Infection Prevention Control Specialist: FT 8a-4:30p Salaried

Position Highlights:

• Work/life: You will find support to help you manage your personal life while building a career.
• Employee-centric: Tuition reimbursement, loan forgiveness, comprehensive major medical, dental and vision insurance, paid time off, 401(k), health and wellness offerings, monthly employee events, and more.
• Lifestyle: Sandusky was voted “Best Coastal Small Town in America”. You will have the opportunity to enjoy living and working in this growing area along the beautiful shores of Lake Erie.

About Firelands Health:

Our goal at Firelands Health is to be the best & preferred independent healthcare employer for the Sandusky Bay region.

Firelands Health is the area’s largest and most comprehensive resource for quality medical care. We are “big enough to care for you, and small enough to care about you”. We are locally managed and governed as a not-for-profit healthcare facility, serving the counties of Erie, Ottawa, Sandusky, and Huron, covering a regional service area with over 300,000 residents. Our mission is to provide excellent healthcare, promote community wellness, and improve the lives we serve.

Our Core ACE Values: Attitude: We choose to be positive and inclusive every day. Commitment: We are committed to exceed the expectations of those we serve. Enthusiasm: We will work passionately to make a difference.

What You Will Do:

• Participates with monitoring, risk assessments, and action plans to minimize healthcare acquired infections and maximize safety for patients and staff.
• Participates in surveillance activities as assigned by the Infection Control and Patient Safety Coordinator.
• Participates in identification of cases of suspected nosocomial infection based on surveillance, investigation, and application of CDC criteria.
• Investigates as assigned clusters of infection above expected levels and single cases of unusual nosocomial infections through concurrent and retrospective review.
• Prepares information and works within the interface for Centers for Disease Control (CDC) nosocomial infection reporting and the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) infectious diseases reporting as assigned.
• Demonstrates and educates with regard to current standards of care and best practices as are consistent with the Infection Control Program.
• Assists with the identification and management of known or suspected infections among hospital personnel.
• Performs required disease reporting to the health department and regulatory agencies for Firelands Regional Medical Center patients and completes reporting for inpatients and outpatients as assigned.
• Recommends interventions to prevent disease transmission, including questions about patient placement, isolation practices, or infection control issues. Performs regular rounds of patient care areas to assess infection control practices
• Works in conjunction with the Leadership Team to complete safety assessments as assigned to document compliance with patient safety efforts and identify areas of needed improvement to improve patient safety and infection control.
• Collaborates with caregivers and support staff to facilitate the clinical practices needed to provide effective infection control.
• Assists in preparing required information and minutes for reporting and communication.
• Makes scheduled rounds at all facilities as assigned including off-site locations, and responds to infection control related needs.

What You Will Need:

• The ideal candidate must have a strong background in healthcare, microbiology, or public health. Related Master's Degree preferred.
• Three or more years experience of direct patient care required or five or more years of infection prevention background preferred.
• Completion of CDC or State of Ohio Educational program in Infection Control during orientation.
• CIC preferred, must obtain CIC within four years of hire.
• Ability to utilize personal computer and various software applications for the management of information.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)