Infection Prevention Specialist

Work Activities

• Conducts on-site infection control assessments of healthcare facilities, provides follow-up consultation around mitigation of identified infection control gaps, observes infection control practices and reviews policies and procedures to ensure compliance with national best practices.
• Provides infection control training to internal and external stakeholders, including state, regional and local health department staff, state surveyors, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) providers, infection preventionists and quality improvement specialists across the spectrum of healthcare.
• Provides technical assistance and conducts training sessions for healthcare partners and users of the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) including enrollment, assistance with the application of definitions and data validation.
• Responds to state and federal regulatory referrals (e.g., the Joint Commission) for certified Medicare/Medicaid entities with immediate jeopardy infection control tags.
• Responds to complaints referred by the Office of Healthcare Facilities or the Health Boards.
• Interprets Tennessee Department of Health regulations, the Centers for Medicare, and Medicaid Services (CMS) Conditions of Participation (COP), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rule, information on the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) websites and medical/legal concepts regarding healthcare data.
• Provides support in the investigation of Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) outbreaks and containment responses to single cases of pathogens of urgent public health concern in healthcare settings.
• Provides consultative infection control advice to facility staff regarding the management of infectious patients/residents and other infection prevention issues.
• Participates in Emerging Infections Program funded multi-state point prevalence surveys and other related Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI) grant funded projects.
• Serves as an independent outside infection control observer in public health emergencies (e.g., Ebola or other highly infectious diseases).
• Applies principles of antibiotic stewardship and quality improvement to infection control activities.