Home Visit Nurse (RN), Family Connects, Full-Time, Days

Join a world-class academic healthcare system, UChicago Medicine, as a Home Visit Nurse with Family Connect.

The Family Connects model is an evidence-based and successfully demonstrated program that connects parents of newborns to the community resources they need through postpartum nurse home visits. The model was developed in 2008 through a partnership with Duke University, the Center for Child & Family Health (CCFH), and the Durham County Health Department. As a community-based program, Family Connects supports new parents in caring for their newborn(s), offers physical assessments of the mother and the baby, addresses questions about caring for the newborn(s), identifies parents’ needs, and helps to identify community services or resources that can meet those needs. In addition, through this connection to resources, Family Connects helps to identify gaps in critical community-wide resources with the goal of working toward increasing needed services locally.

A Family Connects Home Visiting Nurse provides home visiting to all families with newborns in Chicago. The goal is to support and assess family needs in 12 domains of physical and psychosocial well-being and facilitate referrals and connections to community agencies to support families in these areas. The Home Visiting Nurse will work in a team environment of clinical and non-clinical staff in order to schedule visits, and support families in the community using the evidence-based Family Connects home visiting protocol.

In addition to home visiting responsibilities, the Home Visiting Nurse will support the Prenatal Education Department by teaching a minimum of one in-person prenatal education class per week, as assigned. This responsibility includes approximately two hours of classroom instruction and one hour of preparation time per class. The nurse will deliver evidence-based education on topics such as pregnancy, labor and birth, postpartum recovery, newborn care, breastfeeding, and other maternal-child health topics, while serving as a clinical resource for expectant and new families.

The Home Visiting Nurse must be able to communicate effectively with patients, families, community partners, and interdisciplinary team members. Experience in maternal-child health, home visiting, lactation education, group facilitation, and fluency in Spanish are preferred.

Essential Job Functions

• Follow the Family Connects home-visiting protocol. Keep records of client observations and activities as required. Document information for family assessments and program evaluation. Record information in real time via in home use of computerized record system.
• Follow the Family Connects scheduling protocol. Visit target area hospitals as needed to schedule home visits for new mothers.
• Provide a health and physical assessment of mother and baby in the home to determine well-being.
• Assess family needs in 12 domains of physical and psychosocial well being, including depression, substance abuse, and domestic violence. Exercise clinical skills in appraising situations and making decisions.
• Establish a trusting relationship with families during in-home visits and engage the family to establish a family support plan with goals, objectives, and activities that address family strengths and needs.
• Work with team to ensure appropriate referrals and connections to community resources as needed. Work in a team to assist parents in making and attending appointments for doctors, social service agencies, etc. Act as a liaison between families and other community agencies, serving as family advocate as required.
• Apply working knowledge of parent-child interaction, child-maternal health, child development, and child abuse/neglect to help families improve parenting skills, increase parenting supports, reduce stress, and address needs of parents; assist in creating a health plan for entire family.
• Maintain eight open visit slots and conduct and document at least six home visits per week. Respond to client needs through flexible scheduling of home visits, including occasional home visits during evening or weekend hours.
• Apply effective time-management skills, organization, and multitasking skills. Documentation is expected to be done and letters sent out within 48 working hours of the visit.
• Teach a minimum of one-in-person prenatal education classes per week, as assigned.
• Provide approximately 2 hours of direct classroom instruction per class.
• Allocate approximately 1 hour of preparation time for each class to review content, update materials, and prepare for participant engagement.
• Collaborate with the Prenatal Education Supervisor and Program Support Specialist regarding class scheduling, classroom assignments, and curriculum updates.
• Maintain knowledge of current maternal-child health best practices and incorporate updates into educational content as appropriate.
• Serve as a clinical resource for participants by answering questions and providing education consistent with UChicago Medicine standards.
• Work cooperatively as an active member of the Family Connects team by attending weekly team meetings, clinical supervision, staff meetings, and other meetings as required. Support and encourage development of other staff and of the Family Connects Program.

Required Qualifications

• B.S. degree in nursing with current RN license, or B.A. degree in another field with current RN license, or A.S. degree in nursing with state-level RN, and at least one year of relevant nursing experience.
• Must have and maintain current IL RN Licensure
• Must maintain current CPR certification through The American Heart Association.
• Must have a valid driver’s license and an automobile for use in making home visits.
• Ability to work in a team with clinical and non-clinical staff.
• Ability to work with culturally diverse populations.
• Ability to move or lift at least fifty pounds.
• Ability to work with nurse supervisor to implement a practice improvement and clinical development plans.
• Ability to work on weekends, as required
• Proficient and comfortable using laptops as part of in-home assessment and intervention.

Preferred Qualifications

• Preferred skills include (a) Spanish language proficiency, (b) clinical experience related to domestic violence, substance abuse and/or depression, (c) one or more years of experience in child/maternal health, social work, or other related field, and (e) Certified Lactation Educator or Consultant.

Position Details

• Job Type/FTE: Full Time (1.0 FTE)
• Shift: Days, 8:30am-5:00pm
• Unit/Department: Nursing Perinatal Admin
• CBA Code: Non-Union

• We’ve been at the forefront of medicine since 1899.
• We provide superior healthcare with compassion, always mindful that each patient is a person, an individual.
• To accomplish this, we need employees with passion, talent and commitment… with patients and with each other.
• We’re in this together: working to advance medical innovation, serve the health needs of the community, and move our collective knowledge forward.
• If you’d like to add enriching human life to your profile, UChicago Medicine is for you.
• Here at the forefront, we’re doing work that really matters.
• Join us.
• Bring your passion.

UChicago Medicine is growing; discover how you can be a part of this pursuit of excellence at: UChicago Medicine Career Opportunities [https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/about-us/careers]

UChicago Medicine is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, civil union status, parental status, religion, national origin, age, disability, veteran status and other legally protected characteristics.

As a condition of employment, all employees are required to complete a pre-employment physical, background check, drug screening, and comply with the flu vaccination requirements prior to hire. Medical and religious exemptions will be considered for flu vaccination consistent with applicable law.

Compensation & Benefits Overview

UChicago Medicine is committed to transparency in compensation and benefits. The pay range provided reflects the anticipated wage or salary reasonably expected to be offered for the position.

The pay range is based on a full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) and is reflective of current market data, reviewed on an annual basis. Compensation offered at the time of hire will vary based on candidate qualifications and experience and organizational considerations, such as internal equity. Pay ranges for employees subject to Collective Bargaining Agreements are negotiated by the medical center and their respective union.

Review the full complement of benefit options for eligible roles at Benefits - UChicago Medicine [https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/about-us/careers/benefits].