Director of Care

**JOB SUMMARY**:
Carpenter Hospice is an 11-bed home in the heart of Burlington that offers resident-based care to individuals in the last stages of their lives, and community-based programs for individuals dealing with grief or a life-limiting illness. It is an exciting time to be joining Carpenter Hospice as we expand our resident and community services in Burlington and surrounding areas.

Carpenter Hospice is excited to introduce an exciting new full-time opportunity for a Director of Care, who is a Nurse Practitioner (Registered Nurse in the extended class), working within their legislative scope of practice as described and outlined by the College of Nurses of Ontario. The Director of Care ensures all clinical services are being delivered in accordance with standards of practice, accreditation standards for a hospice and the appropriate regulatory and legislative requirements for a hospice. The Director of Care collaborates with the resident and family/caregiver, the hospice’s physician medical consultant and the health care team in the development, implementation and evaluation of the resident’s plan of care; provides leadership and mentorship to staff to enhance their knowledge, assessment skills, and ability to care for residents at end-of life; and leads and collaborates in research, education, and evidence-based practice initiatives to optimize the resident’s experience.

**KEY RESPONSIBILITIES**:

- Participates in continuing education and maintains current knowledge and practice in the delivery of palliative care.
- Directs and organizes Hospice’s health care services as required by applicable legislation, policies, in the areas of medical service provision and administration.
- Provides advice to, and be accountable for the areas of health-care services and policies in Hospice, including:

- Development, implementation, and evaluation of health care services.
- Preparation and ongoing review of health care policies and procedures.
- Involvement in Hospice-wide issues, such as infectious disease outbreak management.
- Provides other services in relation to the provision of medical services in Hospice that are reasonably required, and which are jointly agreed upon by the Director of Care and the Executive Director (or designate)
- Available (or designate) in case of an emergency when a resident’s attending physician/nurse practitioner or their delegate cannot be reached.
- Develops and maintains a policy for the provision of health care services for all residents who do not have an attending physician/nurse practitioner identified (“unattached patients”).
- Provides medical liaison with local hospital(s) and other appropriate health care organization.
- Act as a change agent by advocating for and implementing new initiatives.

**DIRECT CARE TO RESIDENTS**:

- Provides comprehensive palliative care to residents as part of the interdisciplinary care team. Interdisciplinary health care team includes unregulated health care providers and hospice volunteers.
- Increases continuity of care through collaboration, consultation, and referral as appropriate: Collaborates and consults with physicians, nurse practitioners, nursing staff, interdisciplinary team members and external resources regarding the achievement of the residents’ goals of care.
- Assists, supports, guides, and provides consultation to the nursing staff and interdisciplinary team members regarding challenging clinical situations. Makes referrals to specialized consultants, services, and other health providers, as necessary.
- Engages with residents / substitute decision maker, care team in regular dialogue about their goals of care. Participates in care conferences.
- Orders and/or performs appropriate screening and diagnostic investigations, interpreting results and assuming responsibility for follow-up. Manages the care of residents by providing pharmacological, complementary and/or counseling interventions, and performs procedures within the NP scope of practice. Documents clinical data, assessment findings, diagnoses, plans of care, therapeutic interventions, resident responses and clinical rationale in a timely and accurate manner and reports appropriately to interdisciplinary team members.
- Participates in providing after hours and on-call coverage in accordance with the on-call policy of the Hospice.

**TEACHING AND COACHING**:

- Provides formal and informal teaching and coaching by integrating best practices in the management of clinical care to interdisciplinary team members, serving as resource person, educator and role model and contributes to the performance appraisals of nursing, PSW and axillary staff.
- Provides clinical placements and precepts students interested in specializing in palliative care.
- Participates in identifying, analyzing, and interpreting trends in resident care outcomes and professional nursing and medical practice issues to determine priorities for educational programming.
- Contribut