Hospice Regional Director of Nursing

Hospice Regional Director of Nursing

Ovation's go-to nursing leader for Phoenix, Denver, and Salt Lake City. 

1. Location: Phoenix, AZ, Denver, CO, or Salt Lake City, UT - your choice of home base with travel to all markets. 
2. Travel: Frequent travel to all three markets, including extended stays when a market needs you. 
3. Reports to: Vice President of Operations
4. Compensation: $140,000 - $160,000 base salary, based on experience. This reflects a role that combines Director of Nursing-level responsibility with the flexibility and travel needed to support any of our markets.

The Opportunity

Ovation Hospice is looking for an experienced, hands-on hospice nurse leader to serve as our Regional Director of Nursing— a role built for someone who wants the trust, autonomy, and challenge of being ready to lead any of our markets or showing up and supporting the Director of Nursing in whatever way is needed. Sometimes that may mean stepping in as the interim Director of Nursing. Sometimes it may mean flying to Denver to take on-call for a week, or spending time in Phoenix case managing patients. What stays constant is the goal: patients are well cared for, and so is the nursing team caring for them.

What Sets This Role Apart

This role is defined by what our patients and nurses need, not by a fixed list of duties. In a single quarter you might case manage a patient load in one market, cover a week of on-call in another, and lead a third team as acting DON, even if that team is caring for only ten patients. We are looking for a nurse leader who sees all of that as the job, who is as comfortable at the bedside as in a leadership meeting, and whose first question is always “what do the patients and the nurses need right now?” This is not a desk-based or purely advisory role.

What You'll Do

• Travel regularly to each of Ovation's markets to work and stay genuinely familiar with the team, patients, and operations — not just an occasional visit and not just when needed.
• Be our nursing help wherever it is needed: case manage patients, take on-call, and fill clinical gaps in any market, for a few days or several weeks.
• Step in as acting Director of Nursing when a DON leaves or is out, owning the full scope of the role in that market, whatever its size — from chart audits and QAPI to supervising staff and leading IDG.
• Partner with the Director of Clinical Services on training and mentoring local Directors of Nursing and nursing staff, bringing an in-person perspective to complement remote coaching.  Be a steady, practical presence for staff.
• Support clinical documentation review and pre-bill audit readiness across markets.
• Partner with the VP of Operations on where coverage and nursing support are needed most.
• Actively help drive the recruiting for nursing staff and permanent Directors of Nursing (see “Build our Bench” section below) during any coverage periods — your goal is always strong permanent leaders and staff in place, not an extended assignment.

Building Our Bench

Recruiting is a core part of this job, not an extra. Because you will often be the one covering a gap, you have the strongest reason and the best vantage point to make sure we have people ready to fill it permanently.

• Always be recruiting. Build and maintain a network of prospective Directors of Nursing and RNs across Phoenix, Denver, and Salt Lake City and beyond.
• Keep a living bench: know who is open to a conversation, what role they would fit, and when to reach out. Maintain it in a shared pipeline with our hiring team.
• Take an active role in sourcing, interviewing, and recommending candidates for DON and clinical roles, working with Administrators and our HR team.

What We're Looking For

• An active, unencumbered RN license. Arizona, Colorado, and Utah are all Nurse Licensure Compact states, so one multistate license should cover all three.
• BSN required.
• At least 5 years of hospice nursing experience, including 3+ years in a Director of Nursing, Assistant DON, or equivalent hospice clinical leadership role.
• Current, hands-on hospice clinical skills, including recent case management experience and comfort with on-call and visit work.
• Willingness to travel frequently and to be away from home for extended stretches, sometimes on short notice.
• A track record of earning trust quickly with unfamiliar teams, and of recruiting and developing nurses and leaders.
• Strong working knowledge of CMS hospice Conditions of Participation and state, CHAP, and ACHC standards.
• A flexible, practical, team-first approach: you do what the patients and the nursing team need, regardless of title.

About Ovation Hospice

Ovation Hospice is a growing, multi-state hospice organization built on strong community partnerships and a culture centered on service, integrity, and ownership. Strong nursing leadership in every market is one of the most important ingredients in our success. This role exists to make sure that is true everywhere we operate.