Community Health Nurse

Position Title:       Community Health Nurse (CHN)

Reports to:           Manager, Clinical Health

Supervision of:    Community Health Representative (CHR)              

Job Overview

Reporting to the Manager, Clinical Health, the Community Health Nurse (CHN) is responsible for delivering a comprehensive, culturally safe health program. Working within a population health, community development, and social determinants of health framework, the CHN promotes holistic wellness that respects and integrates traditional and cultural approaches.

The CHN demonstrates advanced skills in assessing, planning, implementing, and evaluating programs across the lifespan. This includes providing direct care, health education, disease prevention, and community health promotion initiatives. The CHN would support/assist the Home Care Coordinator whenever required to provide augmented home care services as needed.

A cornerstone of this role is respectful, equal-partnership engagement with community members, Elders, and families in all aspects of service delivery, from home visits to group programming.

Organizational Status

The Haisla Nation is the band government of the Haisla people. Our mission is to build a powerful, prosperous and proud community, healthy in mind, body and spirit. We believe in building a strong and thriving community, with healthy and happy members and a sustained and prosperous environment. We are about 2023+ people, with approximately 700 living in Kitamaat Village. We have lived off the land and waters of our traditional territory for thousands of years, and it remains the focus of all we do.

Duties & Responsibilities

Comprehensive Community Health Programming & Service Delivery 

Communicable Disease Control (CDC):

• Assures a comprehensive CDC program, including but not limited to a focus on influenza, HIV, Hepatitis A, B & C, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), Tuberculosis (TB) and vaccine preventable diseases.
• Provides community awareness programming on immunizations and other communicable diseases (prevention, early detection, transmission & control strategies).
• Provides programming on prevention, early detection, and CDC response as outlined by Medical Health Officer (MHO), FNHA Health Protection Team, and BCCDC Guidelines.
• Plans, implements and evaluates immunization programs for infants, children, adults, elders and members of the community deemed to be at higher risk.
• Assesses needs/strengths/resources, plans, implements and evaluates the TB Programming for the community as per the BCCDC TB Manual (TB Services for Aboriginal Communities (TBSAC)).
• Ensures that required training is completed and competency is maintained, including current immunization certification, transportation of dangerous goods (TDG), and CPR (including infant) certification.
• Ensures that the CDC references are kept up to date.
• Ensures the regular maintenance of CDC equipment and that BCCDC recommended CDC supplies is available.
• Ensures that cold chain principles are adhered to.
• Ensures that mandatory CDC reporting is completed in a timely fashion.

Maternal, Child, & Family Health:

• Assesses needs/strengths and resources, plans, implements and evaluates prenatal, postnatal and newborn programming (including linkage to Canadian Prenatal Nutrition Programming).
• Provides prenatal, postnatal and newborn education and support programming that includes topics such as injury prevention, SIDS, nutrition, lifestyle and health practices, growth and development, prenatal care, newborn care, breast feeding, physical & emotional care, and when to seek medical attention. This programming may be delivered in group settings and/or one-to-one sessions. 
• Provides referrals to other health professionals or programs as required.
• Assesses needs/strengths/resources, plans, implements and evaluates child health programming.
• Provides assessments and screening aimed at early intervention for identified health and development concerns (vision & hearing screening, speech & language development, physical growth).
• Provides referrals to other health professionals and programming should a delay or health concern be identified.
• Provides information and counselling for parents, other care givers or staff on topics including but not limited to injury prevention, growth and development, parenting, anticipatory guidance, nutrition, oral health, and environmental risks such as sun exposure, wood ticks and water safety.
• Works in collaboration with other health and education staff in the promotion of child health programming.
• Works towards ensuring community-based family preservation and the integrity of kinship and biologic parenting systems, while ensuring child safety and following mandatory Ministry of Child and Family Development protocols.

