Public Health Nurse Educator

Primary purpose:
This position is responsible for carrying out public health nursing functions as part of a comprehensive public health program. This includes, but is not limited to, health needs assessment; communicable disease surveillance, prevention, and control; immunizations; and health education and promotion. The Public Health Nurse Educator works as a sole practitioner in an independent role but collaborates closely with other staff in the Public Health Division, staff in the School Health and Social Services Divisions, as well as other City staff and community partners.
 

Supervision:
Scope and Judgment: This position requires excellent judgement, strong clinical assessment skills, polished professional skills, superior organizational skills, excellent verbal and written communication skills, research and evaluation skills, and the ability to work both independently and as part of a team. The position is responsible for moving short and long-term projects forward and keeping them on schedule and done to the highest standards without daily oversight. Critical thinking, self-motivation, and a passion for serving the public are all key elements of the role.

Supervision Received: This position reports to the Director of Public Health Services.

Supervision Given: May provide supervision to junior staff and/or interns.
 

Job Environment:
- Work is performed under typical office conditions as well as other settings including community-based settings and home visits.
- Frequent contact with the general public, other city departments and officials, outside agencies, businesses, vendors, and other governmental organizations and attorneys, etc. Communication is by means of in person meetings, telephone, online meeting platforms, personal discussion, and correspondence and involves discussing routine and confidential information, requiring patience, courtesy, and judgment.
- The work is often unpredictable and requires flexibility in both work performed and schedule.
- Has access to confidential and sensitive information. Errors in judgment could result in significant delay or loss of services, legal ramifications, negative health outcomes, adverse public relations, and monetary loss.

QUALIFICATIONS: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Exceptional client service skills are required.

Essential Elements:
•Collect community level data from a variety of sources to assess health needs and develop, implement, and evaluate health programs.
•Conduct communicable disease surveillance, case investigation, and contact tracing. Investigate outbreaks of communicable disease and implement appropriate control measures. Enforce regulations related to isolation and quarantine.
•Work with environmental health staff to investigate foodborne illnesses and outbreaks.
•Provide guidance to City and community partners on communicable disease prevention and control.
•Provide case management and directly observed therapy for residents with active tuberculosis.
•Operate and oversee the department’s immunization program. Plan and implement all aspects of clinics including scheduling, staffing, supplies, documentation, and insurance billing.
•Provide immunizations in a variety of settings including home visits, office appointments, and mass vaccination sites.
•Order, maintain, track usage, and ensure safety of vaccines.
•Develop, implement, and evaluate evidence-based health promotion and disease prevention programs for populations across the lifespan.
•Create communication materials such as newsletter articles, website content, data reports, educational handouts, presentations, flyers, and social media posts.
•Collaborate with City and community partners to understand health needs and provide targeted interventions to address said needs.
•Inspect and issue licenses for recreational camps for children in accordance with relevant laws, regulations, and procedures.
•Inspect tobacco retailers for compliance with relevant regulations and ordinances.
•Assist with emergency preparedness planning.
•Participate in and coordinate with local and regional public health working groups and task forces.
•Research grant opportunities. Write, implement, and oversee any grants received.
•Attend continuing education programs to maintain professional certification and keep current on public health nursing practice.
•Perform other duties as required.
 

Minimum Entrance Qualifications:
Education, Training, and Experience:
•A minimum of a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from an accredited nursing school is required.
•Licensure as a Registered Nurse in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
•Current CPR/AED certification.
•Minimum two years of relevant experience with a strong preference for experience in community or public health.
•Valid Massachusetts driver’s license or ability to obtain a valid Massachusetts driver’s license upon hire.
 

Knowledge, Ability and Skill:
Knowledge: Position requires knowledge of nursing, public health, and public health nursing principles.

Ability: Excellent writing and oral communication skills essential. Position requires the ability to comprehend the scope of laws, rules and regulations pertaining to specialty area. Ability to assess individual and group health needs. Ability to maintain confidentiality. Ability to organize time, work independently and accomplish tasks despite frequent interruptions. Ability to maintain detailed records and data base. Ability to operate various types of office equipment. Ability to maintain confidentiality of information. Ability to organize clerical and statistical records. Ability to maintain detailed and extensive records and to prepare reports from same. Ability to work effectively under time constraints to meet deadlines. Ability to deal tactfully and appropriately with the general public and City departments in an effective manner. Ability to interpret and follow departmental procedures and guidelines. Ability to be a strong team player. Ability to absorb and learn quickly and maintain a departmental sense of urgency. Ability to use judgement in the analysis of facts and circumstances to solve practical problems and deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram or schedule form. Ability to be a strong team player. Ability to perform public presentations to educate and support residents and/or colleagues. Ability to be flexible, recognizing that priorities and work portfolios may change abruptly. Ability to respond to emergency situations requiring unpredictable schedules and sudden shifts in workload and conditions.

