Title: Public Health Nurse Sr.
State Role Title: Registered Nurse II
Hiring Range: $75,500 - $85,000
Pay Band: 5
Agency: Virginia Department of Health
Location: BLUE RIDGE HQ
Agency Website: www.vdh.virginia.gov/blue-ridge
Recruitment Type: General Public - G
Job Duties
Blue Ridge Health District (BRHD) serves the counties of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa and Nelson along with the City of Charlottesville. Serving the approximately 250,000 residents of our district, we are committed to advancing the health equity of our citizens and staff.
BRHD is seeking to hire a Public Health Nurse Senior to serve as a program expert in communicable diseases. This position would also provide support to other nursing programs throughout the district. Specific responsibilities include case management of active tuberculosis cases, communicable disease investigations, and Newcomer Health program management. Additional support may be requested in family planning, sexual health, and immunization clinics, along with emergency response.
We see this position developing program goals, objectives, policies and procedures, serving as one of the primary contacts for staff and external inquirers about the program/service, and promoting the program to increase utilization and public awareness. This Senior Nurse performs nursing assessments, lab tests, takes measurements, develops and implements care plans, and administer meds. May supervise support staff. A large component of this role involves case investigation with subsequent case management.
Program Leadership – provides leadership by supporting the State and District visions, missions and goals compiles with organizational procedures and policies. Develop policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts. Develops quality improvement indicators and core measures as part of the process to enhance public health programs and services. Supports research across disciplines related to public health priorities and population-level interventions. Applies the requirements of patient confidentiality, human subject protection and research ethics into data collection and processing. Identifies opportunities to use public health informatics skills to improve public health programs and business operations. Demonstrates ethical standards of practice in all aspects of public health and public health nursing as the basis of all interactions with individuals, communities, and organizations. Recommends a course of action in response to identified ethical issues. Supports the development of interprofessional teams and workgroups. Uses a comprehensive set of relevant variables within and across the systems to measure health and public health conditions. Uses policy analysis methods to align with public health nursing practice and public health issues. As required monitors VEDSS, ESSENCE and other epidemiology technology to identify trends/outbreaks and participates in vaccine preventable illness response and may collect specimens and/or administer vaccinations to children and adults. As required in support of an emergency, serves as a key member of the emergency epi response team and assists the local emergency planner in responding to outbreaks and other “all hazards” incidents. May be responsible for communicable disease investigations and assisting with outbreaks in schools, the community, nursing facilities and other congregate care settings (including but not limited to prisons and homeless shelters). May serve as the subject matter nursing expert for communicable disease issues in the district.
Community Liaison – promotes public health awareness, health risk reduction and preventative health in the community through community screenings, mass clinics, community programs, and community events. Informs, educates and empowers the community regarding health issues. Maintains knowledge of current community resources and provides inter and intra agency collaborations to meet needs. Serves as community liaison by meeting with community groups, employers, committees and task forces to promote public health awareness, risk reduction and resource development. Identifies/participates in community activities that enhance public knowledge of services. Assists with the community health assessment and improvement planning processes through partnerships with community services and providing information regarding the locality; assess the quality of various data collection methods used to conduct a comprehensive community/population assessment. Assist with obtaining and maintaining health-related data about social and cultural environments, needs and interests. Uses data related to the determination of health and community resources to plan for, analyze, and evaluate community-oriented and population-level programs. Apply methods and practices to access public health information for individuals, families, and groups. Uses networks among community organizations and systems conducive to improving the health within programs, communities and populations. Supports the delivery of community health services to community groups and partners. Identify evidence of the effectiveness of community engagement strategies on individuals, families, and groups.
Direct Patient Care & Other Duties – provides direct patient care services and case management in clinics, homes and the community. Independently performs nursing assessments and administers patient care services in clinics, school and community settings. Uses existing concepts, models, theories, policy and evidence to plan, conduct and evaluate population-level interventions to address specific public health issues. Uses planning models, epidemiology and other analytical methods in the development, implementation, and evaluation of population-level interventions. Uses epidemiological data, concepts and other evidence to analyze the determinants of health when developing and tailoring population-level health services. Plans for health services delivery that integrates cultural perceptions of health services. Uses public health and nursing science in practice at community and populations level. May be required to perform other duties; may include functions in support of an emergency declaration.
This PHN Senior participates in emergency operations. As a VDH/State employee, this nurse may assist state government, generally, in the event of an emergency declaration by the Governor. This role may be required by VDH to adjust work hours, location, and job duties and participate in training to meet public health business needs, including emergencies.
