Occupational Health Nurse - RN

JOB SUMMARY:

MAHEC’s Employee Occupational Health department is seeking a full-time RN to provide collaborative and team-based support for the following programs: Respiratory Protection, Infection Prevention, Workers’ Compensation, and Employee Health. This role is 75% administrative, 25% clinical, and supports communicable disease outbreaks.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Leads Respiratory Protection (N95 fit testing) and Hand Hygiene programs in collaboration with staff and leaders
• Assesses, manages, and reports work-related injuries and illnesses
• Communicates with employees and leaders on plan of care and return to work as it relates to communicable diseases and injury management
• Partners with workers’ compensation adjustors and medical treatment sites for work-related injuries. Adheres to OSHA requirements and data tracking. Coordinates health related services for employees.
• Develops, provides, and maintains educational material related to bodies of work, including occasional presentations.
• Performs nursing functions, such as immunizations and TB screenings for employees
• Is cross-trained and assists in new hire onboarding. Participates in assessing employee health requirements for new employees at time of onboarding.
• Reviews and provides recommendations for policy changes under scope of work
• Participates in monthly policy reviews and program development
• Ensures workforce/student preservation and safety as part of the MAHEC Employee Health call line and department inbox
• Maintains employee files, including immunization and fit testing records
• Performs audits of infection prevention (i.e. hand hygiene.) Participates in as needed and yearly annual assessments of clinical departments.
• Partners with employees and clinical departments to problem solve and provide expertise
• Adapts to address needs for possible pandemic surge capacity as necessary
• Responds to employee and facilities occupational health needs, including but not limited to pest infestations, employee injuries, and 911 calls.
• Provides cross coverage for other Occupational Health Nurse
• Supports department initiatives, including but not limited to collaborating with administrative departments and clinical leaders to develop, implement, and maintain programs

This role description is a general description of the essential job functions.  It is not intended to describe all the duties the Occupational Health Nurse may perform.

KEY COMPETENCIES:

• Communication Skills

Effectively and respectably communicate with other individuals, whether it be a colleague, patient, or patient’s family member and appropriately enumerate information in a manner easily understood by all parties. We do this to foster a culture of understanding between all parties, especially in complex and difficult situations, to ultimately provide the best care possible to our patients and their families.

• Decision Making

Ability to make the most appropriate decision in a given situation and then taking the next steps to ensure appropriate and timely completion. This requires conflict resolution skills, critical thinking skills, confidence in your ability to make the right decision in most situations. This also includes ability to prioritize your workday appropriately to ensure the most important tasks are completed on time.

• HealthCare Knowledge

Having the drive to keep yourself abreast and up to date on the new breakthroughs in your area of expertise and communicating them to the rest of the team, as appropriate.  This also includes keeping up with your licensure and yearly training requirements within your area expertise along with MAHEC’s organizational training. Finally, the ability to apply the depth of knowledge maintained and gained through this process in real life scenarios as appropriate.

• Interpersonal Skills

Showing the ability to meet difficult situations with grace, professionalism, and understanding. Within your area of expertise, showing respect and showing empathy where appropriate with your colleagues, patients, and their family at all times, even when its most difficult to do so. This is done, in part, by effective listening, being your authentic self, showing responsibility and dependability, and being patient with others.

• Organizational Values

Adherence to MAHEC’s founding principles and incorporating them every day. This includes, among others, having integrity and accountability, reverence for other cultures and equitable practices, ability to manage change, and displaying a clear understanding of organizational dynamics. Doing these things creates a culture where people want to do the best for each other and gives personal ownership towards the goal of helping people in their time of need.

• Problem Solving

Having an analytical mind and ability to work autonomously to solve complex problems that may arise. The wherewithal to think logically through a difficult problem and come to an appropriate resolution for a given issue. This helps to drive continuous improvement by thinking through where we can improve in a novel way. Measures success by understanding where we are currently and where we want to go and then applying those new ideas to affect positive change.

• Resilience and Adaptability

You deal effectively with pressure, competing demands, and interruptions while maintaining focus and optimism under adversity. You are open to change and new information, adapting rapidly in response to changing conditions and unexpected difficulties. You solicit and act on feedback, learning from experience.

SPECIFIED SKILLS

• Quality and Process Improvement: You drive for continuous improvement. You work with your team to identify ways to streamline and improve efficiency of work and service delivery. You ensure that defined processes, quality standards, and best practices are adopted swiftly and updated regularly.
• Team Engagement: You create a climate in which others want to do their best and feel personally invested. You engage in shared decision-making and invite input from team members. You convey trust in people’s competence to do their jobs and recognize great performance. You promote others to take initiative.
• Knowledge of epidemiology, infectious and communicable disease per CDC guidelines as it affects the employee and work environment.
• Ability to analyze, synthesize and summarize data to document clinical findings and make accurate judgments regarding employee health according to accepted evidence-based guidelines.
• Outstanding clinical assessment and evidenced based practice.
• Highly effective verbal communication and interpersonal skills to establish working relationships that foster optimal quality of care and relationships with community partners.
• Advanced computer skills as related to working with medical office software, educational program(s), and presentation preparation.
• Excellent decision making and problem solving. Ability to use independent nursing judgement and critical thinking skills.
• Strong time management, organizational, and follow-through skills
• COMPUTER
  • Excellent skills in Microsoft Office including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and database applications required. Above average typing speed.
• FOREIGN LANGUAGE
  • None required. Spanish speaking skills preferred.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• Light to Moderate energy level: Lift, carry, push, or pull up to 30lbs. Frequent bending and kneeling required. Frequent standing, walking, and sitting required to meet organizational demands.
• Frequent: 50% of workday. 75% of workday during influenza season and during FIT testing clinics.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Not applicable

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
  • Successful completion of an accredited Registered Nursing program.
  • Two (2) years relevant experience or comparable combined experience and/or education.

• PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
  • Bachelor or Master of Science in Nursing strongly preferred
  • CIC certification strongly preferred

REQUIRED LICENSES:

• Current unencumbered North Carolina nursing license
• Current CPR certification

SCHEDULE:

Regular attendance on-site is an essential function of this position. Opportunity for hybrid work model at Leader discretion. Typical business hours are Monday – Friday, 07:30 am to 4:30 pm (or flexed to best meet the needs of the clients and/or the Division); 40 hours per workweek; work hours will need to be flexible in order to respond to special work assignments, weekend or evening activities, as requested by the team leader.

POSITION COMPENSATION:

Salaried position: $70,000, full time + full benefits available

At MAHEC, we strive to equip all team members with Total Rewards (pay + benefits) to honor their service, support their health, manage their financial security, build their career, and thrive.

All MAHEC employees and learners will be required to receive the Flu vaccine or have an approved exemption.

MAHEC Talent Management is located at 121 Hendersonville Road, Asheville, NC 28803. Equal Opportunity Employer.

MAHEC is a qualifying employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program. Employees who meet federal requirements may be eligible to have remaining student loan balances forgiven after 10 years of qualifying payments while working full-time at MAHEC.

If you are interested in this role, and you have related experience and qualifications, we encourage you to apply or reach out to [email protected] for support in your job search process. You could be the talent we are seeking for this or other opportunities.