Remote Infection Control Nurse

Infection Prevention and Control Specialist
Duties include but are not limited to:

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 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 statistical 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 all infection prevention & control related topics.
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 identify positive multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs) for immediate review/investigation and implement appropriate isolation precautions as needed.
Conducts surveillance and investigations by using epidemiological principles.
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 epidemiologically significant findings to appropriate committees, governmental agencies, etc. as applicable and integrates relevant public health issues into practice.
Review and update policies to improve infection prevention processes and procedures.
Serves on medical center committees to communicate, educate, and consult about infection prevention and infectious disease.
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

VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package: VA Nurse Total Rewards
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
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized.
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized.