Texas Behavioral Health Center

The Texas Behavioral Health Center is a newly completed state-funded psychiatric hospital opening in Dallas’ Southwestern Medical District that is owned by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) and operated by UT Southwestern Medical Center.

When fully operational, the 505,000-square-foot facility will house 292 beds – 200 for adult patients and 92 for children and adolescents. As DFW’s first state-funded behavioral health hospital, it is designed to deliver state-of-the-art, patient-centered care in a modern and healing environment. The center provides comprehensive behavioral health treatment and features private patient rooms, abundant access to natural light and nature, and thoughtfully designed spaces that promote recovery. The hospital will also provide training to all behavioral health disciplines.

As employees of UT Southwestern, team members will join a world-class academic medical center committed to patient-centered care, innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and preparing patients for successful reintegration into their families and communities. With competitive benefits and a mission-driven culture, Texas Behavioral Health Center offers an unparalleled opportunity to make a lasting impact on mental health care in North Texas. Learn more about Texas Behavioral Health Center here!

WHY UT SOUTHWESTERN?
With over 75 years of excellence in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, UT Southwestern is committed to excellence, innovation, teamwork, and compassion. As a world-renowned medical and research center, we strive to provide the best possible care, resources, and benefits for our valued employees. Ranked as the No. 1 hospital in Dallas-Fort Worth according to U.S. News & World Report, we invest in you with opportunities for career growth and development to align with your future goals. Our highly competitive benefits package offers healthcare, PTO and paid holidays, on-site childcare, wage, merit increases and so much more. We invite you to be a part of the UT Southwestern team where you‿ll discover a culture of teamwork, professionalism, and a rewarding career! 

JOB SUMMARY
The Director of Nursing provides strategic, operational, and clinical leadership for psychiatric nursing services at Texas Behavioral Health Center. This position is responsible for advancing safe, high-quality, recovery-oriented, trauma-informed, and developmentally appropriate care for adult and pediatric psychiatric patients. The Director oversees nursing operations, clinical quality, patient safety, workforce development, regulatory readiness, fiscal stewardship, and performance improvement across assigned patient care areas. 

BENEFITS
UT Southwestern is proud to offer a competitive and comprehensive benefits package to eligible employees. Our benefits are designed to support your overall wellbeing, and include:

• PPO medical plan, available day one at no cost for full-time employee-only coverage
• 100% coverage for preventive healthcare-no copay
• Paid Time Off, available day one
• Retirement Programs through the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS)
• Paid Parental Leave Benefit
• Wellness programs
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Qualified Employer
• Learn more about these and other UTSW employee benefits!

EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION

Required

• Education
  Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing 
   

• Experience
  5 years of Nursing management/supervisory experience, with additional years of clinical nursing experience. 
   

• Licenses and Certifications
  (RN) REGISTERED NURSE 
  (CPI) CRISIS PREVENTION INSTITUT CER required within 4 weeks of hire 
   

Preferred

• Education
  Graduate degree in Nursing or a related field 
   

JOB DUTIES

• Provides operational, clinical, and strategic leadership for inpatient psychiatric nursing services and assigned clinical departments.
• Oversees the delivery of safe, high-quality, patient-centered psychiatric nursing care across assigned adult and pediatric patient care units and services.
• Collaborates with the Chief Nursing Officer, medical staff, senior leadership, interdisciplinary teams, and operational leaders to support hospital goals, strategic priorities, and clinical objectives.
• Ensures compliance with CMS Conditions of Participation, Joint Commission standards, Texas Administrative Code requirements, patient rights standards, and organizational policies and procedures.
• Leads nursing quality, patient safety, performance improvement, patient experience, and regulatory readiness initiatives.
• Directs nursing operations across the continuum of care, including patient flow, staffing, resource utilization, admission support, transfer coordination, and discharge planning processes.
• Develops, implements, and monitors operational, clinical, quality, workforce, and financial metrics; analyzes trends and leads corrective action plans to improve performance.
• Promotes a culture of safety, accountability, recovery-oriented care, trauma-informed practice, therapeutic engagement, and continuous performance improvement.
• Provides leadership for restraint and seclusion reduction, violence prevention, suicide prevention, ligature risk mitigation, elopement prevention, and behavioral emergency response practices.
• Oversees recruitment, retention, competency management, succession planning, professional development, and performance coaching for nursing leaders and staff.
• Establishes and monitors staffing plans, productivity standards, acuity-based staffing strategies, scheduling practices, and workforce utilization to support safe patient care and operational efficiency.
• Develops and manages departmental operating and capital budgets and ensures effective stewardship of staffing, supplies, equipment, and other resources.
• Supports implementation, standardization, and optimization of clinical documentation systems, nursing workflows, psychiatric nursing standards, and evidence-based practices.
• Works cooperatively with directors, managers, physicians, advanced practice providers, therapists, educators, and support service leaders to ensure efficient hospital and departmental operations.
• Maintains confidentiality and exercises sound judgment and discretion in all patient care, personnel, financial, and organizational matters.
• Develops annual departmental goals aligned with hospital strategic priorities and ensures execution of action plans to achieve desired outcomes.
• The Director of Nursing monitors, reports, and leads improvement work related to nursing-sensitive and behavioral health quality indicators.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Salary Information
Salary is commensurate with education, skills, and relevant experience.

SECURITY AND EEO STATEMENT

Security
This position is security-sensitive and subject to Texas Education Code 51.215, which authorizes UT Southwestern to obtain criminal history record information.

EEO
UT Southwestern Medical Center is committed to an educational and working environment that provides equal opportunity to all members of the University community. As an equal opportunity employer, UT Southwestern prohibits unlawful discrimination, including discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, disability, genetic information, citizenship status, or veteran status.