While based out of the Charlottesville/Albemarle Health Department, this nurse senior will also be very mobile. Based on community need, the individual may work at other locales, or within our community settings.
The Virginia Department of Health offers 12 paid holidays, medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, retirement plans (including 401a Cash Match and 457 Deferred Compensation Plan) as well as sick, family/personal, and annual leave.
Minimum Qualifications
- Requires licensure as an RN in Virginia.
- Must be certified in Basic Life Support (BLS)/CPR, able to be fit tested and perform fit testing for other staff in accordance with OSHA Respiratory Protection Standard (29 CFR 1910.134) [Ref. 2] regulations.
- Experience functioning in a leadership role; experience and ability to function independently in the home/clinic/community/school settings and prioritize workload.
- Exercises sound nursing judgment; effective verbal, written, interpersonal/physical assessment skills.
- Experience and ability to enter, review, analyze data and statistics and produce reports and/or recommendations from such information; ability to work in a fast paced, data driven environment.
- Experience and knowledge of nursing process, health maintenance, disease process, physical and behavioral sciences, case management process and basic principles of epidemiology.
- Work effectively as a member of the multidisciplinary health care team.
- Knowledge and experience in use of computers and computer applications preferred; including internet, Microsoft Office, and Google Mail applications.
- Experience and ability to work with diverse cultural backgrounds.
- May travel and some weekend and or/evening hours may be required.
- Excellent communication, data interpretation and computer skills.
- Must be able to demonstrate decision making skills, teaching, interviewing, counseling skills and the ability to analyze problems/situations and problem solve.
Additional Considerations
- Public Health experience.
- If working with the epi response team, Certified in Infection Control (CIC) preferred and experience in hospital or long-term care facility infection control.
Special Instructions
You will be provided a confirmation of receipt when your application and/or résumé is submitted successfully. Please refer to “Your Application” in your account to check the status of your application for this position.
Employment is contingent upon satisfactory results of a state and federal criminal history background check and the Department of Social Service’s Child Abuse and Neglect Central Registry check, U.S. HHS IG Exclusion List check, employment reference check, and E-Verify. Other financial, credit, driving, or other background checks or completion of Statement of Economic Interests may be required for certain positions.
VDH accepts only on-line applications. Faxed, mailed, or e-mailed applications will not be considered. Applications will be accepted until 11:55 p.m. on the job closing date. Applications and/or resumes should include relevant work history which indicates your qualifications for this position.
It is the policy of the Commonwealth and VDH that all aspects of human resource management be conducted without regard to race (or traits historically associated with race including hair texture, hair type, and protective hairstyles such as braids, locks and twists); sex; color; national origin; sexual orientation; gender identity or expression; age; veteran status; political affiliation; disability; genetic information; and pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. VDH employees have a shared Code of Ethics, which can be found in the bottom banner of our website: www.vdh.virginia.gov
As a V3 (Virginia Values Veterans) employer, VDH welcomes Veterans to apply!
Supplemental Questions: You may be required to respond to position-specific questions at the end of this application. This information will help us evaluate your credentials and qualifications for the job. Failure to respond to any questions may disqualify you from further consideration.
VDH requires all Health-Care Personnel (HCP) to provide documentation of immunization or evidence of immunity to the following: hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella; a one-time dose of tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) vaccine regardless of the interval since the last dose of tetanus-diphtheria (Td) vaccine was administered (Td or Tdap boosters shall be received every 10 years); and the current year’s seasonal influenza vaccination.
Contact Information
Name: Tammy Richardson / Richard Bolden
Phone: 434-422-4556 / 434-972-6271
Email: Tammy.Richardson@vdh.virginia.gov / Richard.Bolden@vdh.virginia.gov
In support of the Commonwealth’s commitment to inclusion, we are encouraging individuals with disabilities to apply through the Commonwealth Alternative Hiring Process. To be considered for this opportunity, applicants will need to provide their AHP Letter (formerly COD) provided by the Department for Aging & Rehabilitative Services (DARS), or the Department for the Blind & Vision Impaired (DBVI). Service-Connected Veterans are encouraged to answer Veteran status questions and submit their disability documentation, if applicable, to DARS/DBVI to get their AHP Letter. Requesting an AHP Letter can be found at AHP Letter or by calling DARS at 800-552-5019.
Note: Applicants who received a Certificate of Disability from DARS or DBVI dated between April 1, 2022- February 29, 2024, can still use that COD as applicable documentation for the Alternative Hiring Process.