Youth Health:

• Assesses needs/strengths and resources, plans, implements and evaluates prenatal, postnatal and newborn programming (including linkage to Canadian Prenatal Nutrition Programming).
• Provides prenatal, postnatal and newborn education and support programming that includes topics such as injury prevention, SIDS, nutrition, lifestyle and health practices, growth and development, prenatal care, newborn care, breast feeding, physical & emotional care, and when to seek medical attention. This programming may be delivered in group settings and/or one-to-one sessions. 
• Provides referrals to other health professionals or programs as required.
• Assesses needs/strengths/resources, plans, implements and evaluates child health programming.
• Provides assessments and screening aimed at early intervention for identified health and development concerns (vision & hearing screening, speech & language development, physical growth).
• Provides referrals to other health professionals and programming should a delay or health concern be identified.
• Provides information and counselling for parents, other care givers or staff on topics including but not limited to injury prevention, growth and development, parenting, anticipatory guidance, nutrition, oral health, and environmental risks such as sun exposure, wood ticks and water safety.
• Works in collaboration with other health and education staff in the promotion of child health programming.
• Works towards ensuring community-based family preservation and the integrity of kinship and biologic parenting systems, while ensuring child safety and following mandatory Ministry of Child and Family Development protocols.

Adult & Elder Health:

• Assesses needs/strengths/resources, plans, implements and evaluates adult and elder programming in collaboration with other health team members including the Home Care Nurse, Community Health Representative, and Elders Coordinator. Topics include but are not limited to healthy lifestyle, early detection of illness, emotional wellness, women’s health topics, men’s health topics, injury/falls prevention, and elder abuse and neglect prevention.
• Refers to other health professionals or agencies as appropriate.

Chronic Disease Prevention & Management:

• Applying an integrated team approach, coordinate with Chronic Disease nurse and HCCC will assesses needs/strengths/resources, plans, implements and evaluates programming around chronic disease. This includes prevention, early detection of illness, understanding the illness and how to maintain a healthy state with the disease, and when to seek medical attention.

• Topics include but are not limited to cardiovascular health, obesity, cancer, diabetes, injury, tobacco and substance use/misuse prevention, management of oral health, arthritis, osteoporosis, sexual health, and emotional well-being.

• Refers to other health professionals or agencies as appropriate.

Mental Wellness Promotion:

Facilitate Community networks and provide consultation in collaboration with Community Wellness Manager/team.

• Mental wellness promotion rooted in a well-informed knowledge base of the socio-historical context of First Nations including colonization, residential school trauma, and ongoing health/socio-economic and educational inequities.
• Promotes community and individual mental wellness across the Lifespan.
• Promotes natural social support networks.
• Engagement in building community networks
• Collaborate with mental health resource people (internal mental health workers and external mental health personnel) on suicide prevention programming.
• Collaborates with relevant personnel to ensure family/intimate partner violence prevention programming is available.

Injury Prevention:

• Be cognizant of the major sources of injury in the community, and predisposing factors.
• Offers injury prevention programming.
• Collaboratively develop community driven substance misuse prevention and treatment interventions to reduce the incidence of substance related injuries
• Offers injury prevention education as appropriate across the Lifespan for all community members.

Substance Use & Harm Reduction:

CHN and Community Wellness team collaboratively assures addictions prevention, intervention, and treatment service to reduce the incidence of substance related injuries.

• Offers harm reduction supplies and equipment.
• Provides opioid overdose prevention and education services (Naloxone/drug alert systems) as appropriate.
• Assures outreach to community members deemed to be at high risk to offer prevention and harm reduction services, including HIV/Hepatitis C screening.

