Overview
At Houston Methodist, the Occupational Health Nurse position provides expert, integrated, cost-effective, quality patient care through the coordination of clinical care for occupational health clients and programs which includes organization, planning, developing and implementing occupational health programs. This position encompasses new employee, volunteer and allied health assessments, on-going employee health management and education as well as for cause drug testing. Responsibilities for this position include, but are not limited to, initial management, monitoring and reporting of occupational injuries and illnesses, return-to-work status, case management, immunization administration and compliance, safe patient handling equipment, education and training and regularly works with physicians on employee health assessments. The Occupational Health Nurse position collaborates with Infection Prevention and Control in the investigation, reporting and follow-through related to employee exposures to infectious or communicable diseases.
Houston Methodist Standard
PATIENT AGE GROUP(S) AND POPULATION(S) SERVEDRefer to departmental "Scope of Service" and "Provision of Care" plans, as applicable, for description of primary age groups and populations served by this job for the respective HM entity.
HOUSTON METHODIST EXPERIENCE EXPECTATIONS
- Provide personalized care and service by consistently demonstrating our I CARE values:
- INTEGRITY: We are honest and ethical in all we say and do.
- COMPASSION: We embrace the whole person including emotional, ethical, physical, and spiritual needs.
- ACCOUNTABILITY: We hold ourselves accountable for all our actions.
- RESPECT: We treat every individual as a person of worth, dignity, and value.
- EXCELLENCE: We strive to be the best at what we do and a model for others to emulate.
- Practices the Caring and Serving Model
- Delivers personalized service using HM Service Standards
- Provides for exceptional patient/customer experiences by following our Standards of Practice of always using Positive Language (AIDET, Managing Up, Key Words)
- Intentionally collaborates with other healthcare professionals involved in patients/customers or employees' experiential journeys to ensure strong communication, ease of access to information, and a seamless experience.
- Involves patients (customers) in shift/handoff reports by enabling their participation in their plan of care as applicable to the given job
- Displays cultural humility, diversity, equity and inclusion principles
- Actively supports the organization's vision, fulfills the mission and abides by the I CARE values
Responsibilities
PEOPLE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
- Uses therapeutic communication, which includes active listening and teaching, to establish a relationship with patients, guests and interprofessional team.
- Contributes to teamwork by awareness of overall department workload, consistently offering assistance, and responding positively to requests for assistance. Collaborates to foster healthy relationships in the work environment. Seeks guidance from and offers guidance to interprofessional team, when appropriate, and applies feedback to improve outcomes.
- Functions directly and indirectly as a clinical resource/consultant by working with staff, management, patients/families, and/or other groups as applicable.
SERVICE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
- Performs pre-employment health assessments on all new post-offer candidates, allied health professionals (not managed by medical staff credentialing), and other contract, agency, volunteers and students per policy.
- Coordinates and performs activities related to on-going employee health management to include the annual Tuberculosis (TB) and Influenza program for employees, allied health staff, volunteers and contract personnel. Administers, tracks, coordinates and reports immunization programs.
- Provides nursing care to include administration of injections, dispensing non-prescription medications, vital signs, wound care and work status reports. Provides first aid treatment as needed and appropriate. Refers employees to physicians as appropriate.
QUALITY/SAFETY ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
- Conducts initial management, review and monitoring of all occupational injuries and illnesses.
- Utilizes results from data collection activities to include occupational injury and illness volumes and trends, results from infection control surveillance, trends of employee illnesses to identify and prioritize areas of focus for improvement. Participates in and reports to safety committees as needed.
- Assists in development and revision of policies and procedures to meet current practice standards. May present at Medical Staff, Environment of Care (EOC) and Safety Committees.
- Collaborates with Infection Control, physicians and others in the investigation, reporting and follow-through of employees potentially exposed to infectious or communicable diseases.
FINANCE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
- Displays self-motivation to independently manage time effectively, timely document care, minimize incidental overtime, and prioritize daily tasks. Provides input into the unit resource utilization including unit capital and operational budget needs.
- Adheres to fiscal responsibility when ordering and maintaining medical and office supply inventory.
GROWTH/INNOVATION ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
- Coordinates, collaborates, and participates in training along with other key stakeholders such as education and department leadership regarding safe patient handling and mobility (SPHM) principles.
- Coordinates planning of and may present educational programs to enhance staff knowledge.
- Designs, gathers, reviews, and utilizes qualitative and quantitative data analyses to develop educational material to promote patient safety and risk reduction.
This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive; the employee will also perform other reasonably related business/job duties as assigned. Houston Methodist reserves the right to revise job duties and responsibilities as the need arises.
Qualifications
EDUCATION
- Bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited school of Nursing OR Associate's degree from an accredited school of Nursing with an additional two years of nursing experience (in addition to the minimum experience requirements listed below)
WORK EXPERIENCE
- Three years of clinical nursing experience
- Occupational health nursing experience preferred
License/Certification
LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS - REQUIRED
- RN - Registered Nurse - Texas State Licensure and/or Compact State Licensure within 60 days OR
- RN-Temp - Registered Nurse - Temporary State Licensure within 60 days AND
- BLS - Basic Life Support (AHA)
LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS - PREFERRED
- COHN - Certified Occupational Health Nurse (ABOHN) OR
- COHN/S - Certified Occupational Health Nurse Specialist (ABOHN)
KSA/ Supplemental Data
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES
- Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job, determined through on-going skills, competency assessments, and performance evaluations
- Sufficient proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing the English language necessary to perform the essential functions of this job, especially with regard to activities impacting patient or employee safety or security
- Ability to effectively communicate with patients, physicians, family members and co-workers in a manner consistent with a customer service focus and application of positive language principles
- Strong assessment, organizational and problem solving skills as evidenced by capacity to prioritize multiple tasks and role components
- Ability to function independently and exercise judgment in interactions with physicians, interprofessional care team and patients and their families
- Uses critical thinking skills and clinical judgment to work autonomously as defined by the Nurse Practice Act
SUPPLEMENTAL REQUIREMENTS
WORK ATTIRE
- Uniform No
- Scrubs Yes
- Business professional No
- Other (department approved) Yes
ON-CALL**Note that employees may be required to be on-call during emergencies (ie. DIsaster, Severe Weather Events, etc) regardless of selection below.
TRAVEL****Travel specifications may vary by department**
- May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area Yes
- May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area No
Company Profile
Houston Methodist (HM) is one of the nation’s leading health systems and academic medical centers. HM consists of eight hospitals: Houston Methodist Hospital, its flagship academic hospital in the heart of the Texas Medical Center, and seven community hospitals throughout the greater Houston metropolitan area. HM also includes an academic institute, a comprehensive residency program, a global business division, numerous physician practices and several free-standing emergency rooms and outpatient facilities. Overall, HM employs over 25,000 employees. Houston Methodist is supported by a wide variety of business functions that operate at the system level to help enable clinical departments to provide the best patient care and service in a spiritual environment.
In 2019 Houston Methodist and its physicians treat more than 6,333 international patients from more than 76 countries. Houston Methodist Global Health Care Services’ consulting and education divisions also provide advisory services and training and development to health care organizations around the world.
