Infection Prevention Coordinator RN (Per Diem)

At Northbay Health, the Infection Prevention Coordinator (IPC) is a professional who works independently and collaboratively with the Infection Prevention Manager (IPM) and the Medical Director of Infectious Disease Medicine / Hospital Epidemiology to provide service line support to NorthBay Health. Acts as a consultant and resource for all departments, administration, medical staff, clinics, and hospital teams related to Infection Prevention.

As an infection prevention expert this position will serve as an infection control resource, in partnership with the IP Manager and the Epidemiologist/Medical Director of Infectious Disease, according to the regulatory partners to include but not limited to CDPH, SCPH, SCMS, Cal-OSHA, and TJC standards. Ensures that projects and activities of the hospital are in accordance with the Infection Prevention Plan, TJC Regulations, Title XXII, Title XVII, and Hospital Policy.

Participates in all aspects of the Infection Prevention Program including surveillance, monitoring, prevention, and education on infection prevention processes at Northbay Health facilities. Submits reports and reviews in a complete, final and timely manner. Ability to recognize when to escalate problems to the IPM but otherwise uses excellent judgment in addressing and managing daily issues as they arise. The IPC is able to work autonomously utilizing a high level of initiative, judgment and critical thinking skills to collaborate and communicate with all teams.

PRIMARY JOB DUTIES

• Completes on-site inspections and risks assessments of off-site clinics and ASC and reports to manager and the infection prevention committee.
• Provides consultation to all hospital departments and clinics for activities related to safe delivery of health care services. Provides expertise in planning patient care regarding infections and communicable diseases.
• Performs an annual site inspection of the laundry facility and reports to the infection prevention committee.
• Coordinates the ongoing monitoring ensuring employees are following precautions regarding blood body fluids and environmental cleanliness and reports noncompliance to appropriate department and/or staff.
• Assesses patients and departmental process improvement measures, gathers feedback from patients and families to evaluate patient care as related to infection prevention.
• Monitoring compliance with all policies, procedures, protocols and other infection control program requirements.
• Program evaluation and revision of the program; Collaborate with leadership for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the NBH Infection Prevention Program.
• Coordination as required by law and federal, state, and local emergency preparedness and health authorities to address communicable disease threats, bioterrorism, and outbreaks.
• Interacts with the California Department and Solano County Public Health Departments. Complying with the reportable disease requirements of the local health authority.
• Creates a positive, collegial environment among department members and stakeholders.
• Develops prospective and retrospective surveillance strategies for hospital acquired and community acquired infections and performs such surveillance.
• Develops forms and record keeping systems for surveillance activities and prepares appropriate statistical reports from collected data to identify and analyze trends of infections.
• Utilizes computer based programs for tracking or reporting and disseminates information as appropriate. Responsible for the submission of surveillance reports, directed studies and other pertinent infection prevention data to the appropriate committees and personnel.
• Investigates potential infection hazards and deviations of hospital infection rates above the baseline; recommends and coordinates the implementation of appropriate changes; and evaluates the effectiveness of prevention and control measures.
• Serves as the resource for infection prevention in partnership and collaboration with the hospital Epidemiologist/Medical Director for NorthBay Health.
• Provides collaborative and consultative support with Travis Air Force Base, civilian support agencies, and community, state, and national professional organizations regarding current infection prevention practice.
• Monitors, audits and assist with implementation of regulatory and accreditation agency standards as well as national professional organizations (WHO, APIC, IHI, HQI, CDC, SHEA, IDSA) and proposes necessary program changes to the Pharmacy &Therapeutics/Infection Control Committee.
• Develops, maintains, and coordinates implementation of infection prevention policies and regulations.
• Participates in the establishment of performance improvement criteria and activities. Develops and manages monitoring tools to evaluate the effectiveness of infection prevention activities and conducts continuous monitoring.
• Utilizing evidenced based, scientifically proven epidemiological principles and practices, the IPC observes, investigates and implements prevention measures throughout NBH for outbreaks or clusters of infections among staff or patients and in consultation with the hospital Epidemiologist/Medical Director for NorthBay Health.
• Influences the integration of infection prevention principles for patient care practices thorough recommendations such as transmission-based precautions, education, policy, and appropriate testing.
• Participates in rounds for surveillance activities and environment of care for continuous survey readiness and environmental and patient safety.
• Coordinates infection prevention education of patients diagnosed with a communicable disease as necessary in conjunction with the hospital epidemiologist.
• Collaborates with and provides support to Occupational/Employee Health. Such support includes communicable disease referrals and follow-up for NBH staff, policy revision, staff immunizations, aiding with health fairs and performing other projects as needed.
• Keeps current in the field of infection prevention including pursuing continuing education credits and involvement with the Association for Professionals in Infection Prevention and Epidemiology, Inc. (APIC). Interprets and disseminates information garnered from these activities.
• Develops education and training to be presented for but not limited to community outreach. Provides support to Human Resources, Medical Staff Office, and Guild by ensuring that NBH personnel are provided with an orientation, annual infection prevention training and/or as needed for emergence of novel viruses, pandemics or influx of infectious patients. Target audiences include physicians, residents, nursing staff, paraprofessionals, physical and occupational therapists, social workers, volunteers, students, and all other clinical and administrative support personnel throughout NBH.
• Infection Prevention monitoring will include but not be limited to Center for Wound Care, Centers for Primary Care, Pain Center, ABC Clinic, Occupational Health, Health at Work, acute care nursing units, inpatient and outpatient procedural clinics/departments, emergency departments and all ancillary departments at NorthBay and NorthBay -VacaValley hospitals.
• Collaborates with the hospital's Epidemiologist/Med Director of Infectious Disease, Manager and Director on the ongoing implementation and improvement of the hospital's infection prevention program.
• Demonstrates effective problem solving and conflict resolution skills through implementation of Relationship Based Care and principles of commitment to my co-worker.
• Responsible for data management that includes applications that includes but not limited to NHSN, Vigilanz, and other reporting systems.
• Collaborate with all NorthBay Health clinics and departments in support of central sterile processing to ensure appropriate point of use cleaning, transport, of instruments and ensure that appropriate cleaning, high level disinfection, and sterilization procedures are followed.
• Provide guidance for all hospital-based units and clinics for the cleaning and disinfection of department specific equipment based on manufacturer's instructions.
• Provide infection prevention guidance based on environmental protection agency (EPA), FDA, and other regulatory requirements for application of the principles of epidemiology for product selections and product recalls.
• Participates in the construction, renovation, and design of hospital facilities and performs the infection control risk assessment (ICRA) to minimize infection risks.
• Develop, implement, and monitor the hand hygiene program.
• Participate in hospital committees related to infection control and patient safety.
• Foster a culture of safety and infection prevention within the hospital.
• Performs other duties as assigned.
• Education: Bachelor's degree in nursing. Master's degree preferred.
• Licensure/Certification: Current RN licensure in the State of CA. Infection Control Certification (CIC) strongly preferred, or must obtain within 3 years of hire date. Ability to travel between facility and work sites with access to an operating vehicle with at least minimal coverage auto insurance. Current driver's license.
• Experience: Minimum of 5 years of acute care preferred and 2 years of experience working in infection prevention/control/community/public health/employee health experience strongly preferred.
• Skills: Excellent oral, written, communication, leadership, problem solving and analytical skills. Ability to lead and manage multiple projects simultaneously. Ability to lead and coach teams and mentor individuals. Must be well organized, be able to set priorities, work independently and be an effective team member. Proficient with Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook. Strong knowledge of infection prevention and epidemiology, TJC, Cal-OSHA, CMS standards. Course completion of APIC EPI 101 strongly recommended.
• Standards of Performance: Demonstrate performance by adhering to established policies and procedures and exhibiting the defined characteristics associated with attendance and punctuality.
• Physical Effort: Attendance is an essential function of the job. The physical demands described in the Job Task Analysis are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• Hours of Work: Set by the department to meet NorthBay Health's needs. Hours will vary based on work demands and project requirements and requires rotation between infection prevention staff for on-call support.