Director of nursing ( long - term care facility ) - wikipedia Director of nursing ( long - term care facility ) The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. ( December 2010 ) A director of nursing ( DON ) is a registered nurse who supervises the care of all the patients at a health care facility. The director of nursing has special training beyond the training of a staff nurse for the position that pertains to health care management, and in some places, a director of nursing must hold a special license in order to be employed in that capacity. The director of nursing is one of up to seven directors at a typical health care facility. The other are the directors of food ( or dietary ) services, social work, activities, business management, housekeeping / laundry, and maintenance. In most facilities, the director of nursing is only second to the facility 's administrator, and will fill in in the administrator 's absence. In some facilities, there is also an assistant director of nursing ( ADON ) who backs up the director of nursing, especially in the DON 's absence or off - hours. The director of nursing is the one who is responsible for communicating between the nursing staff and the physicians at a health care facility. It is the director of nursing who communicates to physicians the needs of the patients. The director of nursing has the duty of testifying in any criminal or civil legal cases that arise out of the nursing care at the facility and can be held legally liable in the event that his / her own negligence in practice was responsible for a mishap at a facility resulting in death or personal injury to a patient. Contents 1 Laws relating to the director of nursing 1.1 United States 2 Duties 3 References Laws relating to the director of nursing United States In the United States, federal OBRA regulations set the requirements for directors of nursing. The director of nursing is a full - time position. Either one person can work in this position for 35 hours in a week, or two or more registered nurses can fulfill the duties for a combined 40 hours in a week. Duties The duties of a director of nursing may be as follows : Development and implementation of nursing policy and procedure. These must be aimed at preventing accidents at the facility. Overseeing the hiring and continued employment of nursing staff Ensuring there is adequate nursing staff, and that the staff 's skills remain current Overseeing nursing employee conduct Being a witness at a trial in the event of litigation Being knowledgeable of incidents at the facility Assessing the health needs of each resident Communicating the needs of the residents of the facility to the physicians References Jump up ^ Nursing home litigation : pretrial practice and trials By Ruben J. Krisztal, Stephen Appelbaum : Page 112 Jump up ^ Effective Management of Long Term Care Facilities By Douglas A. Singh : Page 61 Jump up ^ Effective Management of Long Term Care Facilities By Douglas A. Singh : Page 283 Jump up ^ Nursing home litigation : investigation and case preparation By Patricia W. Iyer : Page 163 Jump up ^ Long - term care and the law : a legal guide for health care professionals By George D. Pozgar : Page 199 Jump up ^ Nursing home litigation : investigation and case preparation By Patricia W. Iyer : Page 163 Jump up ^ Long - term care and the law : a legal guide for health care professionals By George D. Pozgar : Page 200 Nursing Levels of practice Generalists Student nurse Clinical nurse leader Licensed practical nurse Registered nurse Graduate nurse Advanced practice APRNs by role Clinical nurse specialist Nurse anesthetist Nurse midwife Nurse practitioner NPs by Population Family Adult - Gerontology Pediatrics Women 's health Neonatal Psych / Mental health Education and licensure Nightingale Pledge Associate of Science in Nursing Bachelor of Science in Nursing Diploma in Nursing Doctor of Nursing Practice Master of Science in Nursing Board of nursing Nurse Licensure Compact Nursing credentials and certifications Nursing school Nurse registry NCLEX TEAS Specialties and areas of practice Ambulatory care Cardiac Correctional nursing Critical care Dental Education Emergency Faith community Flight Forensic Geriatrics Holistic Home health Hyperbaric Legal consultation Management Matron Medical - surgical Midwifery Military Neonatal Nursing informatics Obstetrics Occupational health Oncology Orthopedics Pediatrics Perianesthesia Perioperative Psychiatric and mental health Private duty Public health School Space Surgical Telenursing Travel health nursing WOCN Nursing process Nursing assessment Nursing diagnosis Nursing care plan Nursing theory Classification systems NANDA Nursing Interventions Classification Nursing Minimum Data Set ( NMDS ) Nursing Outcomes Classification By country International Nurses Day Australia ( timeline ) Canada Germany Hong Kong India Japan Kenya New Zealand ( timeline ) Pakistan Philippines Republic of Ireland South Africa Taiwan United Kingdom ( history ) United States ( history ) Commons Portal WikiProject Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Director_of_nursing_(long-term_care_facility)&oldid=767125424 '' Categories : Nursing specialties Management occupations Hidden categories : Articles with limited geographic scope from December 2010 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 24 February 2017, at 02 : 50 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: what is the role of a director of nursing
Answer: supervises the care of all the patients at a health care facility