Facility: Douglas Hospital

Job Summary:

The RN Infection Preventionist (IP) is a registered professional nurse (RN) who functions under the direction of the Infection Prevention Manager, or Director/ED/AVP of Quality, with a marix relationship to the Executive Director of Infection Prevention at the system level. Responsibilities include hospital surveillance to include identification of healthcare-related infections and ensure public reporting for mandated Healthcare-associated infections. Assist with developing policy and procedures with the WellStar system. Assists with education of patients and team members. Routinely audits and makes physical rounds of the facility departments to monitor Infection Prevention practices that include construction/renovation, cleaning, disinfection, and sterilization.

Core Responsibilities and Essential Functions:

Surveillance
- Conducts surveillance for healthcare associated infections and epidemiologically significant organisms as specified in the Infection Prevention Plan.
- Utilizes current NHSN definitions and applies them consistently.
- Collects, aggregates and analyzes data.
- Accurate NHSN data input
- Consistently and proficiently runs validation reports through NHSN
- Participate in internal and external validation of data
- Confirms and investigates potential clusters and outbreaks
- Participates in environment of care (EOC) rounds and oversees IP-related corrective actions.
- Facilitates activities to ensure compliance with Hand Hygiene and Isolation Compliance Reporting and Communicating
- Maintains confidentiality and HIPAA compliance.
- Maintains accurate surveillance records and enters data into repositories.
- Reports diseases to local and state public health authorities as required by law.
- Submits internal and external data according to established deadlines.
- Analyzes information to develop knowledge for appropriate dissemination. Education
- Develops and delivers staff education programs.
- Provides patient and family education of infection prevention practices as requested by clinical caregivers.
- Provides Infection Prevention orientation for hospital team members. Leadership
- Collaborates with Manager to review and implement system policies and procedures.
- Utilizes resources to respond to the questions and needs of the organization.
- Maintains regulatory and accreditation compliance.
- Collaborates with Employee Health regarding healthcare worker exposure and illness prevention.
- Assists Manager in annual risk assessment, goal development and surveillance plan evaluation.
- Contributes to the evaluation of new products.

Required Minimum Education:

Bachelor's Degree of Science in Nursing (BSN) or RN with other bachelors degree in health care related field Required

Required Minimum License(s) and Certification(s):
All certifications are required upon hire unless otherwise stated.

Reg Nurse (Single State) or RN - Multi-state Compact
Cert in Infection Control within 2 years

Additional License(s) and Certification(s):

Required Minimum Experience:

Minimum 2 years experienced in clinical nursing role Required and
Minimum 1 year experience in infection Prevention Preferred

Required Minimum Skills:

Strong verbal and written communication.
Excellent teamwork and relationship building.
Demonstrated knowledge of basic principles of epidemiology, surveillance, data collection and analysis;
Knowledge of Infection Prevention guidelines, OSHA, regulatory requirements, and CDC guidelines is essential;
Personal time management skills