Infection Preventionist

Responsibilities

• Learning to perform surveillance for identifying healthcare acquired infections and other adverse outcomes to ensure safe patient care.
• Uses EMR to review clinical and laboratory findings to identify infectious conditions that may require further action.
• Applies NHSN definitions.
• Identifies clusters or outbreaks and assists with exposure and/or outbreak investigations.
• Fulfills state and federal requirements for communicable disease reporting.
• Provides support to clinical staff, teams and committees in basic matters of infection prevention and control.
• Acquires knowledge and application of current IP policies, regulatory requirements, and state and federal agencies and professional society guidelines.
• Develops the ability to collaborate with local DN clinical and ancillary departments and PI teams to improve infection related practices and processes.
• Provides data and basic data analysis to identify opportunities for improvement and provides feedback on hospital and patient care processes, practices and outcome.
• Learns to create and submits ICRAs for basic construction projects and monitors construction site.
• Learns to assess a situation from an infection prevention perspective and recommends appropriate action within scope of responsibility to ensure safe and quality patient care.
• Participates in rounds in assigned department regularly and on as needed basis for the purpose of evaluating compliance with infection prevention practices, policies and regulatory agency requirement.
• Learns to problem solve and suggests recommendations for eliminating transmission of organisms and correct inadequate infection prevention and control practices.
• Responds to issues in assigned areas during business hours with assistance. Follows up on problems requiring immediate attention and monitors affected areas until issue/HAI is eliminated and/or corrected.
• Serves as the resource off-hours, weekends, and holidays with the Hospital Epidemiologist or designee per departmental SOP when has developed appropriate knowledge base.
• Applies adult education principles to assist in the designing and presenting of educational programs.
• Affords assessments educational needs of employees, providers, patients and families and employs appropriate learning opportunities.
• Assists in the development and provision of education educational programs using the most current accepted information as needed or requested. Uses a variety of teaching methods geared to audience.
• Conducts New Employee education providing basic information on bloodborne pathogens and basic infection prevention principles and practices.
• Learns to create and assists in creating data displays, presentations and other materials to be presented and distributed to the Infection Control Committee, PI teams and others as requested.
• Learns to use data to identify the need for change and proposes basic interventions/ improvement projects.
• Learns to interpret data and apply basic statistical techniques to describe the data, calculate risk-adjusted rates, and benchmark against acceptable standards.
• Develops the ability to assemble and present the data or epidemiologic findings to key stakeholders.
• Actively seeks professional growth, demonstrates professionalism and exhibits a good working rapport in all interpersonal interactions with departmental staff, healthcare personnel, contract workers, patients and visitors and community agencies.
• Acquires the fundamentals of infection prevention and principles of epidemiology.
• Learns the relevant regulatory and societal guidelines.
• Conducts literature reviews, learning to critically appraise the literature and facilitate incorporation of applicable findings into practice.
• Prepares to take the Certification Board in Infection Control exam.
• Actively participates in huddles, staff and departmental meetings

Qualifications

• Registered Nurse or Bachelors degree in healthcare related field (e.g., microbiology, public health) required. Master's degree preferred.
• Must have a minimum of two (2) to five (5) years of experience in acute care hospital or similar required. Infection prevention experience preferred.
• Active Registered Nurse license for appropriate state, if applicable.
• Certification in Infection Control (CIC) or willingness to become certified at 2 years in this position.
• Experience with Microsoft Office programs (Excel, Word, Powerpoint) or similiar preferred.
• Able to communicate effectively; tactful in dealing with others; able to handle stressful situations; willingness to learn and apply knowledge appropriately; flexible and able to adapt to quickly changing work environment; demonstrates good judgement; detail oriented.