Department Overview:
The Nursing Practice Specialist (NPS) is a Registered Nurse (RN) who serves as a clinical and systems leader in advancing nursing practice and care delivery across OHSU. This role provides expert responsibility for clinical standards, scope of practice, and quality improvement while supporting professional governance and strategic system initiatives. The NPS provides practice leadership for clinical nurses at OHSU. The NPS leverages advanced clinical expertise and evidence-based practice to assess, design, and implement improvements in patient care and nursing workflows.
Function/Duties of Position:
This role partners with work environment leaders, professional development teams, and interprofessional colleagues to ensure that clinical practice is aligned with regulatory requirements, organizational policies, and current evidence. The NPS actively identifies practice gaps, translates research into practice, and leads initiatives that promote safety, effectiveness, and equity in care delivery.
The NPS represents the nursing profession in practice-related decision-making. This includes formulating and implementing system-wide standards, evaluating nursing-sensitive outcomes, guiding the development and revision of policies and protocols, and leading solutions for complex clinical and operational issues. The role has responsibility for influencing policy, designing and recommending improvements to care models, and supporting regulatory readiness and accreditation efforts.
1. Quality Improvement & Patient Safety
Leads systematic quality and safety improvement efforts by identifying practice gaps through data analysis and performance measures. Supports and coordinates Harm Reduction Taskforces, Root Cause Analyses (RCAs), and action planning. Promotes a culture of safety and compliance through implementation of evidence-based bundles, NSI/ Practice PSI reviews, and quality initiatives like Skin Prevalence Day. Participates in patient safety event investigations to identify contributing factors and develop system-level solutions.
2. Translational Practice
Drives the integration of best evidence into clinical practice, supporting implementation science and interdisciplinary collaboration. Partners with Nursing Professional Development (NPD) and work environment leaders to guide practice changes that improve patient outcomes. Defines and advances nursing practice standards, supporting clinical decision-making across units, care areas, and service lines.
3. Informatics & Healthcare Technologies
Uses clinical informatics and digital health tools to enhance patient care, workflow efficiency, and documentation accuracy. Participates in evaluation and integration of technologies for clinical relevance and cost-effectiveness. Collaborates on system-level technology assessments and deployment to ensure nursing practice is supported by user-centered digital solutions.
4. Practice Systems Infrastructure
Develops and maintains nursing practice infrastructure, including evidence-based policies, procedures, protocols, guidelines, and delegation tools. Ensures alignment with regulatory standards and supports readiness for accreditation and survey processes. Collaborates on value analysis and product selection to ensure clinical relevance, cost-effectiveness, and safe implementation.
5. Collaborative Partnerships
Builds strong relationships with work environment leadership, privileged and independent privileged staff, patient support services, pharmacy, and supply chain teams. Collaborates to align practice with interdisciplinary standards and operational needs. Serves as a liaison to advance practice consistency, innovation, and regulatory compliance across teams and service lines.
6. Leadership and Change Management:
Aligns work with organizational goals and strategic plan. Demonstrates commitment to financial stewardship and resource management while fostering innovation and embracing change. Collaborates with other leaders to identify problems and propose solutions. Support change management by assessing readiness for change, developing goals, exhibiting creativity and flexibility, and implementing change strategies that support staff ability to sustain change.
7. Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI):
Evaluates policies, practices, and educational initiatives for bias and inclusivity. Partners with stakeholders to improve health equity outcomes and eliminate disparities in care delivery and clinical decision-making. Contributes to the development of inclusive environments through assessment, education, and practice change.
Required Qualifications:
- Masters Degree in Nursing or current enrollment in a Masters Degree in Nursing
- 3-years experience as a registered nurse in a related clinical area of Practice or Focus
- Quality Management
- Data Literacy
- RN Scope of Practice
- EBP Models
- Nursing Sensitive Indicators
- Unencumbered RN License
- Basic Life Support (BLS) from the American Heart Association (AHA)
- Nursing Professional Certification
Preferred Qualifications:
- Masters of Science in Nursing
- 2-Years of recent leadership experience
- Data Analysis & Visualization
- Policy & Document Control Systems
- Order set Management
- NDNQI
- CNL Certification
- CNS Credential
Additional Details:
This position also comes with great benefits! Some highlights include:
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Comprehensive health care plans that cover 100% for a full-time employee and 88% for dependents for .75 FTE and higher.
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$50K of term life insurance provided at no cost to the employee
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Two separate above market pension plans to choose from
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Paid time off- 208 hours per year (full-time), prorated for part-time
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Extended illness bank- 64 hours per year, prorated for part-time
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9 paid holidays per year
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Three weeks of paid parental leave
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Adoption assistance program (up to 5k)
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Substantial Tri-met and C-Tran discounts
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Tuition Reimbursement
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Innovative Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
Why apply to OHSU?:
We are Oregon's only public academic health center. In addition to caring for patients, we lead groundbreaking research. We also train the next generation of health care professionals. As Portland's largest employer, we give you opportunities to learn and advance in a system of hospitals and clinics across Oregon and Southwest Washington.
All are welcome. OHSU welcomes people of all ages, ethnicities, genders, national origins, religions and sexual orientations. We are striving to build an anti-racist, multicultural institution and encourage people with diverse backgrounds to apply. To request reasonable accommodation, contact
[email protected]