(RN) Diabetes Nurse Educator / Nurse Practitioner - 136872

UC San Diego Health is a Magnet designated organization, which is a prestigious recognition that applies to only 10% of all U.S. hospitals. Magnet is the "gold standard" for nursing excellence and is based on strengths in five key areas, which include transformational leadership, structural empowerment, exemplary professional practice, new knowledge, innovation and improvements and empirical outcomes. UC San Diego Health has held its Magnet status since 2011.

The Diabetes Nurse Educator will provide diabetes expertise to UC San Diego Health staff, providers, patients, and families. Depending on the qualifications of the selected candidate, this may be a combined Diabetes Nurse Educator (DNE) and Nurse Practitioner position with weekend hours filled in the Nurse Practitioner role. The DNE is responsible for the assessment, planning, implementation, coordination, and evaluation of the Diabetes Education Program and functions in the roles of teacher, consultant, collaborator, and researcher. This position works in collaboration with physician leaders and other interdisciplinary team members to address the care of patients identified as at risk for hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia.

The DNE will be responsible for making recommendations to the primary team to help manage insulin dosing in the inpatient setting, educate patients during their hospitalization, provide outpatient diabetes medication recommendations upon transition out of the hospital and serve as a resource for all hospital staff on the safe use of insulin in the hospital setting. This expert nurse will help lead the unit-based diabetes nurse champions in peer review, auditing, and performance improvement projects. Opportunities to improve current diabetes care on each unit will be identified and improvement will be made with interprofessional collaborative teams and research opportunities. Through teaching, coaching, and mentoring, the Diabetes Nurse Educator will partner with nursing management and diabetes nurse champions to assure all nurses have current diabetes skills and knowledge.

While not required, a cover letter is highly recommended when applying to this position.

• Must be a graduate from an accredited nursing and/or nurse practitioner program.

• California Registered Nurse (RN) license.

• If selected candidate is a Nurse Practitioner, the following licenses and certifications are also required: California Nurse Practitioner (NP) license and Furnishing License Certification. National NP board certification in aligned specialty with the practice area.

• BART or BLS at time of hire with commitment to get BART within six (6) months of hire date.

• Demonstrated recent diabetes experience as an RN or NP.

• Proven experience in group nutritional and diabetes counseling and education.

• Strong skills in assessing, designing, implementing, and evaluating the nutritional, lifestyle, and educational needs participants.

• Ability to interact effectively with diverse population. Exhibits a high level of professionalism and excellent communication skills. Ability to function as part of a team.

• Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES) or AADE BC-ADM (Board Certified-Advanced Diabetes Management) certification.

• Three (3+) years or more experience caring for patients with diabetes.

• Comfortable in a group teaching setting and willingness to do community outreach.

• Employment is subject to a criminal background check and pre-employment physical.
• Must be able to work various hours, days, shifts, on-call and locations based on the 24-hour Medical Center's business needs.
• If an NP is hired: Must be able to obtain UCSD Medical Staff privileges and maintain during employment.

• Diabetes Nurse Educator (80% appointment): $177,000 - $205,000 / year based on a 100% appointment (salary would be pro-rated at 80%).
• Diabetes Nurse Educator (80%) + Nurse Practitioner (20%): $85.00 - 98.00 / hour for the DNE portion, and $78.68 - $112.38/hour for the NP portion; both paid on an hourly basis.