Description
Lead and support public health nursing practice across community programs and clinics to improve population health. Provide expert clinical guidance, develop and evaluate evidence-based protocols, and ensure compliance with public health laws, reporting requirements, and professional standards.
- • Coordinate or conduct educational programs or in-service training on topics such as immunization, outbreak response, and screening protocols.
- • Conduct individual and population health assessments, including community needs assessments and risk screenings.
- • Evaluate the quality and effectiveness of public health nursing practice, programs, and systems.
- • Provide direct clinical services by performing assessments, ordering or conducting screenings and tests, and prescribing or recommending treatments per scope and protocols.
- • Provide specialized direct and indirect care in areas such as communicable disease, maternal-child health, chronic disease prevention, and school or community health.
- • Develop, implement, and monitor infection prevention and control practices in community settings.
- • Collaborate with health departments, clinics, schools, community organizations, and emergency management to coordinate population health services.
- • Develop public health nursing philosophies, goals, policies, priorities, and procedures.
- • Develop, implement, or evaluate standards of public health nursing practice across programs (e.g., immunization, TB, STI, harm reduction).
- • Develop or assist with individualized care and case management plans, including contact tracing, treatment adherence, and referrals.
- • Make clinical and programmatic recommendations to providers, payers, community partners, and public officials.
- • Plan, evaluate, or modify public health interventions and care pathways based on surveillance data, case interviews, and record review.
- • Provide clients and communities with information to make informed prevention and treatment decisions, including risk communication and vaccine information.
- • Instruct nursing staff in assessment, program implementation, outbreak investigation, and use of public health technologies and resources.
- • Direct or supervise public health nursing staff, field teams, and mobile clinic operations.
- • Identify training needs and conduct training for nursing students, staff, and community providers on public health practices.
- • Stay current with public health and nursing evidence by reviewing literature, networking, and participating in professional organizations.
- • Monitor and evaluate health status of cases and populations with interdisciplinary teams, using surveillance systems and registries.
- • Participate in or lead public health research, surveillance projects, and program evaluations, ensuring regulatory and ethical compliance.
- • Coordinate transitions of care and referrals to community resources, social services, and primary care.
- • Prepare required reports, dashboards, and documentation for cases, programs, grants, and surveillance.
- • Develop standing orders, clinical protocols, and care algorithms; prescribe or administer medications and vaccines per authority.
- • Provide consultation to healthcare providers, schools, and community partners on communicable disease control, immunization schedules, and clinical procedures.
- • Develop and maintain public health program policies, procedures, objectives, and standards based on evidence and guidelines.
- • Design and implement quality improvement and evaluation plans for public health nursing practice and organizational systems.
- • Design community health education campaigns and materials to support informed decisions and behavior change.
- • Lead program compliance with public health reporting, regulatory, funding, and accreditation requirements.
- • Chair or participate in public health committees, coalitions, and task forces.
- • Teach community classes and workshops on prevention, self-management, and available public health services.
- • Coach and mentor nurses and other team members to support competency growth and professional development.
- • Plan and execute vaccination clinics, screening events, and emergency response operations.
- • Support emergency preparedness, including plan development, drills, and incident response.
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Healthcare & Human Services
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Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
