The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Clinical Quality & Resource Nurse serves as a clinical resource for ICU staff while promoting excellence in patient care through quality improvement initiatives, concurrent chart review, regulatory compliance, documentation auditing, and staff education. This role collaborates with nursing leadership, physicians, Infection Prevention, Case Management, Respiratory Therapy, Pharmacy, and ancillary departments to ensure adherence to evidence-based practices, organizational policies, and regulatory standards.

The Clinical Quality & Resource Nurse provides operational support to the ICU through staff scheduling assistance, environmental rounding, quality metric monitoring, and concurrent review of patient records to identify opportunities for improvement before discharge. This position functions as a resource nurse without a routine patient assignment but may provide clinical assistance during periods of high census or emergency situations.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Performs concurrent clinical chart reviews to ensure timely, complete, and accurate documentation throughout the patient's ICU stay.
• Reviews patient documentation daily to identify missing or incomplete physician and nursing documentation and collaborates with staff to ensure timely completion.
• Monitors compliance with:

• Foley catheter continued indication documentation
• Central venous catheter (CVC) continued necessity documentation
• Daily CHG bath documentation
• Perineal care documentation
• Restraint documentation
• Code Sepsis documentation
• Transfer documentation
• Code Blue documentation
• Notice of Death documentation
• Required regulatory forms
• ICU quality bundles
• Nursing documentation standards

• Ensures all required forms are completed accurately and filed appropriately within the medical record.
• Reviews laboratory and diagnostic results to ensure abnormal findings have been acknowledged and appropriately addressed by the healthcare team.
• Verifies isolation precautions are implemented appropriately, including physician orders, signage, PPE availability, and documentation.
• Conducts environmental rounds to promote patient safety, infection prevention, and regulatory compliance.
• Oversee ICU PAR levels and coordinate with Central Supply to ensure consistent availability and restocking of essential supplies.

Monitors ICU quality indicators including but not limited to:

• CLABSI prevention
• CAUTI prevention
• Blood culture contamination rates
• Sepsis compliance
• Documentation compliance
• Core quality measures
• Infection prevention initiatives

• Reviews blood culture contamination reports and trends while observing staff performing blood culture collection to reinforce best practices and reduce contamination rates.
• Provides real-time coaching and education regarding documentation, evidence-based practice, and hospital policies.
• Serves as a clinical resource for bedside nurses regarding quality initiatives and documentation standards.
• Assists nursing leadership with preparation for Joint Commission, Department of Health, CMS, and other regulatory surveys.
• Maintains quality dashboards and communicates opportunities for improvement to leadership and frontline staff.
• Participates in Root Cause Analyses (RCA), performance improvement projects, and action plan implementation.
• Assists with policy implementation and staff competency validation.
• Collaborates with Infection Prevention, Pharmacy, Respiratory Therapy, Case Management, Physicians, and Quality departments to improve patient outcomes.

Operational Responsibilities

• Assists the Nurse Manager with staff scheduling and daily staffing adjustments.
• Communicates important clinical updates and operational announcements utilizing ShiftWizard messaging and hospital email systems.
• Monitors BCMA messaging compliance and follows up with staff to ensure timely responses to required communications.
• Maintains Symplr access and assists with interview scheduling and communication with employment candidates as delegated by nursing leadership.
• Monitors ICU supply inventory, stock levels, and par levels to ensure adequate availability of essential patient care supplies.
• Coordinates with Materials Management to resolve inventory shortages.
• Participates in daily interdisciplinary rounds and communicates quality concerns to the healthcare team.
• Assists with throughput activities and patient placement as needed.
• Provides clinical assistance during emergencies or periods of increased patient acuity.

Leadership Responsibilities

• Serves as a mentor and resource for ICU nursing staff.
• Provides ongoing education regarding documentation standards and regulatory requirements.
• Assists with orientation of newly hired staff related to quality initiatives and documentation expectations.
• Promotes accountability for compliance with hospital policies and evidence-based practice.
• Participates in shared governance councils and quality committees.
• Supports a culture of patient safety, teamwork, professionalism, and continuous quality improvement.

Quality Improvement Responsibilities

• Conducts concurrent audits of ICU patient records.
• Identifies trends affecting patient safety and quality outcomes.
• Develops recommendations for process improvement.
• Tracks and reports compliance with departmental quality metrics.
• Assists with implementation of quality improvement initiatives.
• Maintains documentation audit logs and quality reports.
• Participates in regulatory survey readiness activities.
• Collaborates with department leadership to improve clinical outcomes.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive list of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Minimum Education / Certifications

Minimum:

• Graduate of an accredited School of Nursing required
• BSN required
• Current NJ RN license required
• BLS required
• ACLS required
• PALS required where applicable based on unit
• 3 years of recent acute care nursing experience in the specialty
• 1 year of charge nurse, preceptor, or leadership experience
• Certification in the specialty should be obtained within the next two years

Preferred:

• 5 years of critical care experience
• 2 years of charge nurse, relief supervisor, clinical coordinator, or leadership experience
• Master’s Degree
• CCRN certification