Infection Preventionist (Full Time, 80 Hours per Pay Period) Battle Creek

Required Education - Must have one of the following:

• Master's degree in Public Health

• Bachelor's degree in Medical Technology or Microbiology

• Bachelor's degree in nursing or a clinical field

• An equivalent combination of education and professional experience may be considered

Required Experience:

• Minimum 1 year experience in a hospital setting is required.

• Must attain and maintain competence in the current knowledge base supporting infection prevention. Such material is found in a variety of sources including CDC and Joint Commission guidelines, State of Michigan regulations, and the infection prevention professional literature.
• Serve as a consultant on all infection prevention issues to physicians and staff and to regularly organize lectures and teach infection prevention content to new and existing employees
• Familiar with the Bronson quality improvement processes and techniques and frequently participate in investigations and process improvement efforts related to infection prevention throughout the hospital system
• Written reports and charting must be complete, accurate and legible, and are permanently retained as legal documents
• Familiar with the IC section of the current Joint Commission standards and ensure that Bronson Healthcare Group is in compliance with each element of the standard
• Demonstrated competency in electronic information systems (both Personal Computer-based and hospital information systems, etc.), including all software used for data analysis and expression (word processing, spreadsheet, database, statistical analysis, data presentation, use of internet searches and consulting websites etc.)
• Must have a high level of interpersonal skills for the purpose of acquiring and giving correct information
• Must be able to verbally communicate important information to others in a timely manner
• Must represent the department in frequent committee meetings
• Encounters with physicians, other healthcare workers, patients, and patient families must include the highest degree of accuracy of information and discretion to avoid misunderstandings that could place the hospital at great legal risk
• Must work closely with many diverse groups and departments both within and outside of Bronson Healthcare Group (e.g., Performance Improvement, Nursing, Pharmacy, Laboratory, physician offices, medical staff, county and state health departments, and other affiliated hospitals)
Work which produces very high levels of mental/visual fatigue, e.g. CRT work between 70 and 90 percent of the time, and work involving extremely close tolerances and considerable hand/eye coordination for sustained periods of time.
The job produces some physical demands. Typical of jobs that include regular walking, standing, stooping, bending, sitting, and some lifting of light weight objects.
• Reviews medical records and other hospital reports and data to detect nosocomial infections and write infection reports. Performs daily infection control unit rounds for surveillance. Surveillance includes patients of all ages.
• Accurately identifies and documents all nosocomial infections from surveillance activities and review of hospital data using CDC definitions of infections.
• Helps to performs outbreak investigations as needed.
• Monitors daily all patients in special precautions.
• Consults with employees, physicians, patients and patient families regarding Infection Control. Serves as the institutional consultant concerning outbreaks of infectious diseases and bioterrorism activity within the community.
• Teaches the infection control modules of new employee orientation and reviews all relevant computer-based training modules for continuing education.
• Assesses staff and physician compliance with infection control policies and practices and addresses by daily surveillance and annual unit environmental rounds, corrects any problems immediately through education and other behavior modification techniques.
• Assists in reviewing and editing the infection control policies of all Bronson departments and corporations.
• Reports reportable diseases daily to the local health departments as required by Michigan regulations.
• Correctly records all relevant work activities for billing and workload functions.
• Attends at least one statewide or national meeting per year and reports all new information to the department within a reasonable period after return. Attends all relevant local continuing education events.
• Performs all other duties as assigned.

Bronson Healthcare Group and its affiliates (“Bronson”) strictly prohibit the acceptance of unsolicited resumes from individual recruiters or third-party recruiting agencies ("Recruiters") in response to job postings or word of mouth. Unsolicited resumes sent to any employee of Bronson by Recruiters, without both a valid written agreement with Bronson and a direct written request from the Bronson Talent Acquisition Department for a specific job position, will be considered the property of Bronson. Furthermore, no fees will be owed or paid to Recruiters who submit resumes for unsolicited candidates, even if those candidates are hired. This policy applies regardless of whether the Recruiter has a pre-existing agreement with Bronson. Only candidates submitted through a specific written agreement with the Bronson Talent Acquisition Department for a named position are eligible for fee consideration.