The Public Health County Nurse Manager Journey Begins Here…
Abstract
Each local county health department in the Southeast Health District is managed by a county nurse manager who is responsible for daily operations of the department. They are also viewed as an expert in the field of public health in their community. In recent years, as multiple nurse managers have retired or resigned, the need became clear for an innovative approach to training. With several newly hired county nurse managers arriving at once, a new nurse manager orientation was created. To effectively design the orientation, it was necessary to utilize the 10 essential public health services framework for session planning. As a result, the new nurse manager orientation is a 5-day, in person training where nurse managers are introduced to a variety of topics that include: accounting, billing, human resources, nursing operations, programmatic operations, communications, call center operations, workforce development, board of health bylaws, infectious disease outbreaks and surveillance and many more. Each presentation is presented by subject matter experts with extensive knowledge of the topic and include hands-on learning activities.
With rounds one and two of new nurse manager orientation now complete, efforts to improve the sessions are made continuously. Gaining nurse manager feedback immediately following each session has allowed needed changes to be implemented without delay, including adjustments to agenda topics, timing of presentations, further clarification of policy and detailed discussion of topics. From the first orientation to the second, another example of change includes inviting mentors assigned to each new nurse manager to join the introductory session. Mentors and new nurse managers are then able to have initial conversations based on the orientation framework. In addition, subject matter experts provide feedback and suggestions for better information delivery.
Keywords
county nurse manager, orientation, public health nurse
The Public Health County Nurse Manager Journey Begins Here…
Each local county health department in the Southeast Health District is managed by a county nurse manager who is responsible for daily operations of the department. They are also viewed as an expert in the field of public health in their community. In recent years, as multiple nurse managers have retired or resigned, the need became clear for an innovative approach to training. With several newly hired county nurse managers arriving at once, a new nurse manager orientation was created. To effectively design the orientation, it was necessary to utilize the 10 essential public health services framework for session planning. As a result, the new nurse manager orientation is a 5-day, in person training where nurse managers are introduced to a variety of topics that include: accounting, billing, human resources, nursing operations, programmatic operations, communications, call center operations, workforce development, board of health bylaws, infectious disease outbreaks and surveillance and many more. Each presentation is presented by subject matter experts with extensive knowledge of the topic and include hands-on learning activities.
With rounds one and two of new nurse manager orientation now complete, efforts to improve the sessions are made continuously. Gaining nurse manager feedback immediately following each session has allowed needed changes to be implemented without delay, including adjustments to agenda topics, timing of presentations, further clarification of policy and detailed discussion of topics. From the first orientation to the second, another example of change includes inviting mentors assigned to each new nurse manager to join the introductory session. Mentors and new nurse managers are then able to have initial conversations based on the orientation framework. In addition, subject matter experts provide feedback and suggestions for better information delivery.
