Public health Nurse I

Public Health Nurse I (RN)

The Wilson County Health Department – Personal Health Division is looking for a compassionate and motivated Registered Nurse to serve our community as a Public Health Nurse I. This rewarding role allows you to make a real difference by supporting individuals and families through maternal and child health services, post-partum home visits, patient education, and a variety of clinic programs including immunizations, family planning, adult health, and communicable disease follow-up.

Clinic Responsibilities

Work as needed in other Health Department clinics and programs including Family Planning, Maternity, STD, Primary Care, Child Health, Immunizations, Communicable Disease, and Adult Health.

Obtain client histories, vital signs, measurements, obtain appropriate lab specimens, and provide counseling and education, and referral to other sources, as necessary.

Dispenses appropriate medications and/or vitamins and iron according to Department's Programmatic Policies/Procedures.

Initiates necessary referrals as per programmatic guidelines.

Performs hearing and visual acuity screenings on children in the Well Child Program as per Bright Future/Child Health Program Guidelines. Refers abnormal findings as per program policy.

Orders appropriate lab work as per Standing Orders.

Position may serve as a back-up for any of the public health programs offered as directed by the Nursing Supervisor or Director of Nursing.

Sickle Cell Coordinator

Coordinate and manage the Sickle Cell Program for the Health Department. Act as contact person for the program between Health Department, regional Sickle Cell Counselor, and the client to see that appointments are made when necessary and that additional blood work is obtained prior to Sickle Cell Counselor's visit when required.

Actively communicate with other agencies including social services and other medical facilities to ensure that clients have access to transportation to and from medical facilities out of town. Provide health education to new employees and other agencies that are unaware of the problems related with Sickle Cell Disease.

Serve as nursing resource person when questions arise related to the Sickle Cell Program, both from Health Department staff and from the general public.

Coordinate counseling and follow-up by state Sickle Cell Counselor.

Also responsible for informing staff of state changes in the Sickle Cell Program and work out plans so that these changes can be incorporated into the individual program area.

Responsible for the Sickle Cell manual. Ensure that program policies, standing orders, and procedures are current and that any changes are incorporated into the manual.

Other Duties

Manage the pharmacy inventory including checking medications in from the vendors, distributing medications to various clinics, and reconciling the drug counts for accuracy as required by Title X 340b program in conjunction with the Nursing Supervisor.

Provide educational in-services and/or classes to clients, co-workers, and other community groups.

Assist in outreach activities in health promotion and/or other Health Department events, which occur within the community.

Attends required staff trainings on OSHA, HIPAA, CPR, as scheduled, as well as other continuing education programs.

Maintains required personnel records (ex. time, travel)

Helps maintain a safe working environment.

Participates in program audits as needed.

Assigned duties related to Bioterrorism and Emergency Response activities, to include staffing of emergency shelters.

Duties as assigned by the Health Director and/or his/her designee.

Minimum Education and Experience

Licensed to practice as a Registered Nurse in North Carolina by N.C. Board of Nursing and maintain required CEUs as required for re-licensure. This position is required to complete a certain number of Incident Command Courses (ICS) and National Incident Management Courses (NIMS) within one (1) year of employment. The required courses are 100, 200, 700 and 800. Position is required to keep current CPR certification. Successful completion of the Certified Public Health Nurse (CPHN) course within the first year of hire is required.