Registered Nurse - Infection Preventionist

Job Title

Infection Prevention and Control Nurse

Duties

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Reviews and analyzes existing regulations, standards, and/or guidelines of applicable professional organizations and government agencies and ensures medical center programs comply with regulatory agency requirements as related to Infection Prevention and Control.

Applies epidemiological principles and statistical methods, including risk stratification, to identify target populations, analyze trends and risk factors, and design and evaluate prevention and control strategies.

Uses a systematic approach to surveillance to monitor the effectiveness of prevention and control strategies that are consistent with the organization's goals and objectives.

Identify and implement infection prevention and control strategies according to specific topics such as hand hygiene, cleaning, disinfection & sterilization, direct and indirect patient care settings, therapeutic and diagnostic procedures and devices, use of isolation precautions, patient placement, environmental hazards, use of patient care products and medical equipment, construction & renovation, and influxes of patients with communicable diseases.

Uses standardized definitions for the identification and classification of events, indicators, or outcomes.

Performs medical record reviews, data abstraction, and data collection to identify Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI) and determine if HAI prevention measures were adhered to.

Performs routine audits of professional practices related to infection control.

Identify barriers to compliance with procedures and involve HCWs within the organization.

Uses appropriate techniques to describe data, calculate rates and critically evaluate the significance of findings as compared to internal and external benchmarks. Utilizes findings to implement and evaluate infection prevention strategies.

Reviews and analyzes current scientific literature and publications and recommends new or revised practices or procedures based on currently accepted, evidence-based infection prevention and control strategies.

Use data from surveillance findings to identify the need for change and propose intervention/improvement projects.

Provides consultation to administration, committees, staff, and managers on issues regarding infection prevention and control.

Serves as an educational resource for all employees and clinical staff on infection prevention & control related topics developed by the Infection Prevention Team.

Participates in the organization's multidisciplinary performance improvement strategies.

Understands adult education principles, can design educational programs, and has effective presentation skills.

Routinely assesses the educational needs of the organization and develops educational objectives and strategies to meet those needs and continuously evaluates the effectiveness of educational programs and learner outcomes.

Monitors labs and can help identify positive multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs) for immediate review/investigation and isolation precautions as needed.

Works with Infection Prevention Team to identify clusters of hospital-associated infections (or other unusual events) through contacts with clinical units and laboratories, through alerts, or through systematic analysis of microbiological laboratory testing.

Collaborates with local and state health departments as needed.

Reports, as directed, to appropriate committees, governmental agencies, etc. as applicable and integrates relevant public health issues into practice.

Participates in review update of policies to improve infection prevention processes and procedures.

Serves on medical center committees to communicate, educate, and consult about infection prevention.

Acquires and maintains current knowledge and skills in infection prevention and control and epidemiology.

Preferred Experience

Certified in Infection Control (CIC)

Previous experience as an Infection Prevention and Control Nurse.

Bachelor of Science in Nursing or bachelors degree in related field such as Microbiology; MSN degree highly preferred.

3 years RN experience in an inpatient hospital setting

Pay

Competitive salary, regular salary increases, potential for performance awards

Paid Time Off

50 days of paid time off per year (26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)

Retirement

Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA

Insurance

Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)

Licensure

1 full and unrestricted license from any US State or territory

Work Schedule

Mon-Fri, 8:00am - 4:30pm

Telework

Adhoc only, at the discretion of the hiring manager.

Virtual

This is not a virtual position.

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives

Not Authorized.

Permanent Change of Station (PCS)

Not Authorized.

US Department of Veterans Affairs