Santa Barbara County Public Health Department recruiting nurses amid nationwide shortage

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. - Nurses at the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department love their jobs. 

"I’m a curious person … I wanted to know how everything worked … how can they get better how we can prevent diseases and also  I wanted to help people," said registered nurse Yuvette Calhoun at the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department.

“A real privilege to work for public health to be able to serve our community to promote health and prevent disease is a real honor to able to serve our community in that way," said registered nurse Kelley Barragan at the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department.

The Public Health Department is currently seeking to hire up to a dozen nurses across the county. 

“We have our nurse actively recruiting as well as our public health and understand that we have opportunities to work in our lovely beautiful Santa Barbara California," said talent acquisition lead Farrah Medrano at the Santa Barbara County Health Department.

Over the years, recruiting nurses for the public health team has become a challenge.

“We don’t get a lot of attraction that we were getting years before and so I think it’s really important for people to realize this is still a great career path. You can go to school locally here in town," said Medrano.

“Whether students or nurses would even look at the public health department as a viable career option, but it is there are a lot of really interesting jobs. There are case managers we have five healthcare centers," said Calhoun.

The public health department also serves underserved and economically disadvantaged populations, as well as individuals from diverse backgrounds. 

“We have nurses that work out in the field, so they get invited into families homes to serve pregnant individuals, children, and their families opportunity to work with our in-house population," said Barragan.

"And I would love to bring more people passionate about they … and show them all the exciting things that are department has to offer," said Calhoun.

If you’re interested in applying as a nurse or related  job at the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department, visit: https://www.countyofsb.org/410/Public-Health.