Health Science Specialist

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Albuquerque (NM); On-site; USD 95,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Albuquerque, NM seeks a Health Science Specialist to lead MDRO prevention and infection prevention activities. The role involves guiding strategies, ensuring regulatory compliance, and promoting safety for patients and staff.

Responsibilities include surveillance, education, and collaboration with public health and clinical teams to reduce MDRO transmission and improve care quality.

Qualifications

• Experience in infection prevention and control practices.
• Strong understanding of epidemiology and surveillance concepts.

Responsibilities

• Review and apply current scientific literature to inform practice.
• Assess populations at risk and apply age-specific considerations.
• Apply epidemiological methods to identify trends and design prevention strategies.
• Develop and implement surveillance plans to track infection occurrences.
• Collaborate with hospital committees to discuss findings and controls.
• Serve as educational resource on MDRO prevention and cleaning/disinfection practices.
• Coordinate with public health officials on reportable diseases and epidemiologic findings.
• Lead ethical considerations and confidentiality in care settings.
• Collaborate on research to improve MDRO infection prevention.

Job description

Summary
The Health Science Specialist serves as the management of the Multi-Drug-Resistant Organism (MDRO) Prevention Coordinator and Infection Preventionist - providing expert guidance and leadership in infection prevention and control activities. This role is responsible for developing - implementing - and evaluating strategies to prevent multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) transmission - ensuring compliance with regulatory standards - and promoting a safe environment for patients and staff.

Summary
The Health Science Specialist serves as the management of the Multi-Drug-Resistant Organism (MDRO) Prevention Coordinator and Infection Preventionist - providing expert guidance and leadership in infection prevention and control activities. This role is responsible for developing - implementing - and evaluating strategies to prevent multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) transmission - ensuring compliance with regulatory standards - and promoting a safe environment for patients and staff.
Duties

• Duties include but not limited to: Reviewing - analyzing - and applying pertinent information from current scientific literature and publications - integrating relevant public health issues into practice
• and identifying populations at high risk for infection - using the principles of human growth and development to assess patients' requirements relative to age-specific needs
• 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 - including conducting surveillance and investigations by using epidemiological principles and using appropriate statistical techniques to describe the data - calculate rates - and critically evaluate significance of findings
• 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 - including: participating in the development of the organization's surveillance plan based on the population(s) served - services provided - and previous surveillance data - if available - develop and implement surveillance guidelines to track and predict the occurrence of nosocomial infections
• Meets with Medical Center committees and teams to discuss pertinent laboratory findings - their clinical significance - necessary Infection Prevention and control measures - and concerns from teams
• Serves as an educational resource for infection prevention - control and health care epidemiology - providing expert knowledge and guidance - including reviews and recommends products for use in cleaning and disinfection of equipment and environmental surfaces
• Serving as a liaison to public health officials regarding reportable communicable diseases and other epidemiologically significant findings
• and actively and continuously collaborating with the Infection Prevention and Control team in all program activities
• Provides leadership in identifying and addressing ethical issues that impact clients and staff - including initiating and participating in ethics consultations - including maintaining confidentiality - practicing in a nonjudgmental - nondiscriminatory manner - with sensitivity to diversity - coordinating problem solving with supporting Services outside the responsible area supporting the APIC - the epidemiology code of ethics - and the Hospital's policy on medical ethics
• Collaborates with others in research activities to improve care - including applying relevant research findings to MDRO infection prevention and control practice
• Work Schedule: Monday to Friday - 8:00 a.m.- 4:30 p.m
• Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Position Description/PD#: Health Science Specialist/PD150240 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized