Senior Public Health Nursing Advisor
This leadership position is a board-certified advanced public health nurse who provides public health nursing guidance within DPH. The person in this role collaborates with a variety of other professions, organizations, and stakeholder groups to promote and protect the health of the population. Within DPH, this position provides supervision to professional nursing staff, serves as an infectious disease subject matter expert, provides public health accreditation support and guidance as a trained Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) site visitor, and assists the Department’s quality improvement staff as needed.
The position also oversees education and training development for public health nurses and other public health professionals statewide. They initiate and revise protocols and guidelines to reflect evidence-based practice, to reflect changes in program and service delivery, or to address emerging population priorities. This position promotes communication of information and advancement of nursing and public health through writing, publishing, and presenting to a variety of audiences. Their expertise is used in quality improvement, performance management, and infection prevention and control. They support and respond to public health emergencies and infectious disease outbreaks.
STI/HIV Public Health Nursing Advisor
Among the many important duties of the STI/HIV Public Health Nursing Advisor is serving as the public health nurse for the Division of Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Prevention and providing consultation and direction regarding implementation and monitoring of clinical best practices for division staff. This position advises Massachusetts clinicians regarding state- and CDC-recommended testing algorithms and treatment regimens for STDs and sexual transmitted infections (STIs), including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This position collaborates with multiple partners, including healthcare providers, community health centers, DPH-funded STD and HIV screening and treatment sites, and others to ensure appropriate prevention and control measures.
Health Care Associated Infections (HAI) Public Health Nursing Advisor
This position is board certified in infection prevention and control. This is a new nursing position within the Division of Epidemiology in BIDLS and works closely with the Health Care Associated Infections/Antimicrobial Resistance (HAI/AR) Epidemiologists and public health nurses in the Bureau of Health Care Safety and Quality. Among its many duties, this position conducts statewide on-site infection control assessment and response (ICAR) visits in response to outbreaks and clusters of infectious disease in healthcare facilities. The HAI Public Health Nursing Advisor provides education regarding antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial stewardship best practice recommendations; prepares educational materials and delivers lectures to professional and public groups to maintain awareness and understanding of the epidemiology and control of HA/AR infections; and supports BIDLS response to infectious disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies.
Immunization Nurse Manager and Regional Immunization Public Health Nurses
These positions comprise the Immunization Public Health Nursing team within the Immunization Division at BIDLS. The unit is responsible for nursing activities related to communicable disease control, infectious disease response, and vaccine-preventable disease. Activities also include promoting immunizations to medical professionals, hospitals, local health departments, schools, other state agencies, community organizations, correctional facilities, first responders, and the general public.
Tuberculosis (TB) Public Health Nursing Advisor/Nurse Manager and Public Health Nurses
These positions comprise the Tuberculosis (TB) Public Health Nursing Team. The TB public health nurses are critical members of a multidisciplinary team responsible for real-time TB disease tesponse and case management in partnership with local public health officials. This team also works with DPH epidemiologists to conduct case investigations, provides nursing case management for tuberculosis, and provides clinical oversight and advice in the identification and evaluation of persons exposed to tuberculosis. These public health nurses also collaborate with the Division Direct Services Team for coordinated community outreach and case management for persons with tuberculosis.