Residence Requirements: RESIDENCE REQUIREMENTS: THERE ARE NO RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATION IN THIS EXAMINATION. There is one vacancy at the Erie County Medical Center.

Examples of Duties:

An Assistant Vice President of Medical Surgical Nursing Services directs the operation of Medical/Surgical Nursing at the Erie County Medical Center Corporation; 

Develops, implements and monitors compliance with nursing standards of practice;

Oversees the patient experience and engages staff in promoting positive patient outcomes and satisfaction;

Ensures departmental compliance with requirements of regulatory and accreditation agencies;

Takes appropriate action to correct issues regarding non-compliance with policies, procedures and standards;

Prepares recommendations for operational and capital budgets to support the needs of each department;

Assists with budget preparation, allocates funds within budget limit to accomplish objectives and monitors variance against budget;

Monitors financial performance for cost centers and takes appropriate action as required;

Assists in developing staffing plans and evaluates appropriateness of staffing levels and schedules;

Selects personnel for employment and promotion;

Participates in the selection of position-specific competencies for use in evaluating staff performance and ensures completion of evaluations for assigned staff;

Identifies learning needs of staff, participates in staff education and ensures staff participation in educational programs;

Promotes and participates in research studies;

Participates in developing and evaluating unit based quality improvement activities;

Facilitates case reviews and root cause analysis for critical incidents, if needed;

Participates in labor relations meetings, grievances and arbitrations;

Maintains active membership on departmental and hospital committees.

Qualifications:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:  Candidates must meet one of the following requirements on or before the date of the written test: 

A.) Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university Master’s Degree in Nursing or Healthcare Administration or closely related administrative field and four (4) years of registered professional nursing, two (2) years of which were in a supervisory* or administrative** capacity experience in a medical/surgical or acute care setting; or:

B.) Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing or Healthcare Administration or closely related administrative field and six (6) years of registered professional nursing experience, two (2) years of which were in a supervisory* or administrative** capacity experience in a medical/surgical or acute care setting.

C.) An equivalent combination of training and experience as set by the limits of (A) and (B).

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

Possession of a license and current registration to practice as a Registered Professional Nurse in New York State at time of appointment;

Maintenance of license throughout duration of appointment.

Notes:

NOTES:  1. *Supervision – Responsible direction and control of subordinate employees.  This involves the assignment of work, approval of work, training, evaluation and discipline of employees.  The supervisory aspects must be an integral part of the job, not incidental or occasional. 2.   **Administrative experience is defined as the responsible planning, management and control functions of an organization or organizational unit including the development and/or approval of operating policy and procedures  3.   Verifiable part-time and/or volunteer experience will be pro-rated toward meeting full-time experience requirements.   4. Your degree and/or college credit must have been awarded by a regionally accredited college or university or one recognized by the New York State Education Department as following acceptable educational practices.  A grade of "D" or better is necessary for a course to be credited as successfully completed.  If your degree and/or college credit was awarded by an educational institution outside of the United States and its territories, you must provide independent verification of equivalency.  You can write to this Department for a list of acceptable companies providing this service; you must pay the required evaluation fee.

The New York State Department of Civil Service has not prepared a test guide for this examination. However,candidates may find information in the publication "How to take a written test" helpful in preparing for this test. This publication is available on line at: www.cs.ny.gov/testing/localtestguides.cfm

Subjects of Examination:

SUBJECTS OF EXAMINATION: A written test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and /or abilities in the following areas:

1. Administrative supervision

These questions test for knowledge of the principles and practices involved in directing the activities of a large subordinate staff, including subordinate supervisors. Questions relate to the personal interactions between an upper level supervisor and his/her subordinate supervisors in the accomplishment of objectives. These questions cover such areas as assigning work to and coordinating the activities of several units, establishing and guiding staff development programs, evaluating the performance of subordinate supervisors, and maintaining relationships with other organizational sections.

2. Interviewing

These questions test for knowledge of the principles and practices employed in obtaining information from individuals through structured conversations. These questions require you to apply the principles, practices, and techniques of effective interviewing to hypothetical interviewing situations. Included are questions that present a problem arising from an interviewing situation, and you must choose the most appropriate course of action to take.

3. Preparing written material

These questions test for the ability to present information clearly and accurately, and to organize paragraphs logically and comprehensibly. For some questions, you will be given information in two or three sentences followed by four restatements of the information. You must then choose the best version. For other questions, you will be given paragraphs with their sentences out of order. You must then choose, from four suggestions, the best order for the sentences.

4. Understanding and interpreting tabular material

These questions test your ability to understand, analyze, and use the internal logic of data presented in tabular form. You may be asked to perform tasks such as completing tables, drawing conclusions from them, analyzing data trends or interrelationships, and revising or combining data sets. The concepts of rate, ratio, and proportion are tested. Mathematical operations are simple, and computational speed is not a major factor in the test. You should bring with you a hand-held battery- or solar-powered calculator for use on this test. You will not be permitted to use the calculator function of your cell phone.

NOTICE TO CANDIDATES:  Unless otherwise noted, candidates are permitted to use quiet, hand held, solar or battery powered calculators.  Devices with typewriter keyboards, "Spell Checkers", “Personal Digital Assistants", "Address Books", "Language Translators", "Dictionaries", or any similar devices are prohibited.  You may not bring books or other reference materials.

**IMPORTANT APPLICATION FEE - READ CAREFULLY**

A $20.00 filing fee is required for this exam. The required fee must accompany your application. Send or bring check or money order made payable to Erie County Personnel Department and write the examination number(s) on your check or money order. Do not send or bring cash, as the County cannot be responsible for cash payment. As no refund will be made, you are urged to compare your qualifications carefully with the requirements for admission and file only for those examinations for which you are clearly qualified.