Director of Infection Prevention

Duties:

Job Summary:
The Director of Infection Prevention, in conjunction with the Hospital Epidemiologist, Regional Chief Quality Officer, Medical Director, Quality and System Improvement, and Client VP of Infection Prevention and Control oversees the development, implementation and management of an Infection Prevention program that minimizes infectious risk to patients, families and TMs and complies with current requirements of regulatory, government and accrediting/licensing agencies and organizational policies and procedures.
-Duties include analysis, interpretation and reporting of surveillance data; designing, implementing and leading organizational performance improvement initiatives, evaluating the effectiveness of the Infection Prevention program and overseeing outbreak investigations and educational programs for -Team Members (TMs) and patients.
-Develops, implements, and evaluates the organizational infection prevention program.
-Conducts annual risk assessment and develops annual Infection Prevention plan.
-Develops initiatives and interventions to successfully meet Network and Hospital level infection prevention goals.
-Analyzes and identifies any trends in infection prevention data and reports in an appropriate timeframe.
-Develops and provides timely, actionable feedback and reports on all Infection prevention goals.
-Develops written education and information documents about infection prevention and control.
-Assists in the development of employee, volunteer and clinical staff orientation and continuing education programs.
-Evaluate the effectiveness of educational programs and learner outcomes.
-Ensure compliance with regulatory and mandatory reporting requirements at the local, state and federal levels.
-Assists the organization evaluate and maintain readiness for surveys.
-Maintains an updated knowledge of all infection prevention regulatory and accreditation standards per CMS, NJ DOH, Joint Commission, OSHA, CDC.
-Utilizes PI methodology and high reliability principles as a means of enacting change.
-Monitors and analyzes process and outcome measures to evaluate the effectiveness and sustainability.
-Demonstrates use of appropriate methodologies to identify improvement opportunities and use of rapid cycle improvement tools (i.e. PDSA, FMEA, reliability science, bundle science, process flows).
-Participate in the development/review of occupational health policies and procedure.
-Collaborate with team member work restrictions and recommendations related to communicable diseases or following an exposure.
-Collaborates with Occupational Health for exposures to communicable diseases and Team Member safety.
-Oversees the surveillance for hospital-acquired infections and ensures compliance with CDCs NHSN definitions and CMS regulations for participation as well as reporting requirements to the State and local health departments.
-Manages the NHSN database for accuracy, analytics and reporting.
-Evaluates and manages investigations of infection related outbreaks, implements appropriate control measures and monitors effectiveness of control measures.
-Develop, interpret, and assist with implementation and education of infection prevention policies and procedures.
-Reviews and maintains all department policies that relate to infection control annually.
-Oversees standards, practices and compliance involving sterilization, disinfection, construction and sanitation as they pertain to Infection Prevention.
-Oversees Infection Prevention and Control Construction Risk Assessments (ICRAs) for construction, renovation and maintenance projects and monitors compliance to reduce risk of communicable disease exposures to patients and TMs.

Skills:

Required Skills & Experience:
-Minimum 3 years of experience in Infection Prevention required.
-Minimum 5 years of experience in clinical/patient care services or relevant health care position required.
-Essential Skills include ability to think analytically, strong problem-solving skills, ability to collaborate well with others, strong oral and written communication skills, ability to implement evidence-based guidelines, conflict resolution, program and project management, presentation preparation and delivery, expertise in data collection and analysis, report writing, and data presentation, leadership, familiar with software technologies (e.g. Excel, MS Word, NHSN, etc).
-Must have the ability to evaluate (critically) research and evidence-based practices and incorporate appropriate findings into routine practice.
-Must be familiar with infection prevention software and other technology (e.g. NHSN, CDRSS).
Experience in developing and maintaining departmental budget.

Preferred Skills & Experience:
-N/A