Public / Community Health Nurse
Career Area: Health Care including Nursing
Occupation Group: Registered / Practical Nursing
Salary
Percentile wages tell how much a certain percentage of an overall population in a geographic area or within a given industry or field makes. The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall.
An example would be the 25th percentile, 25 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 75 percent earn more than the estimated wage value. At the 75th percentile, 75 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 25 percent earn more than the estimated wage value.
A typical Public / Community Health Nurse earns the following wages (national and state):
State
The average salary in North Carolina for those pursuing this career is $61,360
National
The average salary in the United States for those pursuing this career is $69,432
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
Provides health care to community members and addresses community health issues ranging from infectious diseases to substance abuse, focusing on prevention and education as well as treatment. Works with a team of health care professionals; may work in a clinic, and travel within a community or between different communities. May serve as the primary health care provider in underserved communities.
Employment Trends
The job demand and job growth statistics shown here were derived from job posts over the past year. Expected job growth projections are extrapolated from year-over-year job post listing history.
Job demand and job growth is expected at the following rates:
| Location | Growth | |
|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 490 | +10.8% |
| Nationwide | 12335 | +12.1% |
Skills
A professional in this position typically utilizes the following skills in the course of everyday work in this exciting and challenging field:
Baseline Skills
The following are baseline skills every Public / Community Health Nurse is expected to have in order to experience success in this field:
- Communication Skills: The ability to convey information to another effectively and efficiently.
- Teamwork / Collaboration: Experience working in collaborative efforts with a team to achieve a common goal or to complete a task in the most effective and efficient way.
- Computer Literacy: The ability to use computers and related technology efficiently for work tasks.
- Problem Solving: Problem solving consists of using generic or ad hoc methods, in an orderly manner, for finding solutions to problems.
- Microsoft Excel: Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet developed by Microsoft for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications.
Specialized Skills
These skills are specific to working in this career:
- Occupational Health and Safety: Occupational safety and health (OSH), also commonly referred to as occupational health and safety (OHS), occupational health, or workplace health and safety (WHS), is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at work.
- Public Health and Safety: Working experience of Public Health and Safety. Public health is defined as the science of protecting the safety and improving the health of communities through education, policy making and research for disease and injury prevention.
- Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR): Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure that combines chest compressions often with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person who is in cardiac arrest.
- Case Management: Medical case management is a collaborative process that facilitates recommended treatment plans to assure the appropriate medical care is provided to disabled, ill or injured individuals.
- Patient Care: The services rendered by members of the health profession and non-professionals under their supervision for the benefit of the patient.
Distinguishing Skills
Any Public / Community Health Nurse that possesses the following skills will stand out against the competition:
- Epidemiology: Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the patterns, causes, and effects of health and disease conditions in defined populations.
- Ambulatory Care: Ambulatory care or outpatient care is medical care provided on an outpatient basis, including diagnosis, observation, consultation, treatment, intervention, and rehabilitation services.
- Medication Administration: The giving or application of a pharmacologic or other therapeutic agent.
- Health Programs:
- Mental Health: Mental health is a level of psychological well-being, or an absence of mental illness.
Experience
This position typically requires the following level of experience. The numbers presented in the pie charts below were derived from actual job posts over the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Experience Required | % |
| 0 to 2 years | 66% |
| 3 to 5 years | 30% |
| 6 to 8 years | 1% |
Many of the programs offered through NC State are designed for working professionals who need additional credentials to enhance existing work experience.
Students who do not have the expected level of experience may wish to look into internship and employment opportunities.
Common Job Titles
It is possible to find work in this field in positions commonly listed as the following job titles:
- Wellness Nurse
- Occupational Health Nurse
- Public Health Nurse
- Senior Occupational Health Nurse
- Occupational Health Registered Nurse
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