Public Health Nurse

Sherburne County•Elk River 55330-1692, MN

9d•Onsite

About The Position

Public Health Nurses promote and protect the health of citizens within Sherburne County and the State of Minnesota through education, prevention services, regulation, and advocacy. They partner with individuals, families, and community groups to address health concerns and help people and systems build their capacity to meet health and wellness needs. Nurses use the nursing process—assessment, planning, intervention, and evaluation—to provide skilled nursing services. Work takes place in an office, community clinics, client homes, schools, and other community sites. The position is based at the Government Center in Elk River, Minnesota. The position works with clients, families, community organizations, health care providers, and government agencies. Responsibilities may include clinical and community health services, communicable disease reporting and surveillance, program development, emergency preparedness, client advocacy, and maintaining legally compliant documentation. The nurse may respond to public health emergencies at any time and may be assigned investigative, outreach, or incident-command duties. The usual schedule is Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with occasional evening and weekend hours. The role includes travel to client homes, workplaces, and other settings. Work is primarily indoors, with direct public contact and potential interactions with clients who are angry, uncooperative, hostile, or experiencing mental illness. Sherburne County describes its workplace as focused on work-life balance, employee wellbeing, professional growth, and service to the community.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or higher with a major in nursing; a related field is not accepted.
Completed coursework that includes theory and clinical practice in public health nursing.
Current licensure as a Registered Nurse in Minnesota.
Certification in Public Health Nursing from the Minnesota Board of Nursing.
Current Minnesota driver’s license.
No experience is required.
Ability to understand the Department’s mission, policies, and procedures and maintain working knowledge of applicable department and County policies, protocols, and procedures.
Knowledge of federal, state, and County requirements, regulations, policies, and community resources related to Social Services and Public Health programs.
Knowledge of data privacy laws and ethics, general office procedures, data entry, electronic filing and recordkeeping, and available client resources.
Ability to operate office equipment and process detailed information objectively and quickly.
Strong verbal and written communication skills for working with clients, coworkers, and management.
Critical-thinking skills and ability to understand and follow complex oral and written instructions.
Ability to analyze and prepare spreadsheets and use effective interviewing skills and techniques.
Ability to organize and prioritize a high-volume workload, meet deadlines, and work independently.
Ability to remain objective and non-judgmental and stay current on position-appropriate training.
Ability to use state systems including CATCH, eSHARE, MIIC, MEDSS, and FAP, along with other state and federal information systems.
Ability to use Word, Excel, Outlook, SharePoint, PH Docs, OnBase, and other specialized software.
Ability to perform light physical work, including occasional lifting, carrying, pushing, or pulling of objects weighing up to 25 pounds; operate office equipment; and perform computer- and phone-related work requiring manual dexterity, hand-eye coordination, and visual acuity.
Ability to perform work involving direct public contact and potentially difficult interactions with clients.

Nice To Haves

At least one year of nursing experience is preferred.
CPR certification.
Child Passenger Safety Technician or Practitioner experience or certification.
Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), Lactation Counselor (CLC), or Lactation Educator (CLE) training or certification.
Conflict resolution skills.
Interpersonal communication skills.
Knowledge of group dynamics.
Cultural diversity and sensitivity experience or training.
Experience with computer programs such as Word, Access, Excel, and PowerPoint, and PH-Doc.

Responsibilities

Assess the needs and abilities of individuals, families, communities, and systems, and communicate information to encourage positive changes in knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and practices.
Build interpersonal relationships that increase clients’ capacity for self-care and coping.
Gather information, provide resources, and use interactive problem solving to identify solutions to health concerns.
Identify clients with health or developmental risk factors, prioritize those risks, develop plans, and initiate interventions.
Collaborate, coordinate, and consult with organizations to meet client needs and support self-care.
Help determine how clients can attain or maintain an adequate and safe quality of life.
Evaluate progress toward health outcomes and revise plans of care as needed.
Consult and serve in leadership roles on committees and with community agencies, including clinics, daycares, schools, and medical providers.
Develop, evaluate, and modify programs to meet identified community needs.
Advocate for clients while supporting their ability to advocate for themselves.
Use commercial marketing principles and technologies to influence knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and practices in the population of interest.
Promote compliance with laws, rules, regulations, ordinances, and policies developed in conjunction with policy development.
Possibly serve as a clinic liaison with local medical communities, share communicable disease information, and evaluate immunization practices.
Monitor health events through systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of health data to plan, implement, and evaluate public health interventions.
Assist with reporting communicable diseases and potential outbreaks; collaborate with the Minnesota Department of Health on disease surveillance and investigation and, possibly, refugee health activities related to tuberculosis.
Share and coordinate relevant information with other agencies and professionals to protect community health, safety, and welfare while following data privacy practices.
Maintain objective, factual, timely, and legally compliant documentation, including nursing assessments, plans of care, interventions, evaluations, progress notes, agency forms, and billing documentation.
Respond as needed, 24/7, during public health emergencies; assist with emergency preparedness planning and participate in assigned preparedness duties, exercises, and drills.
Perform assigned surveillance, disease and health-event investigation, outreach, and incident-command duties.
Maintain a constructive and professional attitude, support team and County goals, keep the immediate supervisor informed, and demonstrate service excellence and integrity.
Attend required training and represent the Agency on assigned task forces, committees, and work groups.
Maintain regular and reliable attendance and represent the County professionally while providing customer service.
Travel to client homes, workplaces, and other settings as required.