Interim Employee Health Nurse

Petersburg Medical Center•Petersburg, AK

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Employees Health Nurse coordinates PMC's employee health program across all departments. Responsibilities include employee health screening and records, new-hire onboarding, respiratory protection, bloodborne pathogen prevention, occupational exposure follow-up, immunizations, testing, education, and compliance monitoring. The nurse maintains confidentiality, exercises sound nursing judgement, and refers matters outside the RN's scope or authorized protocols to a qualified provider.

Requirements

Current, unrestricted Alaska Registered Nurse license.
At least two years of professional nursing experience.
Current Basic Life Support certification.
Knowledge of immunizations, tuberculosis, screening, communicable diseases, exposure response, and respiratory protection.
Ability to obtain and maintain competency in respirator fit testing and other assigned employee health procedures.
Strong organizational, electronic record keeping, reporting, and confidential data management skills.
Exercises sound nursing judgement and seeks consultation when needed.
Applies requirements consistently and communicates sensitive information professionally.
Maintains confidentiality and separates employee health records from personnel and performance records.
Prioritizes urgent exposures while managing routine deadlines and follow-up.
Develops practical processes appropriate for a small, rural healthcare organization.
Demonstrates PMC's values of Integrity, Dignity, Professionalism, Teamwork and Quality.
Background Check: Employment is contingent upon the successful completion of a background investigation conducted by the State of Alaska in accordance with applicable regulations.
Drug Screening: All employees must successfully complete a pre-employment drug screening, which includes testing for marijuana.
Immunization Compliance: Employees are required to meet all immunization requirements as mandated by the State of Alaska and Federal regulations governing healthcare facilities.

Nice To Haves

Employee health, infection prevention, or healthcare safety experience preferred.

Responsibilities

Coordinates employee health services in accordance with PMC policies, Alaska requirements, AKOSH/OSHA standards, and CDC guidelines.
Maintains confidential employee health records, compliance tracking, reminders, and follow-up.
Advises employees and leaders regarding occupational health requirements, communicable disease precautions, work restrictions, and return-to-work processes.
Reviews employee health policies, forms, protocols, and educational materials at least annually.
Participates in Infection Prevention, Safety, Environmental Care, Quality and other assigned duties.
Reviews health history, immunizations or evidence of immunity, tuberculosis screening, respiratory protection needs, and position-specific requirements for new employees.
Coordinates required testing, vaccination, medical evaluation, respirator clearance and fit-testing for new employees.
Educates new employees about illness and exposure reporting, post-exposure care, immunizations, respiratory protection, and bloodborne pathogen requirements.
Reports clearance and compliance status to Human Resources and other department leaders without disclosing confidential material / medical information.
Serves as PMC's Respiratory Protection Program coordinator, maintaining the written program including hazard evaluation, respirator selection and use, training, maintenance, storage, recordkeeping, and program evaluation.
Verifies medical clearance before fit testing or required respirator use.
Performs or coordinates initial, annual and otherwise required fit testing.
Provides or coordinates initial and annual training and maintains required records for the Respiratory Protection Program.
Monitors compliance and corrects identified program deficiencies.
Coordinates implementation and annual review of PMC's Exposure Control Plan and updates it when duties, procedures, or technology changes.
Maintains exposure determinations and evaluates engineering controls, safer devices, work practices, PPE, housekeeping, and sharps-injury prevention.
Coordinates bloodborne pathogen training at hire, annually, and when duties or procedures change.
Maintains sharps injury log and reviews exposure trends while protecting confidentiality.
Maintains records of immunizations, evidence of immunity, tuberculosis screening and other position specific requirements.
Coordinates annual influenza vaccination and other employee vaccination activities.
Evaluates reported symptoms and exposures and consults Infection Prevention or a provider as needed.
Communicates work restrictions and return-to-work guidance.
Assists with employee follow-up, contract tracing, outbreak response, and workforce surveillance.
Maintains employee health dashboard and reports aggregate data to leadership.
Identifies and escalates overdue or high-risk items.
Tracks applicable measures.
Educates employees about immunizations, respiratory protection, bloodborne pathogens, exposure prevention, communicable diseases, and employee health procedures.
Communicates compliance deadlines and concerns and follows through until resolved.
Promotes prompt, non-punitive reporting of exposures, symptoms, injuries, and safety concerns.
Responsible for timely coordination, accurate documentation, appropriate escalation, and completion of required follow-up.