Unit Manager – Trauma Unit

SUMMARY:
Unit Manager – Trauma Unit

POSITION INFO:

An exciting opportunity exists for an experienced and dynamic Unit Manager – Trauma Unit to join a leading private healthcare facility in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal.

The successful candidate will provide strategic, clinical, and operational leadership within the Trauma Unit, ensuring the delivery of high-quality patient care while driving clinical excellence, operational efficiency, staff development, financial performance, and compliance with all professional and regulatory standards.

Key Responsibilities

Clinical Leadership & Patient Care

• Provide clinical leadership to ensure the delivery of safe, evidence-based trauma and emergency nursing care.
• Oversee patient assessment, stabilisation, treatment, and discharge processes in accordance with clinical protocols and best practice.
• Ensure effective management of trauma, emergency, and critically ill patients.
• Monitor patient outcomes and implement initiatives to improve clinical quality and patient safety.
• Promote patient-centred care and enhance the overall patient experience.

Operational & Unit Management

• Manage the daily operations of the Trauma Unit to ensure efficient service delivery.
• Oversee staffing, scheduling, productivity, and optimal utilisation of human and material resources.
• Monitor departmental budgets and ensure effective cost management.
• Ensure the availability, maintenance, and readiness of trauma equipment and emergency supplies.
• Coordinate patient flow and collaborate with other departments to optimise admissions, transfers, and discharges.

Clinical Governance, Quality & Risk Management

• Ensure compliance with SANC regulations, Department of Health standards, hospital policies, and accreditation requirements.
• Drive infection prevention and control initiatives within the unit.
• Monitor quality indicators, patient safety metrics, and adverse events.
• Lead incident investigations, root cause analyses, and corrective action plans.
• Participate in clinical audits, risk management activities, and continuous quality improvement programmes.

Leadership & People Management

• Lead, mentor, and develop the nursing team to achieve clinical and operational excellence.
• Manage staff performance, coaching, succession planning, and employee development.
• Identify training requirements and facilitate continuous professional development.
• Foster a culture of accountability, teamwork, professionalism, and patient safety.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, and retention of nursing staff.

Multidisciplinary Collaboration

• Collaborate with trauma surgeons, emergency physicians, specialists, allied healthcare professionals, and hospital management to ensure coordinated patient care.
• Participate in hospital committees and strategic initiatives relating to trauma and emergency services.
• Maintain effective communication with patients, families, and members of the multidisciplinary team.

Minimum Qualifications & Experience

• Degree or Diploma in General Nursing.
• Current registration with the South African Nursing Council (SANC) as a Professional Nurse.
• Postgraduate qualification in Nursing Management or Nursing Administration advantageous.
• Post-Basic Qualification in Trauma and Emergency Nursing Science advantageous.
• Minimum of 3 years'' experience within a Trauma or Emergency Unit in a private hospital environment.
• Minimum of 2–3 years'' management or leadership experience within a Trauma or Emergency Unit.
• Computer literacy, including Microsoft Office and electronic healthcare systems.

Required Skills & Competencies

• Strong clinical knowledge of trauma and emergency nursing practice.
• Proven leadership and people management skills.
• Sound financial and operational management capabilities.
• Excellent clinical decision-making and problem-solving abilities.
• Strong communication, interpersonal, and stakeholder management skills.
• Knowledge of healthcare legislation, clinical governance, and quality improvement principles.
• Ability to perform effectively in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment.
• Excellent organisational, planning, and time management skills.
• Commitment to patient-centred care and continuous service improvement.

Advantageous

• Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) or Trauma Nursing Core Course (TNCC) exposure.
• Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) certification.
• Experience managing quality improvement and accreditation processes.
• Experience within a multidisciplinary private hospital environment.
• Exposure to hospital budgeting, resource planning, and strategic operational management.

If you meet the above requirements and have the relevant trauma nursing leadership experience, we invite you to submit your CV for consideration.