Assistant Director Of Nursing

Associate Director of Nursing (ADON)

BrightStar Care – Local Home Care Partners | Dallas–Fort Worth, TX

About the Role

BrightStar Care – Local Home Care Partners is seeking an experienced, hands-on Associate Director of Nursing (ADON) to serve as the second clinical leader across our Dallas–Fort Worth home health operations.

This is much more than a support position. The ADON partners directly with the Director of Nursing (DON), helps lead day-to-day clinical operations, and is fully prepared to assume DON authority and responsibility whenever the DON is unavailable.

Our clinical leaders are expected to be visible, hands-on, and accountable. You will help drive the areas that make a home health organization successful: clinical quality, patient safety, risk management, Joint Commission readiness, staff competency, QAPI, clinical efficiency, referral relationships, and team development.

Local Home Care Partners operates five BrightStar Care locations across DFW, serving commercial, VA, and private-pay clients. We care for a wide range of patients, including complex skilled-nursing and pediatric cases, and we are committed to building a clinical team that takes pride in providing exceptional care.

If you are an experienced RN leader who wants meaningful ownership, enjoys solving problems, and wants the opportunity to grow into a Director of Nursing role, this position is designed for you.

What You'll Do

Clinical Leadership & DON Support

• Serve as the agency's second clinical leader and support the Director of Nursing in overall clinical operations.
• Assume full DON authority and accountability when the DON is out, with no extended handoff period.
• Perform client assessments, recertifications, supervisory visits, and develop or update Plans of Care.
• Ensure clinical deadlines, regulatory requirements, and patient-care needs are consistently met.
• Step into complex cases, open shifts, and field coverage when needed to ensure continuity of care.

Clinical Risk Management & Patient Safety

• Own the investigation and follow-up of incidents, complaints, falls, hospitalizations, medication errors, infections, and other adverse events.
• Investigate issues to root cause and implement appropriate corrective action.
• Maintain risk-management and infection-control processes and monitor trends.
• Communicate appropriately with patients, families, referral sources, payors, and leadership following significant clinical events.

Joint Commission & Regulatory Readiness

• Maintain continuous Joint Commission survey readiness across the organization.
• Conduct mock tracers, chart audits, personnel-file audits, competency-file audits, and policy-compliance reviews.
• Ensure compliance with Medicare Conditions of Participation, Texas HHSC requirements, payer requirements, and BrightStar Care standards.
• Identify deficiencies, assign corrective actions, and ensure issues are resolved timely.

Referral & Clinical Relationship Development

• Serve as a clinical resource and trusted partner to hospitals, SNFs, rehabilitation facilities, ALFs, VA contacts, physicians, and payor case managers.
• Respond quickly to clinical questions and complex referral situations.
• Participate in complex intake conversations and help determine whether patients can be safely and appropriately accepted.
• Communicate proactively with referral sources throughout the admission and care process.
• Partner with the sales team on referral-source visits and relationship-building opportunities where clinical expertise is valuable.

Staff Training, Competency & Development

• Lead onboarding, training, competency validation, and ongoing education for RNs, LVNs, CNAs, and caregivers.
• Ensure staff have appropriate, client-specific competency validation before providing care.
• Conduct skills validation and education for higher-acuity and specialty care, including:
  • Trach care
  • Ventilator care
  • G-tube care
  • IV therapy
  • Wound care
  • Pediatric care
  • Other complex skilled-nursing competencies
• Lead annual competencies, in-services, skills labs, case reviews, and clinical education.
• Identify opportunities for career development and cross-training throughout the organization.

Clinical Efficiency & Documentation

• Drive timely and accurate clinical documentation and workflow.
• Monitor OASIS, Plans of Care, physician orders, visit documentation, and authorization requirements.
• Help remove barriers that delay documentation, orders, billing, or patient care.
• Monitor clinical productivity and identify opportunities to improve efficiency.
• Utilize AlayaCare and other clinical systems to maintain accurate and timely documentation.

QAPI & Clinical Outcomes

• Lead and participate in the agency's Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) program.
• Monitor key clinical outcomes, including:
  • Hospitalizations
  • Emergency department utilization
  • Falls
  • Infections
  • Wounds
  • Other patient-safety and quality indicators
• Use clinical data, audits, and trends to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Develop and track performance-improvement initiatives and communicate results to leadership.

Hands-On Clinical Leadership

• This is a hands-on leadership position.
• Maintain clinical competency and step into the field when needed.
• Perform Start of Care visits, recertifications, supervisory visits, complex-case visits, assessments, and clinical coverage.
• Lead by example and demonstrate the clinical standards expected of the team.

What We're Looking For

Required Qualifications

• Current, unrestricted Texas RN license.
• Bachelor's degree in Nursing (BSN) required; MSN preferred.
• Minimum 5 years of clinical nursing experience.
• At least 2 years of home health leadership experience as a DON, ADON, Clinical Manager, or similar clinical leadership role.
• Experience in Medicare-certified home health, including:
  • OASIS
  • Medicare Conditions of Participation
  • Plan-of-Care management
• Experience with home health EMR systems; AlayaCare experience preferred.
• Experience with staff competency programs, clinical education, and QAPI.
• Current BLS/CPR certification.
• Valid Texas driver's license.
• Reliable transportation and current auto insurance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Pediatric home health or private-duty skilled-nursing experience.
• Experience with high-acuity patients and complex clinical care, including trach, ventilator, G-tube, IV, and wound care.
• Direct experience preparing for or participating in Joint Commission, CHAP, or ACHC surveys.
• Experience working with hospitals, SNFs, ALFs, VA programs, and payor case managers.

The Leadership Qualities We're Looking For

We are looking for someone who:

• Takes ownership rather than simply reporting problems.
• Has a strong commitment to patient safety and clinical quality.
• Is comfortable making decisions and taking accountability.
• Leads from the field and the chart—not just from the office.
• Can hold clinical staff accountable while still developing and supporting them.
• Communicates clearly and follows through.
• Builds strong relationships with physicians, case managers, patients, families, and field staff.
• Looks for ways to improve efficiency without compromising quality.
• Has a genuine interest in developing clinicians and building a strong clinical culture.
• Brings a high-energy, solutions-focused, winning mentality to the role.

Why Join BrightStar Care – Local Home Care Partners?

• Locally owned and operated with leadership decisions made here in DFW.
• Five BrightStar Care locations and a growing clinical operation.
• Joint Commission accredited.
• Diverse patient population, including complex skilled-nursing and pediatric cases.
• Leadership team committed to clinical education and professional development.
• Opportunity to make a measurable impact on clinical quality, patient outcomes, staff development, and referral relationships.
• Opportunity to grow into a larger clinical leadership role as the organization continues to expand.

Working Conditions

This position requires regular travel throughout the Dallas–Fort Worth area to patient homes, facilities, hospitals, and referral-source locations.

The position requires the ability to drive regularly, walk and stand for extended periods, navigate stairs and uneven surfaces, bend and reach, and assist with patient mobility or equipment as needed. The role may involve exposure to a variety of home environments and requires appropriate PPE when providing patient care.

Regular, reliable attendance and participation in a rotating on-call schedule are required.

Local Home Care Partners, LLC is an Equal Opportunity Employer.