Community Health Nurse - WIC

Harvey County•Newton, KS

About The Position

This part-time position is responsible for providing direct nursing services to clients in open and satellite clinics and coordinating the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program. The nurse assesses, educates, and evaluates clients—including pregnant and postpartum women, infants, reproductive health clients, and children age five and below—through home visits, clinic or office visits, and phone calls. The role develops nursing care plans, coordinates care, conducts physical examinations, makes referrals, and addresses clients’ health, psychosocial, and environmental needs. The position supports WIC breastfeeding services and program operations, including breastfeeding policies, outreach, reporting, training, compliance, and caseload management. It maintains client records and reports, collaborates with community partners, participates in quality improvement, and provides surge capacity during public health emergencies or severe outbreaks. The role works under general supervision on some assignments and independently performs recurring duties under established procedures. It has no supervisory responsibilities.

Requirements

Registered Nurse license in good standing with the Kansas Board of Nursing.
Associate’s degree in Nursing from an accredited college or university.
Three years of work experience in general nursing practices.
Maintain CPR certification.
Valid Kansas driver’s license.
Knowledge of professional and public health nursing principles, standards, practices, and techniques; treatment, assessment, immunization, and related medical services; applicable nursing and program regulations; community and alternative-care resources; confidentiality and non-discrimination requirements; and relevant office and computer practices.
Ability to assess clients’ medical needs, maintain accurate medical records and reports, preserve confidentiality and privacy under HIPAA, interpret and implement policies and regulations, work accurately and independently under time limits, adapt to stressful situations, and communicate effectively in English.
Ability to work allocated hours and respond after hours as needed.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in Nursing.
Fluency in Spanish.

Responsibilities

Assess, educate, and evaluate client needs through home visits, clinic or office visits, and phone calls.
Develop nursing care plans and coordinate client care.
Assess clients’ acute and chronic health conditions and psychosocial and environmental needs, and refer them to appropriate resources.
Conduct physical examinations and assess the health of infants, children, and adults.
Refer clients to physicians and other medical services as needed.
Participate in developing and updating local breastfeeding policies and procedures, including providing breast pumps to WIC clients.
Assist with the breastfeeding action plan for the Nutrition Services Plan and help ensure a breastfeeding-friendly clinic environment.
Collect documentation, records, and data for quarterly reports; assist with quarterly reporting and the yearly BFPC program self-monitoring form.
Participate in KDHE-sponsored BFPC and WIC trainings.
Coordinate and facilitate WIC breastfeeding community outreach and promotion activities.
Develop and interpret health department and nutrition policies, procedures, and protocols.
Assist in monitoring compliance with WIC and Health Department policies and procedures, and ensure local policies comply with the State Policy and Procedure Manual and WIC contract.
Develop and oversee caseload management to provide services to the greatest number of eligible persons.
Coordinate at least two annual outreach efforts with community programs to maintain caseload capacity.
Support positive publicity and distribution of WIC outreach materials, explain WIC goals and objectives to the community, and disseminate program success information using statistics and non-specific case histories.
Prepare, update, and maintain client records using electronic health record systems.
Facilitate and participate in community coalitions and collaborate with community partners on outreach and education.
Participate in quality improvement projects and apply quality improvement principles.
Provide surge capacity to Public Health Emergency and Epidemiology for investigative work and community containment during public health emergencies or severe outbreaks.
Perform other duties as assigned.