Job Title: Nursing Home Infection Preventionist (IP)
Department: Nursing/Administration
Reports to: Director of Nursing
General Purpose:
The facility designee is responsible for the facility infection prevention and control program. The
IP is responsible for coordinating activities in the facility to promote compliance with CMS regulations and CDC guidelines for infection control practices.
Qualifications:
- Must possess a certificate of completion for the 16-hour or 20-hour Infection Prevention
Program/Education approved by CMS -OR- have Certification in Infection Control by the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology (CBIC).
- Knowledge of infection control practices in a nursing home setting.
- Must have a valid CPR certification and maintain active CPR certification throughout employment.
- Ability to prepare and present educational material to various audiences.
- Ability to formulate reports, disseminate information, interpret data, and coordinate multi-department initiatives.
- Detail-oriented with strong organization and prioritization skills.
- Must have knowledge of computer systems, systems applications, and other office equipment.
- Must be able to meet all local health regulations, and pass pre/post-employment physical exam if required. This requirement also includes drug screening, criminal background investigation, and reference inquiry.
- Must have the ability to promote positive interpersonal relationships through the use of tactful, direct and sensitive interaction. Must be able to communicate verbally in a positive and professional manner.
- Must be able to relate positively and favorably to residents, families, co-workers, and to work cooperatively with others.
Duties and Responsibilities:
1) Establish infection control standards (including who to notify), evaluate the effectiveness of these standards, and implement change as needed to address deficient practices.
2) Annually and as needed, evaluate facility infection control policies and process measures of staff performance in areas such as: transmission-based precautions, environmental cleaning and disinfection, hand washing, isolation precautions, and use of personal protective equipment.
3) Oversee antibiotic stewardship initiatives by developing and utilizing a system to track antibiotic ordering, indication for use, duration of use, and appropriateness.
4) Prepare and present educational trainings on relevant infection control prevention, identification, tracking, reporting, or topics as assigned to facility staff, residents, families, physicians, visitors, etc.
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5) Conduct facility surveillance by identifying, tracking, and trending facility infections- both admitted with and facility acquired.
6) Facilitate and lead outbreak investigations by gathering data and using root cause analysis.
7) Ensure the Health Department is notified of any reportable diseases.
8) Support implementation of Influenza vaccination and tracking staff vaccination rates.
9) Support implementation of Hepatitis B vaccination program and tracking for staff.
10) Determine when resident isolation is needed and the specific type of isolation required.
11) Develop action plans, changes in policy or practice standard to address opportunities for improvement.
12) Work with community partners and other healthcare facilities to help prevent transmission of infection across the continuum of care.
13) Customer Service-Promote and maintain positive relationships with co-workers, residents, visitors, volunteers, vendors, and regulatory representatives.
14) Resident Rights-Understand and promote resident rights. Have positive interactions with residents, families and caregivers. Maintain a professional appearance. Ensure confidentiality of all resident information, compliance with HIPPA regulations and policies, Encourage resident autonomy in decision-making.
15) Quality Improvement-Participates in and attends Quality Assessment and Assurance
Committee Meetings. Collects infection control data for tracking and trending. Interprets the data and reports routinely to the Quality Assessment and Assurance Committee.
16) Documentation-Complete documentation in the individual clinical record per policy.
Complete any other documentation as assigned.
17) Other-Complete all other duties as assigned.
Physical and Sensory Requirements: Walking, sitting, standing, reaching, stooping, bending, lifting, grasping, pushing and pulling intermittent during working hours. Ability to maintain verbal and written communication with co-workers and business associates in the community.
Ability to travel both locally and out of town as specified. Mental Requirements-alert and attentive to detail. Ability to remember locations, names, people. Must present a neat, clean, professional appearance and demonstrate a positive approach with employees and residents.
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Every effort has been made to make your job description as complete as possible. However, it in no way states or implies that these are the only duties you will be required to perform. The above statements reflect the general duties considered necessary to perform the principle functions of the job as identified and shall not be considered as a detailed description of all the work requirements that may be inherent in the position. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related or is a logical assignment to the position.
Job Type: Full-time
License/Certification:
- RN (Preferred)
Source: Indeed.com
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