COMMUNITY HEALTH NURSE II Tuberculosis Nurse

Howard County Health Department, 8930 Stanford Blvd., Columbia, MD 21045

About the role

This Community Health Nurse II (CHN II) position provides communicable disease prevention, surveillance, and control activities in both community and clinical settings with a primary focus on tuberculosis. The role includes nurse case management, contact tracing, tuberculosis treatment and prophylaxis, direct observation therapy, follow-up, and education for tuberculosis patients and suspects in Howard County. The position also assists with surveillance activities to prevent the spread of communicable diseases and provides direct nursing care in various community settings and HCHD clinics.

This position is NOT eligible for telework.

Responsibilities

• 70% TB Case Manager
  • Coordinates care for a selected caseload of patients for referred services.
  • Provides outpatient clinical care, managing active TB cases or outbreaks.
  • Conducts patient home visits as needed for TB treatment.
  • Undertakes epidemiological investigations of tuberculosis using Maryland Department of Health (MDH) protocols and standards.
  • Ensures tuberculosis case investigations are initiated and completed using HCHD/MDH workflow, protocols, forms, and data systems.
  • Completes electronic database records of tuberculosis cases, ensuring accuracy and completeness.
  • Records health status, treatments administered, and other relevant information in patient records accurately and timely.
  • Responds to inquiries from the medical community, labs, and the public related to tuberculosis.
  • Assists in identifying intervention needs and leads health department response for case management.
  • Provides guidance for isolation measures to affected individuals, families, and community members.
  • Initiates and completes contact studies for infectious tuberculosis cases.
  • Tracks treatment progress of patients with tuberculosis per HCHD/MDH guidelines.
  • Follows up with clients to ensure compliance with recommended guidance via phone, email, letters, or home visits.
  • Confers with TB team and medical director during case rounds regarding case management.
  • Functions as a subject matter expert (SME) for HCHD/MDH/CDC recommendations and protocols.
  • Writes timely and accurate disease summary reports for HCHD and/or MDH.
  • Reports unusual cases, outbreak activity, emerging diseases, and problematic issues to TB supervisor and medical director.
  • Performs phlebotomy and administers injections related to communicable disease functions.
  • Reviews and maintains program policies and procedures.
  • Conducts and maintains accurate medication inventory and supply records.
  • Collaborates with medical director, providers, and other TB program staff to ensure effective service delivery.
  • Attends necessary or required meetings.
  • Collaborates with medical director on educational materials.
  • Manages data, including gathering, organization, review, and presentation to supervisor.
  • Participates in TB program community outreach and formal presentations.
  • Performs Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) and/or reviews Video Directly Observed Therapy (VDOT).
  • Completes documentation in new patient summaries, TB case rounds, and snapshots in a timely manner.
  • Provides individual assessments of social determinants of health and makes appropriate referrals.
  • Evaluates the effectiveness of nursing interventions and recommends revisions as necessary.
  • Assists with management of communicable disease outbreaks as needed.
  • Participates in the orientation of staff.
  • Ensures confidentiality of written, electronic, and verbal communication.
  • Uses appropriate lines of communication within and outside the agency.
  • Responds to requests for information in a timely manner.
  • Provides interpretation and translation services according to agency policy.
  • Provides education appropriate to meet the needs of those with functional needs.
• 20% Clinic Nurse
  • Provides flexible coverage of various health department programs including communicable disease and immunizations.
  • Participates in the coordination of communicable disease investigation and surveillance.
  • Assists with management of communicable disease outbreaks, including tuberculosis.
  • Applies specific disease and outbreak guidelines to determine and execute best clinical interventions.
  • Manages contact tracing, ensuring HCHD and MDH guidelines are met.
  • Screens patients, reviews vaccination histories, and provides appropriate immunizations to adults, children, and infants.
  • Administers vaccines according to ACIP recommendations, COMAR requirements, VFC eligibility criteria, and HCHD standing orders.
  • Provides culturally competent patient education on immunizations using appropriate resources.
  • Provides individual assessments of social determinants of health and makes appropriate referrals.
  • Records health status, immunizations, and treatments administered in patient records.
  • Evaluates the effectiveness of nursing interventions and recommends revisions as necessary.
  • Documents work accurately and within agency guidelines.
• 10% Quality Assurance and Reporting
  • Assists in the compilation of materials and preparation of reports in collaboration with the TB supervisor.
  • Collects and analyzes data to support planning and program development.
  • Participates in internal meetings, chart review processes, audits, and case study presentations.
  • Participates in nursing research as assigned.
  • Attends professional development related to assigned duties.
  • Complies with standards for infection control, risk management, protective equipment, after-hours on-call procedures, FEMA trainings, and data security and confidentiality.
• 5% Standard Nursing Duties
  • Accepts responsibilities for special projects as assigned.
  • Participates in annual Back to School vaccine clinics and annual respiratory virus vaccine clinics.
  • Participates in HCHD Nurse Trainings, including orientation of new staff and cross-training of other staff.
  • Participates in a nurse on-call rotation as delineated in the HCHD After Hours Policy.
  • Participates in community outreach and education events, including career fairs.
  • Participates in specimen collection, packing, shipping, and transport, including after hours if needed.
  • Provides other nursing functions for HCHD as needed, including outbreak investigations, TB contact studies, and phlebotomy.
  • Maintains compliance with standards of care through training, including CPR certification, LHD Nurse Dispensing, and Personal Protective Equipment.

Requirements

• Education: A Bachelor’s degree in nursing from an accredited college or university.
• Experience: None required. Candidates may substitute:
  • A Bachelor’s degree in a related field and one year of experience as a Registered Nurse, or
  • Two years of experience as a Registered Nurse, or
  • U.S. Armed Forces military service experience as a commissioned officer in Nursing or Health Care Specialist specialty codes on a year-for-year basis.
• Licenses, Registrations, and Certifications:
  • Current license as a Registered Nurse from the Maryland State Board of Nursing.
  • Motor vehicle operator’s license valid in the State of Maryland (if assigned duties requiring operation of a motor vehicle).
  • Must provide a telephone number at which they can be reached.

Qualifications

• Experience providing case management services.
• Experience independently conducting nursing assessments and effectively communicating findings to clinicians.
• Experience in the prevention and control of communicable diseases, with a preference for tuberculosis (TB) prevention and control.
• Experience performing phlebotomy.
• Experience with Microsoft Office (Word, Outlook, Excel), Microsoft Teams, OneDrive/SharePoint, and Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems.