POSITION SUMMARY

Kemp Care Network is seeking a compassionate and experienced Clinical Nurse Specialist, Palliative Care to provide advanced clinical nursing expertise and leadership in support of individuals living with serious, life-limiting illness and their families.

This role supports care across hospice, community, and partner care settings, with a focus on complex palliative care, pain and symptom management, psychosocial support, goals of care discussions, ethical issues, and end-of-life care.

Reporting to the Senior Director of Operations, the Clinical Nurse Specialist works collaboratively with residents, clients, families, employees, volunteers, physicians, hospitals, community partners, and members of the interdisciplinary care team to support coordinated, compassionate, person-centred care.

The successful candidate will also play an important role in clinical education, consultation, mentorship, quality improvement, evidence-informed practice, and the ongoing advancement of palliative care services. This role is part of an interdisciplinary team that includes a Child Life Specialist, offering the unique opportunity to support children and youth as well as adults and their families.

SKILLS & COMPETENCIES:

- Compassionate, person-centred, and family-focused approach to care.
- Strong clinical assessment, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
- Excellent communication, teaching, coaching, and consultation skills.
- Ability to support sensitive conversations related to serious illness, goals of care, grief, loss, and end-of-life care.
- Strong relationship-building skills with the ability to work collaboratively with residents, clients, families, employees, volunteers, physicians, and community partners.
- Sound judgment, professionalism, discretion, and ethical decision-making.
- Commitment to dignity, compassion, collaboration, inclusivity, excellence, and continuous learning.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities in a complex and evolving care environment.
- Valid Ontario driver’s licence and access to reliable transportation.
- Demonstrated proficiency with computer skills

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

- Conduct comprehensive clinical assessments of hospice referrals to determine appropriateness, eligibility, and readiness for hospice services. Collaborate with referring providers, residents, and families to support timely admission, ongoing follow-up, reassessment, and transition planning when hospice admission is not immediately appropriate.
- Identify the needs of children and youth in families referred to hospice and refer them to the Child Life Specialist prior to admission as part of the referral and intake process. This includes families receiving community-based support who may not be admitted to the residential hospice.
- Collaborate with the Director of Nursing to coordinate hospice admissions, manage the hospice referral and waitlist process, prioritize admissions based on clinical need, and support timely access to hospice services.
- Provide advanced nursing assessment, clinical consultation, recommendations, and leadership for residents, clients, and families with complex palliative care needs across hospice, community, day hospice, home visiting, and related programs, including pain and symptom management, psychosocial support, goals of care, ethical issues, and end-of-life care.
- Act as a clinical resource and consultant to nurses, physicians, interdisciplinary team members, volunteers, students, and community partners.
- Provide clinical leadership in the management of urgent or complex clinical situations, admissions, transitions in care, and family support.
- Liaise with hospitals, hospices, Ontario Health atHome, community palliative care providers, primary care providers, and other partners to support coordinated, person-centred care.
- Participate in care conferences, case reviews, referrals, triage, discharge planning, and transitions in care.
- Provide education, coaching, mentorship, and clinical guidance to employees, students, residents, clients, families, care partners, and volunteers in hospice and community settings,



with a focus on building palliative care knowledge, skills, and confidence across the care team and community.
- Develop, coordinate, and evaluate orientation, clinical education, mentorship, and competency development programs for nursing and clinical staff, students, and learners.
- Collaborate with organizational leaders on the development, implementation, evaluation, and continuous improvement of clinical policies, procedures, standards of care, programs, and services.
- Lead and participate in quality improvement initiatives, program evaluation, outcome monitoring, evidence-informed practice, knowledge translation, and implementation of current clinical guidelines.
- Support clinical research and the translation of evidence into practice where appropriate.
- Build and maintain collaborative relationships with residents, clients, families, employees, volunteers, physicians, health care partners, and community stakeholders.
- Maintain accurate documentation and communication in accordance with professional standards, organizational policies, and privacy requirements.
- Represent Kemp Care Network in a professional, compassionate, ethical, and collaborative manner.

Community Capacity Building and Professional Practice

- Serve as an advanced palliative care resource to community health care providers by providing clinical consultation, mentoring, coaching, and ongoing support in the management of individuals with serious illness and complex palliative care needs.
- Develop, coordinate, and deliver palliative care education programs for internal and external health care providers, volunteers, students, and community partners, including foundational hospice palliative care education, LEAP, and other evidence-informed educational initiatives.
- Build palliative care capacity across the community by fostering collaborative relationships, promoting best practices, and supporting the integration of a palliative approach to care across health care settings.
- Provide outreach consultation to hospitals, primary care providers, long-term care homes, retirement homes, Ontario Health atHome, and community organizations to enhance access to high-quality hospice and palliative care services.
- Promote knowledge translation and implementation of current palliative care evidence, clinical guidelines, and best practices within Kemp Care Network and the broader community.

