• Updated application instructions
• Edited bulletin to update pay scales.

Please note that only online applications submitted through CalCareers will be accepted for this exam. This exam is accessible only online when applying for it electronically through CalCareers.

Upcoming Filing Cutoff Dates:

• 10/31/2024
• 12/30/2024

Examination/Employment Application (STD 678) must be received by the filing date indicated above. Applications postmarked, personally delivered or received via interoffice mail after the filing date will be processed in the next group.

The information below will help you determine which classification(s) is(are) appropriate for you. Applicants must meet the Minimum Qualifications as stated on this bulletin to compete in this examination.

Open and Open, Non-Promotional Examination(s):

• NURSE CONSULTANT III (SPECIALIST) - Open

For all Classifications, once you have participated in any of the following examinations, you may not recompete for 12 months:

Exam Code(s):

2975

For NURSE CONSULTANT III (SPECIALIST), once you have participated in any of the following examinations, you may not recompete for 12 months:

Exam Code(s):

• EX-02975

Submit an Examination/Employment Application (STD 678) to apply for this examination.

Electronic applications can be submitted through your account at www.CalCareers.ca.gov.

The following items must be submitted with your Examination/Employment Application form. Failure to submit these items may result in rejection of your application.

• Transcript (Official or Unofficial)

If you require assistance or alternative testing arrangements due to a disability, indicate on your application that you need reasonable accommodation. You will be contacted by a representative of the testing department to make the necessary arrangements. If you have not been contacted by the time you receive notification of testing, please contact the testing department listed in the Contact section of this bulletin.

If you are unable to submit your application or complete the test due to a disability, please contact the testing department listed in the Contact section of this bulletin.

All applicants must meet the education and/or experience requirements as stated on this exam bulletin to be accepted to the examination.

Unless otherwise stated in the Minimum Qualifications, qualifying experience may be combined on a proportionate basis if the requirements stated below include more than one pattern and are distinguished as "Either" 1, "or" 2, "or" 3, etc. For example, applicants possessing qualifying experience amounting to 50% of the required time of Pattern 1 and additional experience amounting to 50% of the required time of Pattern 2 may be accepted to an examination as meeting 100% of the overall experience requirement.

Possession of an active valid license as a registered nurse in California. (Applicants who do not meet this requirement will be admitted to the examination, but they must secure the required license before they will be considered eligible for appointment.)

AND

Baccalaureate or higher degree in nursing from any accredited nursing school or its equivalent for foreign graduates. (For applicants who received a baccalaureate degree in a health-related field prior to 1990, the California state Public Health Nurse Certificate may be substituted for the baccalaureate in nursing (BSN), thereafter the baccalaureate o higher degree must be in nursing from any accredited nursing school or its equivalent for foreign graduates).

AND

Possession of a master’s degree in a health-related field such as nursing, public health, health care services, health care administration, or hospital administration. All degrees must be from an institution approved by the Counsel for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education under the provisions of California Education Code Chapter 3, Part 59, and Division 10.

AND

Either I

Two years of experience performing duties of a Nurse Consultant II in the California state service.

Or II

Broad and extensive (at least five years) professional registered nursing experience, at least four years of which shall have been in an administrative, consultative, teaching, or supervisory capacity. (One year of health-related postmaster’s graduate work may be substituted for one year of general nursing experience).

This examination consists of the following component(s):

Components that are due with your application will be scored and will count toward your final examination result. Failure to submit these items may result in disqualification or elimination from the examination.

A final score of 70% must be attained to be placed on the eligible list.

The Training and Experience Evaluation examination is designed to elicit specific information regarding each candidate’s training and experience relative to the testing classification. Responses to the examination will be assessed based on pre-determined rating criteria. In appraising the relative qualifications of candidates, consideration will be given to the extent and type of pertinent training and experience over and above that which is required under “Minimum Qualifications”

In addition to evaluating the applicant's relative knowledge, skill and ability as demonstrated by quality and breadth of education/experience, emphasis in each test component will be on measuring competitively, relative to job demands, each applicant's:

Knowledge of:

