Director of Infection Preventionist

Job Summary :

The Director of Infection Preventionist is responsible for the corporate-wide activities of evaluating and managing infection risks to residents and personnel through extensive surveillance and an effective reporting system. The Director functions as the corporate- wide clinical expert in the prevention and control of infection and is responsible for the corporate-wide planning and implementation of the Infection Prevention Program, in order to minimize the probability of transmission of infection, thus providing a safer facility for our residents and personnel.

Supervisory Responsibilities N / A

Duties / Responsibilities :

• Responsible for the Infection Prevention Program for the organization.
• Demonstrates effective communication skills
• Develops, conducts annual reviews, and revisions to, policies and procedures (under the direction of the CNO) governing control of infection and communicable diseases, as indicated.
• Conducts annual risk analysis based on geographic location, community, populations served, care, treatment and services provided, analysis of surveillance activities and other infection control data.
• Prioritizes goals and documents risks per the Infection Prevention Plan based on the annual risk analysis.
• Works collaboratively with IP Team and Department Leaders to develop, maintain, revise, and enforce infection prevention and control policies and procedures.
• Serves as liaison with regulatory, state, and county agencies as relates to communicable disease reporting.
• Responsible for organization-wide compliance with regulatory standards (CDC, TJC, OSHA, CMS, etc.).
• Acts as a subject matter expert for infection prevention and control for ICP Staff, nursing staff, students or other clinical or non-clinical colleagues.
• Oversees the submission of data to the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) per State and CMS requirements to assure accuracy.
• Examines microbiology reports of positive isolates to recognize trends, identify facility acquired infections, and performs / compiles appropriate statistical analysis.
• Oversees concurrent and retrospective chart audits as indicated to determine community onset versus facility acquired conditions.
• Oversees and participates in a robust surveillance program to include environment of care rounding, unit rounding, real time observations and audits of compliance with infection prevention bundles, compliance with isolation practices, and compliance with appropriate hand hygiene practices (cleanliness of work environment, patient environment and equipment), to include all resident care areas to assure compliance with attire, maintenance of aseptic technique, and monitoring of other high-risk behaviors such as traffic in and out of rooms.
• Develops strong relationships with staff and leaders and is recognized as the subject matter expert exhibited by comfort of staff in reaching out to IC Director and recognition of IC Director when rounding.
• Collaborates with Facilities Management Leadership and staff to assure appropriate ICRAs in place during periods of construction and renovation, and ensuring ongoing resident and staff safety during such activities.
• Oversees collection and submission of infection control data to ensure accuracy, completeness and timeliness.
• Review, assess and investigate lab data relative to infection rates, sources and identifies trends.
• Presents data in such a way that promotes ease of interpretation, analysis and identification of opportunities for improvement (using appropriate charts, graphs, tables, PowerPoint presentations, etc.).

Required Skills / Abilities

Education and Experience :

health principles, and statistical analysis of clinical data required