Skills: Clinical medical skills at the level of Registered Nurse. Critical thinking and independent decision-making skills. Expertise and skill in using personal computers and common computer programs (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel) and database and spreadsheet applications. Excellent interpersonal and customer service skills. Excellent writing skills including memos, reports, proposals, analyses, and professional communications.
Excellent oral communication skills for presentations, meeting facilitation and contributions and public interactions.
 

Physical requirements:
(The physical demands described here represent those requirements that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.)

Regularly required to use hands to finger, handle, feel or operate objects, tools, equipment, machinery or controls, and reach with hands and arms as in picking up/accessing paper, files, and other common office objects as well as equipment and supplies relating to programs and needs in the HHS Department. Lifts and/or moves objects weighing up to 20 pounds. Manually operates all office equipment and other necessary equipment. Needs to operate a computer keyboard at an efficient speed. Ability to perform all regular nursing duties, including CPR.
 

Performance Standard:
Employees at all levels are expected to effectively work together to meet the needs of the community and the City through work behaviors demonstrating the City’s values. Employees are also expected to lead by example and demonstrate the highest level of ethics.

(This job description does not constitute an employment agreement between the employer and employee and is subject to change by the employer as the needs of the employer and requirements of the job change.)

THE CITY:

The City of Newton is a wonderful place to live and work. Newton has safe and attractive neighborhoods, an excellent public school system, an active community life, multiple transportation systems, proximity to Boston and a well-managed and financially strong City government. The City of Newton has a population of approximately 88,900, with 32,600 housing units and occupies a land area of 18.3 square miles. Newton is principally suburban-residential in character. Unlike many other communities that are established around a single Main Street or downtown, Newton is comprised of thirteen distinctive villages. Newton has a diversified economic base with approximately 4,700 establishments employing approximately 79,500 people. Newton is special in many ways. It is home to a variety of private secondary and post-secondary schools including a portion of Boston College, Lasell University, William James College, Hebrew College, and the UMass Amherst – Mount Ida Campus.  The longest stretch of the Boston Marathon runs through the City, including the well-known Heartbreak Hill. Newton-Wellesley Hospital, part of the Mass General Brigham health care system, serves as an important partner to the City. In September 2018, Newton was again ranked #1 in Massachusetts as the best place to live and #12 in the U.S.

OUR GOVERNMENT:

Newton has what is known as a “strong Mayor” form of government with the Mayor having the executive and administrative powers of the City. The legislative branch is comprised of 24 City Councilors. Mayor Ruthanne Fuller was sworn in on January 1, 2018 after serving on the City Council. She ran on a platform of providing Newton’s children with a top-notch education in an inclusive environment where empty nesters, seniors, young families, and people of diverse incomes can live together in vibrant villages and neighborhoods. Mayor Fuller is committed to keeping Newton safe, improving the city’s infrastructure, addressing climate change, providing excellent and responsive city services, and fostering art, culture and community life. The first female Mayor of Newton, she is a tireless advocate for all the city’s residents and is committed to making sure the city is welcoming, inclusive and diverse. The City of Newton was evaluated by Moody’s Investors Services in February 2020 and assigned its highest rating of AAA. Newton was thus well-positioned to weather the pandemic and economic downturn.

AS AN EMPLOYER:

The City of Newton believes that its employees are its greatest asset.  To that end, we are committed to supporting our employees by providing competitive wages and growth, a comprehensive benefits package which includes a defined municipal pension plan, quality health and dental insurance plans, generous paid leave benefits, paid holidays, and access to supplemental benefits such as deferred compensation, short term disability plans, flexible spending accounts, and other employee benefits.  We also provide access to an Employee Assistance Program and access to employee training and professional development opportunities.  We continuously work to review and expand upon our benefit offerings.  We encourage you to visit our Human Resources Department website to learn more about our organization and benefits which are available to our employees.  And as always, you are encouraged to reach out to our dynamic HR Team by emailing hr@newtonma.gov.

Human Resources Diversity Statement

We recognize our workforce is a source of strength that is vital to our ability to effectively serve the City of Newton’s diverse community. We will:

•   Actively recruit, develop, and retain a diverse and talented workforce.
•   Proactively address discrimination through education and in partnership with other departments and leaders.
•   Serve as a role model to celebrate and nurture diversity.
•   Foster inclusion by staying curious and clarifying assumptions.
•   Evaluate and develop policies and practices that reflect the diverse nature of our workforce.
•   Build and strengthen accountability at all levels to support diversity efforts.

• Health insurance
• Dental insurance
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• 457 Deferred Compensation plans
• Metro Credit Union
• Verizon Wireless discount
• Employee Assistance Program
• Generous paid leave time benefits and paid holidays.
• City Retirement (Mandatory)
• Weekly Direct Deposit
• Opportunity to serve the public and join a dynamic team of dedicated employees