Registered Nurse 4 (Public Health Emergency Response Nurse)

The mission of the Louisiana Department of Health is to protect and promote health and to ensure access to medical, preventive, and rehabilitative services for all residents of the State of Louisiana.

Learn more about Louisiana Department of Health

Help protect the health and safety of communities across Louisiana. In this impactful role, you'll lead emergency preparedness efforts, coordinate public health response activities, support disease surveillance, and collaborate with healthcare providers and emergency management partners during disasters and public health emergencies. If you're a dedicated nursing professional who thrives in a fast-paced environment and is passionate about emergency response, public health, and serving your community, we encourage you to apply.

This position requires routine statewide duties, including fieldwork, inspections, investigations, or direct services that extend beyond the employee’s domicile parish. These statewide responsibilities are an inherent and ongoing part of the job and may require frequent travel.

Possession of a current Louisiana Registered Nurse license or a temporary permit or multi-state license issued by a Nursing Licensure Compact (NLC/eNLC) state to practice as a registered nurse plus one of the following:

• Two years of experience as a licensed registered nurse; OR
• A bachelor's degree in nursing plus one year of experience as a licensed registered nurse; OR
• A master's degree in nursing or public health plus one year of experience as a licensed registered nurse; OR
• A doctorate in nursing or public health.

The official job specifications for this role, as defined by the State Civil Service, can be found here.

Job Duties:

• Assists in special investigations and mass immunization programs. Attends all mandatory training required for team participants, including WMD/Bioterrorism Training. Assists with developing, planning, coordinating and implementing regional Emergency Response Plan. Assists and plans with parish emergency response partners for public health/bioterrorism threats in their parishes; and provides medical/nursing guidance as needed.

• Assists with constructing and implementing regional All-Hazards, i.e. Strategic National Stockpile Distribution Plan, Regional Pandemic Plan. Assists and composes After Action Report (AAR) and Improvement Plans following emergency response activities. Maintains disaster assignments for all OPII staff and utilizes web-based communication systems as needed.

• Responsible for credentialing, updating and maintaining regional Emergency Systems for Advanced Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals (ESAR-VHP) or LAVA, which is federally mandated. Responsible for updating and maintaining employees' training in Workforce Development. Informing and educating staff of training in regards to emergency preparedness, infectious diseases, and other public health topics. Conducts and assists with community outreaches; promoting emergency preparedness and recruiting LAVA volunteers.

• Responsible for educating and training all clinical staff on emergency preparedness issues, as well as, educating non-medical employees on and community on potential public health issues and emergency preparedness. Maintains records of employees' participation in in-services via web-based systems. Serves as a liaison between health units and health care providers; keeping community partners informed of any public health threats.

• Serves on the regional Rapid Response Team and Incident response team. Performance of duties may require responding to emergencies and public Health threats i.e. natural disaster, food-borne/infectious illnesses, environmental exposures and outbreaks as they emerge. Assists with surveillance of infectious diseases and bioterrorism. Coordinates with the regional Epidemiologist and Infection Control personnel in local hospitals as needed.

• Participates in emergency response activities, special investigations, mass immunization clinics and drills. Functions as Operation Chief in Command Structure during activation of the regional EOC. Serves as an OPH liaison for emergency events as needed to local parish EOC. Provides professional nursing care, leadership, and/or surveillance in response to an emergency situation in the community. Plans and collaborates with other Emergency response Personnel; staffing and deployment for Medical Special Needs Shelters, Bioterrorism Preparedness, Bus triage, and other public Health responses to Weapons of Mass Destruction.

• 5% Responsible for personally maintaining CPR certification and Nursing Licensure, as well as, performing any additional duties not listed in job description to ensure the functioning of agency operations at all levels. Supervises, educates, and provides professional nursing care in response to emergencies and public health/bioterrorist threats on a 24-hour basis situation in the community and statewide. Perform other duties as assigned by supervisor not necessarily reflected in current job description but necessary for a smooth operation of the Region.

Position-Specific Details:

Location: Office Public Health / OPH-Region 1-BRCO / Orleans Parish

Appointment Type: This position may be filled as a Job appointment (temporary appointment that may last up to 48 months)

Cost Center: View phone number on click.appcast.io

Position Number(s): 50330808

Contact Information:

Patricia Walker

View email address on click.appcast.io

LA Department of Health (LDH)

Division of Human Resources

PO Box 4818

Baton Rouge, LA 70821 View phone number on click.appcast.io

This organization participates in E-Verify, and for more information on E-Verify, please contact DHS at View phone number on click.appcast.io.

LDH supports Louisiana’s commitment to being a State as a Model Employer (SAME) by promoting the recruitment, hiring, and retention of individuals with disabilities.

Information on the Louisiana Works, Louisiana Rehabilitation Services is available here.

LDH is an equal opportunity employer and seeks to recruit a highly productive and diverse workforce and will provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and prospective employees. Employment decisions shall be based strictly on merit and without regard to religious or political beliefs, sex, race, or any other non-merit factor.