Ambulatory Infection Preventionist

About the role

Our team members are the heart of what makes us better. At Hackensack Meridian Health, we help our patients live better, healthier lives — and we help one another to succeed. With a culture rooted in connection and collaboration, our employees are team members. Here, competitive benefits are just the beginning. It’s also about how we support one another and how we show up for our community.

Responsibilities

• Leads with limited guidance in implementing the organizational infection prevention program.
• Assists in leading surveillance of healthcare-associated infections following CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) definitions for home care/hospice and HMMG sites through infection monitoring.
• Independently conducts syndromic surveillance, recording, and reporting communicable diseases as defined by federal, state, and local levels.
• Utilizes epidemiologic principles to assist in conducting surveillance, investigate exposures, and implement control measures for outbreaks.
• Understands and assists in facilitating the implementation of IP policies and procedures, identifying necessary changes, and monitoring compliance (e.g., high-level disinfection and sterilization).
• Prepare information shared with committees, leadership, departments, and healthcare workers across the organization across HMMG and Home Health/Hospice as assigned with limited guidance.
• Develop with limited guidance the Infection Prevention and Control Construction Risk Assessments (ICRAs) for construction, renovation, and maintenance projects and assist with monitoring compliance with infection prevention recommendations to reduce the risk of environmental exposure to patients, caregivers, TMs, and construction teams.
• Participate in rounding at HMMG ambulatory sites to observe compliance with infection prevention policies/procedures and provide just-in-time coaching (e.g., disinfection processes, adherence to PPE, environment) as assigned.
• Independently perform the environment of care rounds at HMMG sites as assigned
• Attend and facilitate Network, HMMG, and Home Health/Hospice committees providing infection prevention and control expertise as IP leadership assignments (e.g.QIPPS, Home Health Infection Control Committee, Practice Manager Monthly, etc.).
• Independently monitor hand hygiene compliance data, perform hand hygiene observations, and collaborate with individuals and practice managers to improve outcomes.
• Reviews reporting events (OneLink) related to infection prevention policies/procedures for failure mode events and collaborates to improve policy adherence and process improvement activities.
• Create and conduct formal and informal educational programs regarding IP practices, policies, and procedures for home health/hospice and HMMG sites (e.g. orientation, skills fairs, in-services, etc.) with limited guidance.
• Independently assess the learning needs of the individual/group (e.g. patients, providers, caregivers, TMs, etc.).
• Develop instruments to evaluate the effectiveness of educational programs and learner outcomes.
• Assists in developing and providing direct patient, caregiver, and family education.
• Assists in mentoring Ambulatory Infection Preventionist I TMs.
• Maintain competency associated with regulatory and mandatory reporting requirements and standards at the local, state and federal levels. (e.g. CMS, Department of Health (DOH), NJ Statutes, OSHA)
• Support facilitating compliance with regulatory and accreditation standards (e.g. NUCCA, DOH, Joint Commission, etc.) through participation in surveys and preparedness activities.
• Select appropriate PI tools to aid in efficiency, reliability, and effectiveness and ensure the initiative's sustainability.
• Consider customer needs and expectations when supporting the development and continuous improvement of processes, products, and services.
• Provide subject matter expertise by collaborating with Patient Safety, Team Health, Team Safety, and Quality teams in Root Cause Analysis (RCA) /Apparent Cause Analysis (ACA) for infection prevention-related events.
• Assess the risk of occupational exposures to infectious disease and develop mitigation strategies to minimize exposure risk.
• Independently review rates/trends of occupational exposure if indicated.
• Collaborates with Team Health to identify and investigate potential communicable disease exposures and guides the evaluation and management of exposed TMs and any potential work restrictions.
• Review Infection-related reporting events (OneLink) and work with Team Health for added educational resources to prevent future events.
• Support preventative strategies for Home Health/Hospice and HMMG TM preventative strategies to support policy adherence related to Team Health.
• Work collaboratively with others, providing direction when necessary with all departments as needed.
• Assist, consult, and collaborate with local, state, and federal public health officials and community health organizations.
• Attend and participate in Home Health/Hospice, HMMG, and Network meetings and projects.
• Collaborates with acute care infection prevention teams to interconnect transition of care findings related to infection prevention, including, but not limited to, the identification of communicable diseases and healthcare-associated infections.
• Learn and utilize IP software, other technology, and HMH Databases (e.g. electronic medical record, NHSN, CDRSS). Collaborate with IT and Data Science to create meaningful electronic reports to enhance IP initiatives.
• Pursues professional growth and development of required knowledge and skills through participation in professional organizations (e.g. APIC, SHEA, IHI) and opportunities sponsored by internal (HMH) and external entities.
• Evaluate (critically) research and evidence-based practices and incorporate appropriate findings into routine practice.
• Integrate evidence-based practices into policies, guidelines, protocols, and educational strategies.
• Identify barriers to implementation and develop strategies to minimize or remove.
• Implement strategies to sustain efforts, such as audit tools, sharing data, and meaningful feedback.

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing, Microbiology, Public Health, Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS), Health Care Administration, or related field.
• Minimum of 3-5 years of Infection Prevention experience in ambulatory or acute care arena.
• Minimum of 2 or more years of experience in a clinical role.
• Completion of ambulatory-specific infection prevention courses during first year of hire.
• Proficient in competencies such as analytical, problem solving, collaboration, and conflict resolution.
• Ability to implement evidence-based guidelines and critical analysis of research studies.
• Evaluation of high-level disinfection and sterilization processes.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Proficient computer skills that include but are not limited to Microsoft Office and/or Google Suite platforms.
• Required travel is 70%.

Education, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Preferred

• Program and project management.
• Expertise in data collection and analysis, report writing, and data presentation.
• Qualified Spanish interpreter.
• Training in National Incident Management System (NIMS - FEMA).
• Completion of independent introductory IP courses within one year of hire if they have not completed them previously and are not certified (e.g., SPICE, NICE Course, APIC EPI 101, etc.).

Licenses and Certifications Required

• Certification in Infection Control (CIC) from the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology.

Licenses and Certifications Preferred

• Certificate or Certification in high-level disinfection and sterilization.
• Certification in health education, patient safety, and/or healthcare quality.