Job Description
Public Health Nurse
The purpose of this position is to provide comprehensive care to pediatric, adolescent, adult, and geriatric patients within the Indian Health Service:
Public Health Nurse GS-0610-07 Duties
- Under close supervision, supports community/public health nursing services by assisting higher-level nurses in applying the nursing process to deliver care in home, school, clinic, and community outreach settings.
- Collects and documents demographic, clinical, and basic epidemiologic information; helps maintain registries (e.g., immunization tracking) and supports routine communicable disease surveillance activities using established tools and protocols.
- Provides basic health education and prevention messaging using approved materials and reinforces established plans of care, including culturally safe health promotion across the lifespan.
- Assists with referrals, follow-up, and documentation in the electronic health record (EHR) and participates in quality improvement and reporting activities in accordance with standing orders, professional standards, and supervisory guidance.
Public Health Nurse GS-0610-09 Duties
- With minimal supervision, independently provides comprehensive community/public health nursing services to individuals and families across the lifespan using the nursing process in home, school, clinic, and community settings.
- Develops, implements, and evaluates individualized and family-centered plans of care, including outreach, screening, immunization follow-up, referral, early intervention, and case management.
- Participates in population health assessment and communicable disease control by collecting, validating, and documenting data and assisting with case reporting, investigation, contact follow-up, and implementation of control measures in coordination with public health entities.
- Coordinates care and transitions with interdisciplinary teams and tribal/community partners, delivers cultural and literacy-appropriate health education, and supports program documentation and quality improvement activities consistent with regulatory and professional standards.
Public Health Nurse GS-0610-11 Duties
- Independently plans, prioritizes, and delivers community/public health nursing services to individuals, families, groups, and defined populations, integrating public health principles with clinical practice (e.g., primary prevention, chronic disease management, maternal/child health, and communicable disease prevention/control).
- Conducts comprehensive population and community assessments by analyzing demographic, clinical, and epidemiologic data to identify trends, priority health issues, high-risk groups, and disparities, and translates findings into targeted prevention and early intervention strategies.
- Leads or coordinates communicable disease investigations and outbreak response activities and develops, implements, and evaluates community-based health programs in collaboration with public health entities and community/tribal partners.
- Serves as a clinical and public health resource through consultation, mentoring, and training, and advances program effectiveness through evaluation, quality improvement, accurate documentation, and adherence to nurse practice acts and public health nursing standards.
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