Infection Preventionist RN

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Alabama; On-site; USD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs seeks a Nurse Infection Preventionist RN to lead hospital infection prevention programs in Alabama. You will monitor and reduce infections, ensure regulatory compliance, and act as a resource on epidemiology and infection control for staff and leadership.

The role requires strong nursing background, experience in infection prevention, and the ability to independently manage complex program responsibilities while collaborating with an interdisciplinary team.

Qualifications

• Experience in infection prevention programs and hospital settings.
• Knowledge of surveillance, outbreak investigation, and reporting to regulatory bodies.

Responsibilities

• Conduct monitoring to reduce infection risk among patients, staff, visitors and students.
• Contribute to Infection Control Risk Assessments and revise plans as needed.
• Provide education and ongoing trainings on infection control to staff.
• Foster a safe environment supporting professional development of healthcare staff.
• Serve as education resource on infection control and epidemiology for employees.
• Collaborate with EOH and interdisciplinary teams to plan and implement immunization programs.
• Assist in managing CCR for HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C with reporting and alerts.
• Implement and maintain data analysis, trending, and reporting systems.
• Help develop and maintain SOPs, policies, and outbreak investigations.

Skills

Infection control

Epidemiology

Infection surveillance

Staff education

Quality nursing care

Education

Registered Nurse license (RN)

Job description

The Nurse Infection Preventionist (IP) Registered Nurse (RN) executes position responsibilities to improve patient and organizational outcomes. The Nurse Infection Preventionist is a quick learner who can master large, complex programs and regulatory requirements independently while maintaining attention to detail and a proactive approach to problem-solving.

Responsibilities

• Conducts monitoring to identify and reduce the risk of acquiring and transmitting infections among patients, employees, visitors, and students.
• Contributes to the annual Infection Control Risk Assessment, determining appropriate resources needed to accomplish the proposed plan, communicating any variance to administration and revises plan as needed.
• Provides education on infection control issues, as well as annual and ongoing trainings to staff.
• Fosters a safe and supportive environment conducive to the professional development of healthcare professionals.
• Serves as an education resource for all employees on infection control, epidemiology, and provides knowledge and guidance.
• Supports colleagues through knowledge sharing, while questioning clinical practices for the purpose of providing evidencebased practices, to provide safe, quality nursing care.
• Collaborates with Employee Occupational Health (EOH) and other members of the interdisciplinary team to plan and implement the Immunization Program, i.e., influenza.
• Assists the Infection Control Provider in managing the Clinical Case Registry (CCR) for Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and Hepatitis C, including providing reports and alerts to clinicians.
• Implements and maintains a system for analyzing, trending, and reporting data.
• Assists in developing and maintaining mandatory documents such as standards operating procedures, policies, outbreak and exposure investigations, and external agency required documents.

Preferred Skills

Preferred Experience: 5 years of RN experience, previous work as an infection preventionist; experience conducting infection surveillance, outbreak investigations, analyzing infection trends; participation in hospital control audits, familiarity with reporting healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) to National Healthcare Safety Network; regulatory compliance. Seeking an experienced Infection Preventionist who can independently assume program responsibilities immediately.