EXCITING JOB OPPORTUNITY!
JOIN OUR PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT TEAM!
Benton County is currently seeking candidates and accepting applications for the Full-Time PUBLIC HEALTH NURSE – FAMILY HEALTH & WIC position within the Healthy Families Unit of our Public Health Department.
Make a lasting impact on the health and well-being of mothers and children in our community! We are looking for a Public Health Nurse to join our expanding team, supporting families through WIC program services, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and family home visiting services to name a few. In this role, you’ll have the opportunity to work in our WIC clinics, as well as provide in-home education and support through family home visiting and providing informed health information to ensure children get the best start in life. If you're passionate about public health and community outreach, we’d love to welcome you to our team!
We encourage all Licensed Registered Nurses who possess a bachelor's degree in nursing and are Certified as Public Health Nurses or are currently pursuing such certification (PHN Certification "In-Progress"), to Apply.
* Recruitment will remain open until the position is filled. * Applicants will be reviewed on a rolling basis, with the FIRST review of applications starting on TUESDAY, APRIL 1st, 2025.
NOTE: A bachelor's degree or higher in Nursing is required for this position. Please upload and attach a copy of your College Transcript, Licensure(s), and Certificate(s) to your application before submitting.This position's 2025 hiring wage range is $30.69 - $34.11 per hour, based on preferred qualifications and experience, with a career potential of up to $42.10 per hour.
Position Summary
Provides public health nursing services to individuals, families, and community groups through preventative actions, assessments, risk reduction, and health status improvement through data care plan development, education, and collaboration efforts to promote the health of target populations.Duties and Responsibilities
Essential Functions
A. Performs comprehensive individual and family assessments.
A.1. Determines client health problems through observation, interviews, and analysis of records.
A.2. Provides care coordination, referral, and follow-up.
A.3. Consults with physician, nursing team, social worker, and other involved caregivers to coordinate health care plans to meet client needs.
A.4. Evaluates outcomes, effectiveness of plan, and adjusts as necessary.
B. Provides direct public health nursing services to clients as recommended by physician.
B.1. Performs nurse home visits, education, and care coordination.
B.2. Documents visits and maintains case files.
B.3. Assesses the need for personal care assistance and determines the amount of time needed to assist client in the home setting.
C. Participates in community engagement.
C.1. Establishes, leads, and maintains community collaboratives, partnerships, multidisciplinary and/or interagency teams and/or key stakeholders.
D. Educates clients on basic principles of healthy living in various areas such as nutrition, healthy lifestyles, and safety.
E. Performs diagnostic tests and informs client and/or family of findings.
F. Develops community-wide breastfeeding support initiative.
G. Coordinates and manages child and teen check-ups program.
H. Performs public health investigation methods in community outreach, screening, and case finding of communicable and infectious diseases.
I. Informs, educates, and empowers the public regarding public health issues of local importance utilizing appropriate methods for all ages, and from diverse cultural, socioeconomic, educational, racial and ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, lifestyles and physical abilities.
J. Collaborates on the development, implementation, evaluation and communication of public health initiatives and programs.
K. Participates in grant processes; application, objectives and work plans, implementation, outcome evaluation, tracking and reporting relative to designated program areas.
L. Participates in emergency response duties, trainings, and drills.
M. Participates in the collection and interpretation of data to determine current health status concerns, imminent risks, and readiness of the population as it relates to public health issues.
N. Responsible for using quality improvement (QI) and performance management (PM) processes and/or techniques to improve effectiveness of public health programs.
Additional Functions
A. Attends trainings as needed.
B. Responsible for own professional growth and development by pursuing education, participating in professional committees and work groups, and contributing to a work environment where continual improvements in practice are pursued.
C. Provides guidance and direction to other staff and volunteers.
D. Participates on a variety of committees, teams, and coalitions.
E. Performs other duties as assigned or apparent.
ADDENDUM - PUBLIC HEALTH NURSE - HEALTHY FAMILIES
A. MECSH and/or Evidence Based Home Visiting.
B. First Steps workgroups, breastfeeding support groups, and breastfeeding coalition.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications
A. Bachelor’s degree in nursing.
B. Current licensure as a registered nurse in the State of Minnesota.
C. Certification as a public health nurse in the State of Minnesota.
D. Must possess a valid driver's license and be able to drive in the state of Minnesota.
E. Must successfully complete a background check.
F. Obtain and maintain certifications, CEU’s and licensures.
F.1. Ability to obtain upon hire:
F.1.1 Basic Life Support (BLS) certification.
F.1.2 Fit Testing
F.2. Ability to obtain within six-months of hire:
F.2.1. Designated National Incident Management System (NIMS) certification.
F.2.2. Incident Command System (ICS) certification.
F.3. Ability to obtain within two-years of hire:
F.3.1. Lactation Counselor Certification.
Preferred Qualifications
A. Three-years' experience as a Public Health Nurse or related area.Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
A. Knowledge of principles, practices, and techniques of professional nursing functions including physical assessment and counseling.
B. Knowledge of applicable state and federal laws, regulations, programs, and services relating to public health nursing.
C. Knowledge of medical terminology, diseases, illnesses, and nutrition.
D. The ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, and have strong positive public relations skills.
E. The ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with others.
F. Ability to apply professional principles and judgment within overall goals/direction established by management.
G. Ability to perform varied work involving complex and significant variables requiring analytical ability and inductive thinking in adapting policies, procedures, and methods to fit situations.
H. Ability to maintain communication with outside and inside contacts on matters requiring cooperation, explanation, and persuasion.
I. Ability to travel within your daily work assignment.
J. Ability to travel within Minnesota, including extended overnight stays.
K. Ability to work extended, evening, and weekend hours as needed.
L. Must comply with organizational and departmental policies.
M. Performs physical/mental demands of the work environment requirements for this position.
N. Attendance during regularly scheduled work hours, and outside regular hours, as necessary.
O. Effective and respectful communication and interactions with other employees, supervisors, individuals from other organizations, and citizen customers.
P. Must comply with data practices policies and standards relative to private data. Any access to private data should be strictly limited to accessing the data that are necessary to fulfill the employment responsibility. While data is being accessed, employee should take reasonable measures to ensure the private data is not accessed by individuals without a work reason. Once the work reason to access the data is reasonably finished the private data must be properly stored according to county policies and the Minnesota Statutes.
Physical Demands & Working Conditions
A. Work is performed in the office and in the community. Options for telework (when not required to be in office or in the community) may be permitted at the discretion of the Department Head.
B. Ability to exert light physical effort in sedentary to light work, may involve some lifting, carrying, pushing, and/or pulling of objects and materials of light weight (5-10 pounds).
C. Headaches, eyestrain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and related occupational hazards associated with computer work reflect the most common potential for injury.
D. May encounter verbal abuse and threats from hostile and frustrated clients. Community/home sites may subject worker to communicable diseases, insects and other disease vectors, toxins, hazardous materials, chemicals, and animals.
E. This position is occasionally exposed to mental effort and stress.
F. This position continuously works under high attention to detail.
Hours of Work
A. Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Equipment Utilized
A. Office equipment, medical equipment, computer hardware and software, and automobile.
This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an "at will" employment relationship. The County Board, County Administrator or appropriate Elected Official retains the discretion to add duties or change the duties of this position at any time.
Benton County is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the County will provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals and encourages both prospective and current employees to discuss potential accommodations with the employer.
