ABOUT US

Serving a diverse urban and rural population of more than 475,000, Niagara Region is focused on building a strong and prosperous Niagara. Working collaboratively with 12 local area municipalities and numerous community partners, the Region delivers a range of high-quality programs and services to support and advance the well-being of individuals, families and communities within its boundaries. Nestled between the great lakes of Erie and Ontario, the Niagara peninsula features some of Canada’s most fertile agricultural land, the majesty of Niagara Falls and communities that are rich in both history and recreational and cultural opportunities. Niagara boasts dynamic modern cities, Canada’s most developed wine industry, a temperate climate, extraordinary theatre, and some of Ontario’s most breathtaking countryside. An international destination with easy access to its binational U.S. neighbour New York State, Niagara attracts over 14 million visitors annually, as well as a steady stream of new residents and businesses.
At Niagara Region, we value diversity - in background and experience. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We aspire to hire and grow a workforce reflective of the diverse community we serve. By doing so, we can deliver better programs and services across Niagara.
We welcome all applicants! For more information about diversity, equity, and inclusion at Niagara Region, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion - Niagara Region, Ontario or email related questions to diversity@niagararegion.ca. To send input on reducing barriers in the current hiring process, please email myhr@niagararegion.ca
For the Region’s full employee equity statement, Working at Niagara Region - Niagara Region, Ontario.

DON’T HAVE EVERY QUALIFICATION?

You may be hesitant to apply if you do not have every qualification listed in the posting. While specific qualifications are important for certain roles, we invite individuals from diverse backgrounds and varying levels of experience and education to apply. Our recruiters will evaluate your suitability for the role.
Please note that for unionized roles, we must follow collective agreement requirements. However, we encourage all interested candidates to submit their applications. We believe success in a role can extend beyond meeting every single requirement.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Summary
Reporting to the Director Clinical Services, the Public Health Nursing Practice Specialist is responsible for supporting the Chief Nursing Officer with respect to public health nursing quality assurance and public health nursing practice leadership within Niagara Region Public Health, ensuring that the College of Nurses of Ontario regulations, standards of practice, best practice guidelines, and relevant legislative requirements are integrated into public health nursing practice for public health nursing staff.

Education

• Post-secondary degree in Nursing (B.Sc.N.).
• Graduate degree with a focus on public health or nursing or relevant academic equivalent is preferred

Knowledge

• Minimum 5 years’ experience in public health.
• Minimum 5 years’ experience in staff education or continuous quality improvement.
• Current Certificate with the College of Nurses’ of Ontario.
• Knowledge professional nursing practice principles and requirements.

Responsibilities

Facilitates the application of public health nursing standards, best practice guidelines, legislation, regulations, competencies, and trends of public health nursing practice.

• Builds the capacity of nurses through full utilization of public health nursing practice and competencies within a healthy work environment.
• Promotes professionalism by implementing and supporting evidence informed leadership and professional practice standards.
• Assists in advancing a public health nursing perspective in support of, and to further, organizational effectiveness to meet the Ontario Public Health Standards and Organizational Standards, contributing to organizational strategic planning initiatives, communicating nursing contributions, and influencing the function of public health.
• Provides consultation on policies and procedures development for public health nursing practice.
• Provides divisional managers professional practice consultation and offers public health nursing support as required.
• Contributes to the resolution of issues related to the quality of public health nursing practice.
• Identifies and determines appropriate solutions to address health and safety and risk management issues affecting public health nurses.
• Develops regular communication to all public health nurses regarding public health nursing practice, professional issues, and quality assurance related to public health nursing practice.
• Prepares reports as required.
• Communicates public health nursing contributions to the health of individuals, communities, and populations by supporting nurses’ understanding of the social determinants of health.

Develops opportunities for nurses to learn within an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary environment.

• Completes needs assessments of staff knowledge and competence related to public health nursing practice, developing, implementing and evaluating professional development work plans based on the needs assessment.
• Supports the knowledge and skills required to contribute to workforce capacity building, public health nursing recruitment and retention and support improvements in nursing practice.
• Participates in knowledge exchange/translation, research, staff nursing orientation, and mentoring.
• Collaborates with the Volunteer and Unpaid Student Supervisor regarding public health nursing student placements and public health nursing staff orientation.

Guides public health nursing quality improvement work across NRPH, creating resources to support, promote and showcase continuous quality improvement initiatives.

• Facilitates the implementation of continuous quality improvement activities that support effectiveness and efficiencies in public health programs and services delivered by nurses.

Develops relationships with internal and external invested parties to promote nursing professionalism and standards.

• Liaises with the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO), Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO), post-secondary institutions and other relevant invested parties.
• Chairs the Nursing Practice Advisory Committee and Nursing Practice Development Committee.
• Participates on relevant committees as identified, such as Ontario Public Health Nursing Practice Leads.

Special Requirements

• Vaccinations as outlined in departmental policy.
• Must maintain ability to travel in a timely manner to other offices, work locations or sites as authorized by the Corporation for business reasons.
• May be required to support emergency operations under the incident management structure, at the direction of the Emergency Operations Centre Director
• Additional weekend or evening hours as necessary; on call/standby rotation.
• Regional staff strive to enable the strategic priorities of council and the organization through the completion of their work. Staff carry out their work by demonstrating the corporate values.

Please refer the Job description for details