Environmental Health & Emergency Preparedness:

• Works in collaboration with the environmental health officer (EHO) and health staff in planning prevention awareness programs
• Is informed about current surveillance programming and supports EHO when addressing any environmental challenges such as mould in home, boil water advisories, rodents, or CDC outbreak that relates to the environment
• Collaborates with the Haisla Nation EOC and FNHA Pandemic and CD Emergency nurse specialist regarding CHN role within the emergency preparedness plan
• Collaborate with FNHA and NHA regarding Health Protection team to ensure respiratory response supplies are maintained and that N95 mask fit testing for all health centre staff is offered annually.
• Collaborates on the creation and maintenance of data bases for programming so that they may be utilized within an emergency response

Support Home Care Team:

• Cover Home Care Nurse duties as required

Coordination, Administration & Professional Practice:

• Coordinate Public Health Nursing services with community agencies and internal health team members.
• Participate in the administration of Acts and Regulations applicable to nursing practice.
• Plan, organize, implement, and evaluate community health services using local knowledge, morbidity/mortality data, and best practices.
• Ensure efficient and coordinated service delivery in homes, clinics, schools, and the community.
• Perform other related duties as directed by the Health Manager/Director.

Other related duties as required.

Skills & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing, including community health education.
• Current registration and in good standing with the BC College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM) to practice as a Registered Nurse.
• Direct experience working with First Nations communities and a deep understanding of First Nations traditions, culture, and the socio-historical context of health.
• Immunization certification, or willingness to complete within three months of hire.
• Minimum four years experience in community health nursing, and/or home care nursing.
• Minimum three years experience working in primary care in a hospital setting.
• Food Safe Certificate is required.
• Ability to lift 30 lbs and perform related physical tasks.
• Current CPR-C certification, including infant resuscitation, or willingness to obtain within first 3 months.
• Commitment to continuing professional development.
• Alignment with the ethical obligation of nursing to recognize the primacy of First Nations sovereignty – which includes the recognition that First Nations people control land, water, health and wellness.
• Respectful of individual, family, community and nation, and the right to self-determined approaches to health and well-being.
• Seeks guidance from First Nations leadership in order to validate and integrate First Nations knowledge into all aspects of health and well-being.
• Works respectfully with clients and health department staff in a culturally safe, relational and inclusive manner.
• Knowledge of local community resources and agencies.
• Demonstrates the ability to deal effectively with crisis and de-escalate conflict situations.
• Knowledge of the self-determinants of health and the system issues that Indigenous Peoples experience today and intergenerationally such as poverty, unemployment, stigma, and the isolation felt by individuals.
• Be curious, objective, and compassionate not judgmental.
• An understanding of rural and remote communities and their inherent challenges and barriers.
• Displays emotional resilience and the ability to withstand pressure on an on-going basis. Deals with difficult situations while maintaining performance and professionalism. Seeks support from others when necessary and uses appropriate coping techniques.
• Be aware of own assumptions, values, principles, strengths and limitations.
• Ability to apply a two-eyed seeing approach to balance western and traditional Indigenous worldviews into practice.
• Self-regulates one’s mood and emotions in stressful situations and maintains professional composure and communication with others.
• Ability to work both within a team and independently, flexibility to work in demanding and dynamic community settings.
• Proven management, organization, and supervisory skills to lead the CHN team.
• Exceptional verbal, written, and people skills, including report and proposal writing. Ability to maintain strict confidentiality.
• Strong collaborative approach with the ability to work cooperatively with health centre staff, external agencies, and community partners.
• Expertise in health assessment, program planning, implementation, and evaluation across the lifespan.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to apply the problem-solving process, demonstrating critical thinking and decision-making skill using a systems approach.
• Willingness to learn, grow, and receive mentorship and feedback in a leadership journey.
• Demonstrated commitment to Haisla values, culture, and community wellness.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to set objectives and establish priorities.
• Strong proficiency in using Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• BC Driver’s License and access to a reliable vehicle is required.
• Satisfactory completion of criminal records check (with vulnerable sector screening if relevant), and drivers abstract.

Salary Range: $40.14/hr - $60.00/hr

Position Type: Full-time

Number of Openings: 1

Closing Date: Will remain open until the position is filled. 

While we sincerely appreciate all applications, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.