Nurse In Charge

The Nurse In Charge at City Eye Hospital is tasked with overseeing the Appointment Clinic's daily operations and patient care. This includes monitoring performance against revenue targets, tracking appointment attendance, and ensuring the completion of clinically advised services. The role involves maintaining an accurate register of recommended investigations and procedures, coordinating follow-ups, and providing financial records for revenue validation. The Nurse In Charge must ensure commercial targets do not compromise clinical judgment or patient care. Key responsibilities also include managing the clinic schedule, leading daily readiness meetings, allocating staff, and escalating any uncovered sessions or delays. The role focuses on optimizing patient flow from reception through all stages of care, monitoring waiting times, and implementing improvements. Furthermore, the Nurse In Charge ensures patients receive confirmations and updates, addresses complaints, and coordinates workflow changes to resolve bottlenecks.

1. Monitor and manage performance against Appointment Clinic revenue targets, addressing variances and implementing corrective actions.
2. Track appointment attendance, completion of services, referrals, and utilization of clinic capacity.
3. Maintain accurate records of recommended investigations, procedures, and transfers, including authorization and follow-up.
4. Review pending cases weekly, assign actions, and coordinate follow-up, pre-authorization, and handovers.
5. Provide Finance with complete activity and transfer records for revenue validation.
6. Ensure clinical judgment and patient care are prioritized over commercial targets.
7. Collaborate with the Head of Patient Services and Medical Director to maintain an eight-week clinic schedule, covering capacity, clinician availability, and staffing.
8. Lead daily readiness meetings to cover staff schedules, bookings, equipment, consumables, and anticipated delays.
9. Allocate nurses and ophthalmic assistants for various sessions, managing leave and transfers.
10. Record and escalate uncovered sessions, clinician delays, cancellations, and capacity constraints.
11. Coordinate patient communication, rescheduling, and alternative care pathways.
12. Oversee patient flow from reception through assessment, consultation, diagnostics, procedures, payment, discharge, and follow-up.
13. Monitor waiting times and implement workflow improvements to reduce delays.
14. Ensure patients receive appointment confirmations and reminders.
15. Coordinate with the front-office team to follow up on cancellations and missed appointments.
16. Keep patients informed about delays, address complaints, and escalate unresolved service issues.
17. Monitor patient movement and coordinate workflow changes to address bottlenecks.
18. Ensure nursing care adheres to clinical protocols, infection prevention standards, medication controls, emergency procedures, and professional scope of practice.
19. Supervise triage, patient preparation, and pre/post-procedure nursing care.
20. Ensure emergency equipment, supplies, and staff are ready for patient care.
21. Record and escalate incidents, near misses, unsafe conditions, and scheduling deviations.
22. Follow up on assigned corrective actions until completion.
23. Support clinical audits and quality-improvement initiatives.
24. Ensure changes to clinical protocols or decisions outside nursing scope are approved by the Medical Director.
25. Coordinate the availability and appropriate use of diagnostic equipment.
26. Report equipment faults to Biomedical Engineering and follow up on repairs.
27. Maintain adequate stocks of drugs, consumables, and critical supplies.
28. Oversee ordering, storage, dispensing, and movement of supplies according to policies.
29. Coordinate monthly stock counts and report variances, wastage, breakages, and expired items.
30. Protect the confidentiality and integrity of patient, staff, equipment, and operational records.
31. Maintain a consolidated Appointment Clinic performance tracker, ensuring data reconciliation.
32. Keep unresolved data discrepancies visible and escalate them.
33. Prepare and submit weekly performance scorecards and accurate monthly operational reports.
34. Reconcile operational records with Cashiers, Front Office, and Main Hospital service leads.
35. Use performance data to recommend improvements in workflow, staffing, capacity, and service delivery.
36. Lead, coach, and supervise nurses and ophthalmic assistants in the Appointment Clinic.
37. Allocate duties, manage attendance and leave, conduct performance reviews, and address conduct concerns.
38. Exercise day-to-day functional authority over front-office, cashier, and support staff regarding readiness, patient flow, and safety.
39. Provide the Commercial team with verified service information and capacity for patient acquisition.
40. Identify and escalate staffing, equipment, infrastructure, and system requirements based on workload and service opportunities.

1. Hold a Diploma or degree in Nursing from a recognized institution.
2. Possess a current Nursing Council of Kenya practicing license.
3. A Higher Diploma in Ophthalmic Nursing is strongly preferred; candidates with substantial ophthalmic, ambulatory, or specialist-clinic experience and demonstrated leadership may also be considered.
4. Have at least five years of nursing experience, with a minimum of three years in ophthalmic, outpatient, or specialist-clinic care.
5. Demonstrated experience supervising a clinic or patient-care team.
6. Possess working knowledge of patient flow, clinical scheduling, pre-authorization, diagnostic and procedure pathways, infection prevention, medication control, and patient-safety reporting.
7. Ability to use Microsoft Excel or comparable reporting tools and interpret operational data related to activity, waiting times, service completion, utilization, staffing, and inventory.
8. Demonstrate operational ownership by anticipating gaps, acting within authority, escalating issues early, and following actions to completion.
9. Exhibit patient-centred judgment, protecting patient safety, dignity, access, and continuity of care.
10. Maintain data discipline by using source records, reconciling figures, and highlighting unresolved data gaps.
11. Show leadership and accountability by setting clear expectations, addressing underperformance fairly, and maintaining professional boundaries.
12. Practice cross-functional coordination, securing cooperation across departments while respecting their authority.
13. Possess commercial awareness, understanding how capacity, service completion, utilization, cost, and patient experience contribute to sustainable growth without compromising patient care.
14. Demonstrate integrity, compassion, stewardship, and high standards, reflecting City Eye Hospital's values.