POSITION SUMMARY:
The Infection Preventionist is responsible for monitoring and recognizing infectious processes, surveillance of the environment, providing education, assisting with performance improvement projects, regulatory reporting, trend analysis and monitoring for sentinel events.
SHIFT DETAILS:
Full time, Exempt. This role requires being in office at St. Joseph Medical Center.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
Collaborates in establishing, implementing, and administering the infection control program throughout the facility and in developing the goals, objectives, policies, and procedures. Collaborates in the development and revision of Infection Control guidelines and the periodic review of the Hospital's overall compliance with established guidelines. Monitors the Hospital environment by conducting site inspections for potential risks and identifying outbreaks of health care acquired infections. Conducts daily surveillance for community or hospital acquired infections for appropriate actions, precautionary measures, and review. Reports the presence of communicable diseases to appropriate agencies as required by law in cooperation with attending physicians. Monitors for sentinel events related to all identified cases of unanticipated deaths or major permanent loss of function associated with health care associated infections. Consistently follows patient care, and facility guidelines and procedures in performance. Collaborate with inter and intra-professional colleagues to ensure quality outcomes. Enhances the patient's experience by fostering a positive relationship with customers. Acts as consultant during times of emergency or bioterrorism attacks relating to infectious diseases. Member of the Hospital Infection Control Committee and other committees as directed by the Chief Quality Officer. Maintains education and competency, as evidenced by completion of competency validation requirements. Promotes a culture of patient safety which results in the identification and reduction of unsafe practices. Uses professional judgment and critical thinking to prepare, prioritize, and execute the patient's plan of care consistently with patient assessment data, physicians' treatment plans, and professional standards of care. Implement measures to prevent exposure to infectious pathogens and communicable conditions. Identifies risks and hazards to patients through various risk assessments, with actions taken to mitigate patient harm. Uses appropriate methodologies for collection and analysis of infection control statistics. Collects and aggregates infection control data and ensures completeness, accuracy, and timeliness of submission - externally for mandatory reporting and internally. Leads infection prevention robust process improvement initiatives and projects across the continuum of care as needed. Monitors areas of construction for adherence to Infection Control guidelines compliance. Maintains competency and knowledge of current standards of practice, trends, and developments. Completes annual education requirements. Keep current with trends and developments in the field by reading appropriate books, journals and other literature and attending related conferences, seminars and the like. Contributes to improving patient satisfaction results. Promotes stewardship of hospital resources while ensuring quality patient care. