Come work as a Professional Practice Director Nursing – Vancouver Acute with Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH)!

Vancouver Coastal Health is looking for a Professional Practice Director Nursing – Vancouver Acute to join the team.

Reporting to the Executive Director Professional Practice and Education, Nursing, the Professional Practice (PP) Director is a member of the Nursing  Leadership Team and is responsible for the strategic and operational leadership of professional nursing practice across Vancouver Acute.

Working in close collaboration with operational leaders, physicians, clinicians, educators, quality and safety partners, and professional practice colleagues, the Director guides the development of professional standards and practice, scope and regulations, supports research activities, and fosters collaboration and problem-solving between program and professional staff. The Director plays an integral role in defining quality care processes, creating quality practice environments, and advancing nursing professional practice in support of Vancouver Coastal Health's strategic priorities.

This is a highly visible leadership role supporting one of the largest and most complex acute care environments in British Columbia. The Director serves as a key partner to operational leaders and plays a critical role in ensuring professional practice excellence is embedded in the delivery of safe, high-quality, patient-centred care across Vancouver Acute.

Apply today to join our team!

Portfolio Overview

This portfolio provides professional practice leadership across Vancouver Acute, including:

• Vancouver General Hospital (VGH)
• UBC Hospital
• GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre
• Ambulatory Clinics

The Director supports a broad range of professional practice, quality improvement, patient safety, and clinical transformation initiatives and serves as a trusted advisor to operational leaders across the acute care continuum.

Current portfolio responsibilities include leadership and oversight of initiatives such as:

• Clinical workflow readiness and professional practice support for optimizing EHRs
• Provides leadership and expert advice on staffing, skill mix, care delivery approaches, and professional practice issues that support quality patient care and workforce sustainability.

The Director works closely with operational leaders, quality and patient safety teams, pharmacy, risk management, clinical informatics, physicians, educators, and allied health leaders to advance practice excellence and improve patient outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

• Participates in the development, implementation, and evaluation of authority-wide professional practice policies, standards, and strategies aligned with VCH's vision, values, and strategic priorities.
• Provides strategic and operational leadership for professional nursing practice throughout Vancouver Acute.
• Develops professional practice networks that enhance knowledge sharing, monitor emerging trends, identify opportunities for innovation, and promote consistent delivery of professional practice services.
• Ensures effective systems and processes are in place to assess professional practice and credentials in accordance with accreditation standards, regulatory requirements, and professional codes of ethics.
• Provides leadership and expert advice on staffing models, skill mix, care delivery approaches, and interdisciplinary collaborative practice.
• Supports initiatives that promote patient safety, evidence-informed practice, quality improvement, improved patient access, and efficient patient flow across the continuum of care.
• Provides professional practice leadership and consultation related to complex clinical, operational, and quality issues.
• Supports the advancement of research activities and integration of evidence-informed practice into care delivery.
• Builds and maintains collaborative partnerships with operational leaders, physicians, educators, quality teams, and interdisciplinary partners.
• Facilitates, collaborates, and negotiates effective resolution of complex professional practice issues.
• Provides overall leadership and direction to staff through coaching, mentoring, performance management, leadership development, and succession planning.
• Contributes to creating practice environments that promote excellence, accountability, respect, collaboration, innovation, and continuous learning.

Current Strategic Priorities

This portfolio is currently supporting several significant organizational and regional priorities, including:

• Advancing medication safety and medication reconciliation initiatives.
• Provides leadership on staffing models, skill mix, care delivery approaches, and interdisciplinary collaborative practice. 
• Strengthening nursing professional practice integration within Vancouver Acute operations.
• Supporting quality, safety, and practice excellence initiatives across multiple sites and programs.
  
  

The Ideal Candidate

The successful candidate is a collaborative and influential nurse leader with deep expertise in professional nursing practice within complex acute care environments.

They bring strong operational credibility, exceptional relationship-building skills, and the ability to influence change across diverse partner groups. They are comfortable navigating complex clinical environments, partnering with operational leaders, and leading initiatives that improve quality, safety, patient outcomes, and nursing professional practice excellence.

The ideal candidate is highly visible, relationship-oriented, and capable of balancing strategic priorities with operational realities in a fast-paced healthcare environment.

This is an exceptional opportunity to influence professional nursing practice across Vancouver Acute and partner with operational leaders to advance quality, safety, innovation, and exceptional patient care within one of Canada's largest and most complex academic healthcare environments.

The successful candidate will help shape the future of professional practice while supporting clinical excellence across Vancouver General Hospital, UBC Hospital, GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre, and Ambulatory Clinics.