Clinical Leadership and Organizational Support

- Provide organizational clinical leadership to promote secure, high-quality, person-centred hospice and palliative care services.
- Support the Senior Director of Operations and Director of Nursing in achieving strategic clinical priorities and organizational objectives.
- Participate in incident reviews, root cause analyses, and clinical risk management activities to promote continuous quality improvement.
- Participate in ethical consultations and support complex clinical, ethical, and family decision-making.
- Facilitate complex family meetings and interdisciplinary case reviews related to challenging clinical or ethical situations.
- Support organizational preparedness for regulatory reviews, quality audits, and accreditation activities.
- Conduct regular chart audits to monitor documentation quality and compliance with professional standards, organizational policies, and privacy requirements, sharing findings with staff and leadership to guide education and quality improvement.
- Provide clinical leadership and operational oversight in the absence of the Director of Nursing, ensuring continuity of clinical operations, decision-making, and support to the interdisciplinary team.





Participate in the organization's management on-call rotation to provide clinical leadership and operational support outside regular business hours.

WORKING CONDITIONS

37.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday, with participation in the management on-call rotation and occasional evening or weekend work

QUALIFICATIONS

- Current registration as a Registered Nurse with the College of Nurses of Ontario.
- Bachelor of Science in Nursing required; Master’s degree in Nursing, Health Sciences, Palliative Care, or a related field is strongly preferred.
- Significant clinical experience in palliative care, hospice care, oncology, community care, complex care, or a related field.
- Advanced knowledge of palliative care principles, pain and symptom management, end-of-life care, goals of care conversations, psychosocial support, and family-centred care.
- Experience providing clinical consultation, education, mentorship, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
- Experience supporting quality improvement, evidence-informed practice, clinical standards, policies, or program development is considered an asset.
- CNA certification in Hospice Palliative Care Nursing, LEAP training, CAPCE designation, or other related palliative care education is considered an asset.
- Experience working with community partners, hospitals, Ontario Health atHome, physicians, and interdisciplinary care teams is considered an asset.

WHO WE ARE Kemp Care Network (KCN) is more than just an organization; it’s a compassionate community dedicated to serving the emotional, physical and social needs of individuals living with a serious illness, facing their last chapter or grieving a death.

Our History

Thirty years ago, Dr. Bob Kemp recognized an opportunity to redefine how palliative care was offered in the Greater Hamilton Area. Foremost, a founding value was to serve all, especially the most vulnerable. And it all started with a generous donation of land by Iris Berryman.

Mission To care for every individual and their loved ones with dignity, compassion and attention to their physical, social and psychological well-being during times of serious, life-limiting illness and loss. We lead, collaborate and drive meaningful improvements to palliative care services with partners across our community.

Vision To establish KCN as a world-class leader in regional palliative-care in alignment with our founding values while evolving to best serve our community.

Values

· Dignity: We focus on quality of living and ensuring the experience of our residents and their families is based in dignity and respect.

· Compassion: Our care for residents and their families is based in compassion, empathy and kindness.

· Collaboration: We actively build relationships and work with partners and our community as part of a continuum of care.

· Inclusivity: We welcome diversity in our residents and deliver care in an inclusive manner that considers their unique needs.

· Excellence: We are dedicated to a high quality of care and strive to continually improve and contribute to the advancement of our field.

EQUITY & ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT

KCN is committed to providing equal treatment with respect to employment according to the protected grounds established under the Ontario Human Rights Code. We will work to ensure that our employees (workers) are provided with meaningful employment that is ethical and fair, and is in compliance with all applicable employment, and human rights legislation.

KCN provides accessible employment in accordance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, and the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation. We strive to provide an accessible and welcoming environment for everyone by identifying and removing barriers in our workplace and ensuring that new barriers are not created. The organization ensures that persons with disabilities are provided with equal opportunities.

We are committed to meeting the needs of individuals with disabilities in a timely and integrative manner that respects their dignity and independence. Accommodations are available on request.

Pay: $90,000.00-$100,000.00 per year

Work Location: In person

📌 Clinical Nurse Specialist, Palliative (Contract) (Canada)
🏢 Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice
📍 Canada