Community Health Nurse II

Howard County•Howard, MD

5d•Onsite

About The Position

The Community Health Nurse II (CHN II) position is responsible for communicable disease prevention, surveillance, and control activities in both community and clinical settings, with a primary focus on tuberculosis. This role involves nurse case management, contact tracing, tuberculosis treatment and prophylaxis, direct observation therapy, follow-up, and education for tuberculosis patients and suspects in Howard County. The position also assists with surveillance activities to prevent the spread of other communicable diseases and supports the daily operations of the Howard County Health Department (HCHD) by providing direct nursing care in various community settings and clinics. Work may be performed in patients' homes, schools, and other community locations. The nurse will assess, educate, and assist patients in understanding their health status, considering social determinants, and provide counseling, guidance, referral, and treatment for physical, mental, and emotional health needs. This position is not eligible for telework.

Requirements

A Bachelor’s degree in nursing from an accredited college or university.
None (experience requirement).
Candidates may substitute a Bachelor’s degree in a related field from an accredited college or university and one year of experience as a Registered Nurse for the required education.
Candidates may substitute two years of experience as a Registered Nurse for the required education.
Candidates may substitute U.S. Armed Forces military service experience as a commissioned officer in Nursing classification or Nursing or Health Care Specialist specialty codes in the Nursing field of work on a year-for-year basis for the required education.
Current license as a Registered Nurse from the Maryland State Board of Nursing.
Possession of a motor vehicle operator’s license valid in the State of Maryland (if assigned duties requiring operation of a motor vehicle).
Provide the facility with a telephone number at which they can be reached.

Nice To Haves

Experience providing case management services.
Experience independently conducting nursing assessments and effectively communicating assessment findings to clinicians.
Experience in the prevention and control of communicable diseases, with a preference for tuberculosis (TB) prevention and control.
Experience performing phlebotomy.
Experience with Microsoft Office (Word, Outlook, Excel), Microsoft Teams, OneDrive/SharePoint, and Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems.

Responsibilities

Coordinates the care of a selected caseload of patients for referred services.
Provides outpatient clinical care and manages active TB cases or outbreaks.
Conducts patient home visits as needed for TB treatment.
Undertakes epidemiological investigations of infectious diseases (tuberculosis) reported to the health department using Maryland Department of Health (MDH) protocols and standards.
Ensures that tuberculosis case investigations are initiated and completed using HCHD/MDH workflow, protocols, forms, and data systems.
Completes electronic database records of tuberculosis cases, ensuring record review for accuracy and completeness.
Records health status of patients, treatments administered, and other appropriate information in the patients' record accurately and timely, and reports to the clinician and TB supervisor as indicated.
Ensures that reports are completed per HCHD and MDH guidelines and protocols.
Responds to calls, voicemails, emails, faxes from medical community, labs, and general public related to tuberculosis.
Assists in identifying intervention needs associated with tuberculosis and helps to lead health department response for case management.
Provides guidance for isolation measures to affected individuals, families, and community members as needed.
Initiates and completes contact studies for infectious cases - tuberculosis.
Tracks treatment progress of patients with infectious illness - tuberculosis per HCHD/MDH guidelines and processes.
Follows up with clients to ensure compliance with recommended guidance via phone, email, letters, or home visit if needed.
Confers with TB team and medical director during case rounds regarding management of identified cases.
Functions as a HCHD SME for HCHD/MDH/CDC recommendations, protocols, and public health management of infectious diseases - tuberculosis.
Writes timely and accurate disease summary reports for HCHD and/or MDH as directed.
Reports to TB supervisor and medical director all unusual cases, outbreak activity, emerging diseases, and any problematic issues.
Administers injections to adults and children as related to CD functions.
Reviews and maintains program policy and procedures.
Conducts and maintains accurate medication inventory and supply records.
Collaborates with medical director, providers, other TB program staff to ensure effective service delivery.
Attends necessary or required meetings.
Collaborates with medical director for educational materials.
Responsible for data management to include gathering, organization, review and presentation of data to supervisor.
Participates in TB program community outreach and formal presentations.
Performs DOTs (Directly Observed Therapy) and/or reviews VDOTs (Video Directly Observed Therapy) as needed.
Completes documentation in new patient summaries, TB case rounds, and snapshot in a timely manner.
Provides individual assessments of social determinants of health and makes appropriate referrals to a variety of community resources.
Evaluates the effectiveness of nursing interventions and recommends revisions as necessary.
Provides assistance with management of communicable disease outbreaks as additional staff needs dictate.
Participates in the orientation of staff.
Ensures confidentiality of written, electronic, and verbal communication.
Uses appropriate lines of communication within and outside the agency.
Responds to requests for information in a timely manner.
Provides interpretation and translation services according to agency policy.
Provides education appropriate to meet the needs of those with functional needs.
Provides flexible coverage of various health department programs including communicable disease and immunizations as needed.
Participates in the coordination of communicable disease investigation and surveillance.
Applies specific disease and outbreak guidelines to determine and execute best clinical interventions, collaborating with healthcare providers to develop and deliver effective infection control measures.
Manages contact tracing, ensuring HCHD, and MDH guidelines are met.
Communicates findings and recommendations as indicated.
Screens patients, reviews vaccination histories, and provides appropriate immunizations to adults, children, and infants in the clinic and community settings.
Administers vaccines according to Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendations, Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) requirements, Vaccines for Children (VFC) eligibility criteria, and current Howard County Health Department Immunization Program standing orders.
Provides culturally competent patient education on immunizations using appropriate resources such as Vaccine Information Statements and scientifically based information about vaccines.
Records health status of patients, immunizations and treatments administered, and other appropriate information in the patients’ record, and reports to the clinician and to the nursing supervisor as indicated.
Documents work accurately and within agency guidelines.
Accepts responsibility for special projects and performs other duties as assigned.
Assists in the compilation of materials needed and works in collaboration with the TB supervisor in the preparation of reports.
Collects and analyzes data to support planning and program development, as directed.
Participates in internal meetings, chart review process, audits and case study presentations to monitor services and ensure standards of best practice.
Participates in nursing research as assigned.
Attends professional development related to assigned duties.
Complies with standards for infection control and risk management Protective Equipment, After-Hours On-Call procedures, FEMA trainings, and Data Security and Confidentiality compliance.
Accepts responsibilities for special projects as assigned by TB supervisor, medical director, Deputy Bureau Director, Bureau Director.
Participates in annual Back to School vaccine clinics and annual respiratory virus vaccine clinics by preparing vaccine and/or administering vaccine injections to children and adults.
Participates in HCHD Nurse Trainings as required including but not limited to: the orientation of new staff, cross training of other HCHD staff and nursing students as assigned.
Participates in a nurse on-call rotation as delineated in the HCHD After Hours Policy.
Participates in community outreach and education events including career fairs.
Participates in specimen collection, packing, and/or shipping and transport, including after hours, if needed.
Is prepared to provide other nursing functions for HCHD as needed, including but not limited to outbreak investigations, TB contact studies, and phlebotomy.
Maintains compliance with standards of care through training including, but not limited to: CPR certification, Local Health Department (LHD) Nurse Dispensing, Personal Protective Equipment, After-Hours On-Call procedures.