Public Health Nurse

Description Position is a 3 day per week position (24 hours) with full part-time benefits. Days are set each week — Monday, Tuesday and Friday. Position Summary Under the supervision of the Pottawatomie County Health Department Director and Assistant Director, the Public Health Nurse is a non-exempt position under FLSA. Primary responsibilities include providing public health nursing assessment and care, providing health education, monitoring health risks and communicable disease in the county, and promoting good health in Pottawatomie County. Essential Functions Provide adult health screening and monitoring of chronic disease per protocol or doctor order. Conduct child health assessments as trained and assigned. Assist with child and adult immunizations and administer immunizations at clinics as trained and assigned. Perform direct nursing duties in public health programs as trained. Maintain and update Communicable Disease Protocols provided by KDHE and develop local protocol to enhance disease investigation process. Conduct home visits to investigate disease or counsel clients with public health concerns or environmental hazards. Conduct home visits to high-risk families for education and risk reduction. Follow protocols and procedures for public health programs. Provide health education and materials to the general public and schools regarding health prevention. Ensure appropriate educational materials are displayed and available in the health department and in the community. Provide counseling, testing, treatment, and follow‑up for sexually transmitted diseases as trained. Perform toenail care per protocol as assigned. Conduct communicable disease investigation and provide follow‑up recommendations to individuals, physicians, and family members for control of disease as assigned, and enter all information into the Disease Reporting system within 10 working days of the report. Complete all paperwork required by KDHE regarding a reportable communicable disease and enter all disease data in the Disease Surveillance Reporting System within 10 working days of receiving the report via mail, fax, lab, or phone. Enroll clients in appropriate medical assistance programs and complete all paperwork, facilitating the referral. Coordinate the activities of the Pottawatomie County Traffic Safety Coalition/Safe Kids Chapter as assigned. Refer clients for further evaluation and/or treatment when necessary and document all information in electronic health record and electronic referral system. Maintain client records in an organized, concise manner, integrated with other health department records. Collaborate with other public and private health care providers to provide integrated, comprehensive services. Collect program data for use in community health assessment and planning. Provide and monitor TB drugs as assigned. Provide support for the health department preparedness coordinator as assigned. Marginal Functions Perform supply inventory and data entry of information. Perform school screening as trained (vision, hearing, growth, scoliosis, immunization status). Work with volunteer organizations (ACS, ADA, MoD, United Way, Salvation Army, CERT Team) in programming and support work. Procure and organize brochures and other educational publications and audio‑visual materials at the Health Department. Provide community education to groups, schools, and the public as needed. Develop and display health exhibits at appropriate events, such as health fairs. Promote events such as Great American Smoke Out and Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Promote health department services such as flu shots, immunization clinics, and lead testing. Utilize the media effectively to promote and educate the public. Perform other duties as deemed necessary or assigned. Requirements Education: A high school diploma or GED, and graduation from an accredited School of Nursing. Employee should be a Registered Nurse and be currently licensed to practice in the State of Kansas. Experience: One year of similar or related experience is required. Employee is expected to have acquired the necessary information and skills to perform the job reasonably well within six months to one year of employment. Working Conditions and Physical Requirements The work environment and physical demand characteristics described here are representative and not intended to be fully inclusive of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally exposed to outside weather conditions. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. Exposure to human blood and body fluids or communicable disease is possible. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel and talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to walk, sit, and reach with hands and arms. The employee is occasionally required to stand; climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; and taste or smell. The employee must regularly lift and/or move up to 10 pounds, frequently lift and/or move up to 25 pounds, and occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus. Knowledge, Skill and Ability A thorough knowledge of nursing assessment skills, procedures and immunization techniques and a working knowledge of mathematics is required. The ability to operate medical equipment and phlebotomy with a high degree of accuracy is required. Employee must be able to read and interpret patient charts, reports, policies and written instructions, and make proper referrals. Excellent interpersonal relation and writing and oral communication skills are also required. Employee must have good driving skills and a current Kansas driving license. Employee must be able to read, analyze, and interpret common scientific and technical journals, financial reports, and legal documents. Position requires the ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from customers, regulatory agencies, or members of the business community. Employee must be able to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Person must possess the ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables. Employee must have knowledge of the principles of community education and knowledge of the significance of disease prevention measures in the improvement of public health. Employee must have knowledge of the social and economic forces in society that affect health. Person must have the ability to plan and adapt education measures to persons of diverse cultural, socioeconomic and age groups. Employee must have comprehensive knowledge of the principles of nursing practice with special emphasis on public health. Person must have assessment skills with the ability to develop a plan of care to enhance a positive outcome for the client. Employee must conform to HIPAA privacy regulation specific to the position held. The employee creates and records protected health information (PHI). The employee is only authorized to use the information for categories for work performance. Disclosures are only allowed as necessary for treatment or to other providers/business associates or as required by law. Access to PHI and information is only allowed for health care operations. Problem Solving Problem solving is involved in this position. This employee encounters problems with complaints from clients, fluctuating workloads, communicating with problematic medical systems, helping client’s access health care and community services. Other problems often encountered are dealing with non‑compliant clients and with severe socio‑economic constraints of families. Decision Making Decision‑making is a factor in this position. Decisions this employee may encounter include assessing client complaints and concerns, determining appropriate referral sources and providing accurate information to clients. Machines/Equipment Used Personal Computer and related software Multi‑line phone Postage meter Facsimile Copier Shredder Printer Scanner Supervision/Accountability This employee works with little supervision from the Pottawatomie County Health Department Director. Financial Responsibility Employee is responsible for departmental equipment, but does not participate in the annual departmental budget process. Personal Relations Frequent contact with the general public, co‑workers and supervisory personnel is expected. An offer for employment for this position is contingent upon the applicant passing pre‑employment background checks which may include, but are not necessarily limited to: drug screening, driving record, criminal history, physical capacity, and/or skills testing. #J-18808-Ljbffr