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Posted: April 1, 2026 (1 day ago)

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Nursing Services Director

State of Iowa

252 Corrections - Fort Dodge Correctional Facility

Fresh

Location

Salary

$38.27 - $58.86

per hour

Closes

May 4, 2026

Job Description

Summary

This job is for a director who leads the nursing team at a correctional facility, making sure inmates get proper medical care around the clock while managing staff schedules, hiring, and performance reviews.

It also involves creating health policies, working with other departments to improve care, and handling things like infection control and emergency planning.

A good fit would be an experienced nurse leader who is organized, good at teamwork, and passionate about quality healthcare in a challenging environment like a prison.

Key Requirements

  • Registered Nurse (RN) license and advanced nursing degree or equivalent experience
  • Proven leadership in supervising nursing staff, including hiring, evaluations, and scheduling for 24/7 coverage
  • Experience in developing and implementing health policies, procedures, and quality assurance programs
  • Strong collaboration skills with interdisciplinary teams, such as medical, mental health, and security staff
  • Knowledge of regulatory compliance, accreditation standards, and infection control in a correctional or healthcare setting
  • Proficiency in managing electronic health records (EHR) systems and data reporting
  • Ability to lead emergency preparedness, outbreak response, and quality improvement initiatives

Full Job Description

Supervises and evaluates the work of subordinate staff to ensure 24-hour coverage. A.

Effectively recommends personnel actions including hiring, corrective/disciplinary measures, performance evaluations, work schedules, and duty assignments. B.

Administers personnel management and enforces departmental policies and procedures. Maintains accurate timekeeping, payroll, and leave records. C.

Oversees the delivery of Health Services to ensure high-quality, timely, and appropriate care provided to incarcerated individuals. D.

Establishes and maintains guidelines for staffing within the health care agency to assure adequate nursing coverage for all client areas.Maintains a nursing schedule to cover the institution 24 hours a day, 7 days a week across all shifts, holidays, and weekends.

E. Ensures annual performance evaluations are completed for all health services staff are completed in a timely and objective manner. F.

Oversee nursing workforce planning, including recruitment, retention, succession planning, and labor relations coordination. Program and policy oversight and development:A.

Leads the development, implementation, and ongoing revision of institutional Health Services Procedure Manual. B.

Schedules, facilitates, and documents monthly nursing meetings; ensures meeting minutes are accurately completed and distributed. C.

Represents the nursing department in interdisciplinary meetings; communicates nursing needs and concerns to other departments and administration. D.

Proactively identifies, defines, and resolves barriers to care delivery to improve access and health outcomes. F.

Promotes compliance with nursing and medical standards, mission, goals, and regulatory/accreditation requirements. F.

Evaluates cost-efficiency of services and resources while ensuring high-quality care is maintained. G.

Collaborate with medical, mental health, pharmacy, security, and administrative teams to coordinate care and ensure continuity of services.

Participates and represents Health Services in assigned committees. A.

Administers special health programs such as infection prevention and control, nursing staff development, quality assurance, and utilization review. B.

Represents Health Services in institutional executive and management meetings, providing updates and data on healthcare operations. C.

Compiles and presents quarterly QA reports with analysis and recommendations for improvements in care delivery. D. Serves as an active member of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) Committee. E.

Participates in institutional leadership and team management meetings to represent the Health Services Unit. F.

Attend and actively contribute to quarterly Nurse Manager meetings to support communication, alignment on departmental goals, and continuous quality improvement efforts. G.

Participate in weekly Medical Admissions calls and Mental Health Utilization Review meetings to ensure timely coordination of care, appropriate placement decisions, and effective resource utilization.

H. Monitor clinical quality metrics and lead quality improvement throughout Health Services Department. I.

Serve as the nursing lead for incident reviews, death reviews, and sentinel even investigations. Technology and Data: A.

Support implementation and optimization of the Electronic Health Record (HER) system, including access control, documentation standards, and user training. Public Health and Emergency Preparedness: A.

Lead nursing components of outbreak response planning, including vaccination strategies, screening protocols, and infection control drills. B.

Participate in emergency response coordination as a nursing system leader.


E-Verify and Right to Work
The State of Iowa participates in E-Verify, a federal program that helps employers confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. Within the required timeframe, new hires will be verified through the E-Verify system to ensure authorization to work in the United States. The State of Iowa also complies with the federal Right to Work laws, which protect employees’ rights to work without being required to join a labor organization. For more information, please visit www.e-verify.gov

Qualifications

Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing and experience equal to three years of full-time supervisory/management nursing experience;
OR
graduation from an accredited college or university with a Master's Degree in Nursing and experience equal to one year of full-time supervisory/management nursing experience;
OR
an equivalent combination of the required education and experience, substituting one year of experience for thirty semester hours or equivalent of education; no substitution for three years of full-time supervisory/management nursing experience.

For additional information, please click on this link to view the job description.

Additional Information

Licensure as a Registered Nurse in the State of Iowa by the Iowa Board of Nursing or licensure as a Registered Nurse in accordance with the Nurse Licensure Compact Administrator's Agreement of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. More information can be found at Nurse Licensure Compact

NOTE: Please include your license information with your application

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Posted on NEOGOV: 4/1/2026 | Added to FreshGovJobs: 4/2/2026

Source: NEOGOV | ID: neogov-iowa-5292921