety: Strengthen nursing standards, bedside care, medication safety, infection prevention, handover compliance, documentation, and patient monitoring.
  
• SafeCare & Accreditation Readiness: Support achievement of SafeCare Level 4 certification and other quality standards through nursing audits, evidence filing, corrective actions, and staff sensitization.
  
• Nursing Workforce Productivity: Improve nursing staffing efficiency, rota planning, attendance, performance management, skills development, succession planning, and staff accountability.
  
• Patient Experience & Service Recovery: Improve patient satisfaction through effective communication, timely response to patient needs, complaint resolution, compassionate care, and structured patient feedback follow-up.
  
• Clinical Risk Reduction: Reduce adverse nursing-related events by strengthening incident reporting, escalation, clinical supervision, and corrective action implementation.
  
• Interdepartmental Coordination: Improve coordination between Nursing and Clinical Services, Pharmacy, Diagnostics, Operations, Finance, and Support Services to ensure seamless patient care delivery.
  

• Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing.
  

• Masters in Healthcare Management, Public Health, Strategic Management, Business Administration, or a related field (Mandatory)
  

• Valid registration and practicing license from the Nursing Council of Kenya.
  

• Minimum 7 years’ nursing experience, with at least 5 years in nursing leadership or hospital management.
  

• Strong understanding of nursing governance, patient safety, infection prevention and control, clinical audits, quality improvement, and hospital accreditation standards.
  

• Demonstrated ability to lead multidisciplinary teams, manage nursing operations, improve staff performance, and drive patient-centred care.
  

• Strong communication, leadership, decision-making, problem-solving, and stakeholder management skills.