1. Principles, techniques, methods, and procedures of current nursing practices
2. Epidemiology and methods of health promotion and disease prevention concepts and methods of control of communicable diseases
3. Current philosophies and patterns of nursing education
4. Principles and methods of consultation
5. Group process and problem solving
6. Research principles and methodology
7. Role, responsibilities, and interrelationships of the various health disciplines and health agencies
8. Functions of social and health agencies
9. Cultural and sociological patterns as they affect health programs
10. State and federal legislation related to health services
11. Administration, organization, and trends in health care delivery systems
12. Techniques of program planning, development, monitoring, and evaluation
13. Management problem-solving methods
14. Principles and methodology of research
15. Current trends in the fields of nursing education and health care services
16. Interagency and interdisciplinary relationships

Ability to:

1. Effectively provide consultation and technical assistance
2. Establish and maintain the confidence and cooperation of those personnel within the Department and in other social and health agencies
3. Analyze situations accurately and take effective action
4. Be flexible in approach to the solution of problems
5. Communicate effectively
6. Prepare reports
7. Apply principles of administration of nursing and health care services in various administrative patterns
8. Assist administrators to plan with others in meeting community health needs

A Departmental Open eligible list for the NURSE CONSULTANT III (SPECIALIST) Classification will be established for:

• Department of Health Care Services

The names of successful competitors will be merged onto the eligible list(s) in order of final score regardless of test date. Eligibility expires 24 months after it is established. Applicants must then retake the examination to reestablish eligibility.

Veterans' Preference will be granted for this examination. Veterans' Preference is an assistance program for veterans, veteran widows and widowers, and spouses of 100% disabled veterans who seek employment with the state. Veterans' Preference is also extended to currently serving military members nearing their retirement or separation date.

You are not eligible for Veteran's Preference if you are:

• A veteran who has been dishonorably discharged or released.
• A veteran, widow or widower of a veteran, or spouse of a 100 percent disabled veteran who currently has permanent civil service status. (Permanent civil service status is the status of an employee who is lawfully retained in his/her position after completion of the applicable probationary period. This does not include limited term).

Veterans' Preference is codified in Government Code Sections 18973 – 18979.

Veteran status is verified by the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR). Directions to apply for Veterans' Preference are on the Veterans' Preference Application (Std. Form 1093), which is available at www.CalCareers.ca.gov, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Career Credits are not granted for examination(s) administered on an Open basis or a Promotional basis.

• Department of Health Care Services

Questions regarding this examination should be directed to:

California Relay Service: 1-800-735-2929 (TTY), 1-800-735-2922 (Voice). TTY is a Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, and is reachable only from phones equipped with a TTY Device.

Examination and/or Employment Application (STD 678) forms are available at the California Department of Human Resources, local offices of the Employment Development Department, and through your CalCareer Account (www.CalCareers.ca.gov).

If you meet the requirements stated on this examination bulletin, you may take this examination, which is competitive. Possession of the entrance requirements does not assure a place on the eligible list. Your performance in the examination described in this bulletin will be rated against a predetermined job-related rating, and all applicants who pass will be ranked according to their scores.

Department of Health Care Services reserves the right to revise the examination plan to better meet the needs of the service, if the circumstances under which this examination was planned change. Such revision will be in accordance with civil service laws and rules and all applicants will be notified.

General Qualifications: Applicants must possess essential personal qualifications including integrity, initiative, dependability, good judgment, the ability to work cooperatively with others, and a state of health consistent with the ability to perform the assigned duties of the class. A medical examination may be required. In open examinations, investigation may be made of employment records and personal history and fingerprinting may be required.

Eligible Lists: Eligible lists established by competitive examination, regardless of date, must be used in the following order: 1) sub-divisional promotional, 2) departmental promotional, 3) multi-departmental promotional, 4) service-wide promotional, 5) departmental open, 6) open. When there are two lists of the same kind, the older must be used first. Eligible lists will expire in one to four years unless otherwise stated on the bulletin.

High School Equivalence: Equivalence to completion of the 12th grade may be demonstrated in any one of the following ways: 1) passing the General Education Development (GED) Test; 2) completion of 12 semester units of college-level work; 3) certification from the State Department of Education, a local school board, or high school authorities that the competitor is considered to have education equivalent to graduation from high school; or 4) for clerical and accounting classes, substitution of business college work in place of high school on a year-for-year basis.

Accepted applicants must provide proof of identification at each in-person test session. Acceptable identification consists of a photo identification card or two forms of signed identification.