Public Health Nurse I/II - Part Time

Public Health Nurse

The current vacancy is in the Health and Human Services Agency – Public Health Branch. Responses to supplemental questions are required. Applications will be reviewed weekly until the position is filled. Final filing date: continuous.

Salary information:

Public Health Nurse I: $6,524- $8,327 approximate monthly / $37.64 - $48.04 approximate hourly

Public Health Nurse II: $7,553- $9,640 approximate monthly / $43.57 - $55.61 approximate hourly

This position is in the UPEC Professional bargaining unit. Please refer to the applicable bargaining unit labor agreement (Memorandum of Understanding) for potential future salary increases: Shasta County Labor Agreements

About Shasta County:

Shasta County offers all the amenities of the big city while retaining a comfortable small-town atmosphere. With its natural beauty, affordable housing, excellent educational system, abundance of recreational opportunities, and excellent quality of life, Shasta County is a great place to live, work, and raise a family.

About the Department:

The Shasta County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) partners with communities to protect and improve the health and well-being of Shasta County residents. Established in 2006, the HHSA is organized into branches: Behavioral Health and Social Services, Public Health, Economic Mobility, and a centralized administration. The HHSA promotes optimal health for all. The frail, the abused, the mentally ill and those without resources look to the HHSA for services and resources to meet their basic needs, and to protect their health and safety. This transformation improves efficiency, avoids unnecessary duplication of effort, encourages collaboration among programs and organizes the HHSA's services to be more responsive to the needs of the public.

Public Health focuses on community-wide prevention of communicable disease, chronic disease, injury, substance abuse, family violence, and lead poisoning. Public Health helps the community develop policies and support community environments that encourage healthy behaviors. It promotes nutrition and physical activity, healthy aging, worksite wellness and healthy communities. Public Health is also where the HHSA's emergency response unit is headquartered, and its laboratory provides testing services for Shasta and numerous other Northern California counties.

About the Position:

Public Health Nurse I: Under close supervision, to perform public health nursing, teaching, and health guidance services in homes, clinics, and a wide variety of community settings in connection with the health promotion and the prevention and control of disease or disability in the foster care population. To participate in assessment of this population that leads to development and implementation of sound health policy that improves the health outcomes of children in foster placement and to perform related work as required.

Public Health Nurse II: Same as above, however this classification will work under general supervision.

This is a part-time position that includes benefits.

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Public Health Nurse I: This is an entry-level class for Registered Nurses who have recently been certificated as a Public Health Nurse or those who have been out of practice for a number of years. Incumbents apply the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities in learning to perform the full scope of public health nursing duties.

Public Health Nurse II: This is the journey and fully qualified professional level of the Public Health Nursing series in which incumbents have demonstrated competence to assume broad responsibilities requiring independence and professional judgment in assessing individual, family, and community health needs, and in planning and evaluating public health nursing activities.

Ideal Candidate:

Shasta County is seeking a dedicated and dynamic Public Health Nurse to join the Nurse-Family Partnership® team. The ideal candidate holds a BSN with two years of recent experience and/or knowledge in one or more of the following areas: maternal/child health, public health, community nursing, home visiting, labor and delivery/hospital experience, and/or nurse case management. A Public Health Nurse certificate is required, and home visiting experience is preferred. The candidate must have excellent written and verbal communication, basic computer skills, and a valid driver's license. They must be able to work independently and collaboratively within a team and alongside other agencies.

Examples of Essential Duties

Public Health Nurse I:

Elicits health and social histories of individuals and families through use of observation and effective interviewing skills; participates in the promotion of communicable disease prevention education; identifies health care needs through physical assessments; recognizes the significance of abnormal findings; helps individuals and groups change their health behavior through discussions that highlight their specific health knowledge, attitudes, and skills; provides case management services based on assessment of the comprehensive health needs of the individual and family; identifies cultural patterns influencing community health practices, increases access of hard-to-reach populations to public health and other services, and assists in increasing the cultural competency of staff and the Health and Human Services Agency as an organization; teaches and counsels individuals, families, and groups regarding specific diseases or health conditions as well as health maintenance; investigates and monitors cases of communicable disease, obtains specimens, interprets laboratory results, determines sources and contacts to prevent the spread of communicable disease; compiles and uses records, reports, and statistical information for appraisal and planning; attends required meetings and trainings; and performs related duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Public Health Nurse II:

Plans, organizes, and provides public health nursing services, including assessment, intervention, referral, and follow up of persons who have a communicable disease; assesses persons who have been exposed to a communicable disease to assure early detection and referral of health conditions deviating from normal; provides tailor-made personal, preventive, and community health services to targeted populations in need; teaches individuals and groups about disease and disability prevention, and health promotion; participates in epidemiological investigations for control of communicable and chronic diseases; interacts with all aspects of the community--individual, family, agency, business, and professional; develops and implements community projects as an outgrowth of issues identified during public health nursing practice; mobilizes the community to develop partnerships and alliances to address identified high-priority community health needs; evaluates health of special population groups, such as the elderly, the culturally, economically, or geographically disadvantaged, or those with alternate life styles; identifies cultural patterns influencing community health practices, increases access of hard-to-reach populations to public health and other services, and increases the cultural competency of staff and the Health and Human Services Agency as an organization; keeps accurate, concise, and legally-appropriate records and reports; effectively uses records, reports, and statistical information for appraisal and planning; attends required meetings and trainings; with certified sexually transmitted disease (STD) training and supervision, may be assigned to perform STD exams, including moderate complexity laboratory tests; prioritizes multiple tasks, exercises effective time management, and manages workload and personal stress well; may assume delegated responsibility for the work of the Program Supervisor or the Program Manager in the absence of either; and may supervise a small number of other Department staff, interns, or volunteers.

Qualifications

It is the responsibility of applicants to identify in their application materials how they meet the minimum qualifications listed below.

Public Health Nurse I:

Knowledge of: Skilled nursing as applied to public health practices; promoting health and the prevention of disease and disability; general nursing skills in the areas of maternal, child, and adult health; child growth and development; nutritional needs of all ages; normal and abnormal health conditions and health behavior; teaching, counseling, interviewing, and history taking; case management; epidemiology and methods for the control of communicable diseases; community resources and how to utilize them; environmental, sociological, cultural, policy, and psychological issues influencing health; current developments in public health nursing; ordinances, rules and regulations governing public health services and nursing practices; basic economics for delivery of health care; workload management and management of personal stress; and the work of other social and health agencies, and functions of other professions as related to public health nursing.

Ability to: Exercise independent judgment to plan, organize, and problem solve; manage time effectively; adapt to various cultural, physical and behavioral conditions of patients and environment; teach individuals and groups; seek and use appropriate resource materials; work effectively with individuals, families, groups, agencies, and coalitions to assist in the satisfactory solution of health problems; recognize and respect the impact of cultural differences on health behavior and practices; perform assessments, interviews, and gather needed information to reach appropriate nursing diagnosis; make appropriate referrals to community resources; provide adequate follow up to help maximize use of resources; perform clinical tasks such as venipuncture, injections, and dispensing medications; keep accurate, concise and legally appropriate records and reports; establish and maintain cooperative relationships with health and other professionals, paraprofessionals, agencies, community groups, and the general public; communicate effectively orally and in writing; and actively promote the Department's mission and its population-based health outcomes orientation.

Public Health Nurse II:

Knowledge of: Skilled nursing as applied to public health practice; control and prevention of communicable and chronic disease; maternal, child, adolescent, and adult health;