Qualifications

• Master's Degree in Nursing or a related Health Sciences discipline.
• A minimum of eight (8) years of progressive leadership experience in a complex healthcare environment.
• Demonstrated expertise in professional practice, clinical operations, research, project leadership, and organizational change.
• Current practicing registration in good standing with the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM) or another applicable professional regulatory body.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Extensive knowledge of nursing professional practice within complex acute care environments.
• Experience leading professional practice, quality improvement, patient safety, and clinical transformation initiatives.
• Strong understanding of healthcare legislation, accreditation standards, professional governance, and regulatory requirements.
• Demonstrated success partnering with operational leaders to improve clinical practice and patient outcomes.
• Experience leading organizational change and influencing practice across large and complex healthcare systems.
• Strong systems thinking, consultation, facilitation, and relationship-management capabilities.
• Exceptional communication, negotiation, conflict resolution, and partner engagement skills.
• Ability to build trust and credibility with leaders, clinicians, physicians, and interdisciplinary teams.
  
  

Leadership Competencies

Respect

• Questions actions inconsistent with organizational values.
• Treats people fairly and respectfully regardless of role or differing perspectives.

Performance Excellence

• Builds high-performing teams and inspires excellence.
• Holds self and others accountable for results.

Learning Organization

• Creates environments where people can learn, grow, and thrive.
• Encourages innovation, evidence-informed practice, and continuous improvement.

Courage to Innovate

• Challenges the status quo to improve quality and sustainability.
• Makes thoughtful decisions and leads change in complex environments.
  
  

Work Location:

• Leon Blackmore Pavilion, Vancouver – B.C.
• This is a predominantly onsite leadership role. Given the size and complexity of the Vancouver Acute portfolio, success requires a visible presence and strong day-to-day relationships with operational leaders, clinical teams, physicians, and interdisciplinary partners across multiple sites.

Our Values

At Vancouver Coastal Health, our vision of healthy lives in healthy communities is guided by our shared values:

We Care for Everyone
We approach our work with compassion, respect, equity, and inclusion.

We Are Always Learning
We embrace curiosity, innovation, research, and continuous improvement.

We Strive for Better Results
We seek opportunities to improve quality, safety, and outcomes.

We Work Together
We believe meaningful collaboration is essential to achieving lasting impact.

As per Ministry of Health policy, all health care workers working in publicly-funded health care facilities are required to report their past receipt of certain vaccines or history of certain infections. Collecting these records will allow for offering of any missing vaccines, and for appropriate actions to be taken in the event of any future exposure to a communicable disease or during outbreaks. For all new hires and appointments to Vancouver Coastal Health, you will be asked to provide this information as part of the onboarding process.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Harleen Dastur-Randhawa, Manager, Executive Talent Acquisition at executivecareers@vch.ca.

WHY JOIN VANCOUVER COASTAL HEALTH?

VCH is a world class innovator in medical care, research, and teaching, delivering service to more than one million BC residents. At VCH, we embrace thinking boldly, taking smart risks, and "going first" when we believe it will lead to the best possible outcomes for patients and their families. We invite you to join us in creating healthy lives in healthy communities by showcasing our passion for care, connection to the communities we serve and our culture of teamwork that makes VCH a great place to work.

• Comprehensive health benefits package, including MSP, extended health, and dental and municipal pension plan.
• Grow your career with employer-paid training and leadership development opportunities.
• Wellness supports, including counselling, critical incident and innovative wellness services are available to employees and their immediate families.
• Award-winning recognition programs to honour staff, medical staff and volunteers.
• Access to exclusive discount offers and deals for VCH staff.
  
  

At Vancouver Coastal Health, our vision of healthy lives in healthy communities inspires us and our values and pillars guide us. We support equitable practices, diverse teams, and inclusive environments, which are integral to creating welcoming spaces where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and feel supported. We encourage applications from equity-deserving communities, including Indigenous Peoples and members of racialized groups, people with disabilities and people of all gender identities and expressions and sexual orientation.

Vancouver Coastal Health is proud to be recognized as one of BC’s Top Employers, Canada’s Best Diversity Employers and Canada's Top Employers for Young People in 2025.

Only short-listed applicants will be contacted for this posting.

***Employees of VCH must apply online via the Internal Career Portal on CareerHub, you are currently viewing the External Career Portal. Refer to the https://my.vch.ca/working-here/job-postings site for instructions on how to view internal job postings and how to apply as an employee. Current VCH employees who apply to this posting using this external site will be considered as an external candidate. Seniority will not apply.***

Thank you for your interest in Vancouver Coastal Health.