In order to meet the increasing demand for qualified employees, job seekers are constantly striving to improve and maintain their professional qualifications. Likewise, with the increased pool of talented applicants in the job market, recruiters are finding that it is necessary to be discerning, straightforward and thoughtful when it comes to posting job descriptions. When writing a Public Health Nurse job description sample, it is best to adhere to a number of standardized guidelines, which we will demonstrate the proper use of below. By writing your call to applicants within the restrictions of the standard format – job title and summary, responsibilities and duties, skills and qualifications and company information – you are setting yourself up to be approached by the top talent in the public health field.
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Public Health Nurse Job Summary
You will be expected to provide the highest quality health services, educational information and care to your patients and clients. As a public health nurse, you will work closely with patients as well as other care providers and clinical staff to accomplish overall positive health outcomes.
Public Health Nurse Job Responsibilities and Duties:
- Serve patients by conducting home visits when appropriate in order to monitor individual and family health needs.
- Provide nursing services and procedures and come up with health care plans for patients.
- Work within the scope of community resources by referring patients to the appropriate local agencies.
- Organizing the logistics of health services provisions for the community and participate in discussions with various medical providers to work towards specific and positive community health outcomes.
- Communicate with families of patients regarding the care and recovery of the patient. Educate families on the prevention of disease and making positive strides towards health.
- Provide educational resources on subjects such as home nursing, maternity and pediatric care and basic individual and family well-being.
- Keep abreast of pediatric health standards and school health issues by attending conferences and reading professional literature.
- Provide instruction to parents of young children regarding public health and immunizations.
- Cooperate with families to monitor recovery of ill or injured individuals and work with community resources and medical providers to improve outcomes when necessary.
- Monitor and assess medical systems by tracking progress and health results in patients.
- Recommend that changes be made when necessary to improve the effectiveness, efficiency or safety of basic operations.
- Operate and maintain designated vehicle, including following the included operation procedures and dealing with repairs, maintenance and troubleshooting issues.
- Maintain inventory of medical supplies, re-ordering appropriate equipment when needed and being present to receive it.
- Fill out and track all appropriate paperwork and documentation, including patient records, nursing logs and other reports.
- Comply with all medical safety and legal requirements that are mandated by the hospital, clinic, city, state and nation.
- Keep patient confidentiality in accordance with health care regulations.
- Uphold professional relevance by subscribing to nursing publications, maintaining certifications and membership in professional organizations and attending educational and networking events.
- Support the reputation of the public health sector by keeping an open mind to changes and modifications in various nursing policies and procedures.
Public Health Nurse Skills and Qualifications
- Registered Nurse (RN)
- Associate’s degree in nursing required; Bachelor’s degree preferred
- 1 year of experience in public health
- 1-2 years of experience working with patients and medical providers directly
- Documented proficiency in nursing tasks and achieving positive health outcomes among patients
Company Profile
Hot Springs Care and Wellness Solutions is based in Hot Springs, South Carolina, and has provided public health care to the community for nine years. We envision a future in which our staff grows from its current size of 25 team members to a staff of 50 or more. It is our mission to continue serving the individuals and families of our community, promoting positive health practices and working to educate the public on wellness-related issues.
Writing a Job Description Best Practices
- There are certain essential principles that make for good, solid job descriptions. While many of those have been exemplified above, here are a few more to keep in mind.
- Don’t neglect one of the most important aspects of a job description: the call to action, which tells potential employees exactly how to apply.
- Do make sure that you use bullet points and action verbs when listing the job’s duties and responsibilities.
- Don’t use abbreviations for job titles unless widely understood.
After reviewing the above information, you will be well prepared for using the example we gave to begin writing a job description of your very own.
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When it comes to public health crises, every wasted minute can have a negative impact on the community. If you’d rather focus your time on managing public health programs than recruiting personnel, you need a public health nurse job description that takes the effort, expenditure and time out of the hiring process. As the most substantial part of your description, the job responsibilities section should get a good chunk of your attention. The ideal section is 6-8 bullet points, written using action-oriented language and concise, high-level summary statements of the most critical responsibilities.
If you’re wondering why a well-written responsibilities section is so important, you need look no further than job boards and the average job posting. The majority are overly long, dryly written and utterly indistinguishable from each other. There’s nothing to make them stand out from the crowd or to give the applicant a sense of personal investment in the company. A well-written public health nurse job description should immediately arrest the job-seeker’s attention and draw them in.
Read our example public health nurse job responsibilities:
- Contribute to community public health intervention, policy and program management
- Shape strategies for disease prevention and immunization
- Work with in-community patients to diagnose and treat illness; identify potential epidemics
- Promote plans for extending healthcare to underserved communities
- Take an instrumental role in disaster response scenarios
To further save time in early recruitment stages, include a list of five or six mandatory job qualifications and skills in your public health nurse job description. Use these requirements as a checklist to screen applicants and rapidly determine if they qualify as a potential hire. Checking for these basic criteria can eliminate a large portion of time spent screening unqualified applicants.
The job qualifications and skills section can also prevent unqualified applicants from submitting, saving both your time and theirs by avoiding a bad fit. To determine who would make a good fit and holds the necessary qualifications, speak with your HR personnel and other nursing staff to gather feedback on qualities they just can’t live without. Not all their insights may make the cut, especially the most subjective, but many can offer valuable help. Narrow their feedback down to a short list of bullets for a highly effective public health nurse job description that automates a major part of the hiring process.
Here’s a look at how to write public health nurse job specifications:
- Degree in nursing required; 4-year or master’s level preferred over associate’s
- 5–10 years of experience in public health at the city or state level
- Experience working in underprivileged and underserved communities
- Knowledge of FEMA disaster response protocols
- Expertise in disease prevention and epidemiology
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Writing Your Public Health Nurse Job Description: Dos and Don’ts
Here are some additional dos and don’ts to abide by when it comes time to write your own job description. • Do refer to your company’s standard policies and procedures to discern whether including salary information in your job description is appropriate or not. • Do include all details that pertain to what type of job it is, including whether it is full-time or part-time and if it is an internship or a paid position. • Don’t make it too hard to apply to the job. Include within the call to action a link or address where potential employees can send their information to. • Don’t forget to mention where the company is located and if the position is open to local applicants only.
Armed with the solid advice and guiding principles listed above, you will be well-equipped to piece together a job description that embodies everything that a modern call for applicants should: directness, thoroughness and creativity.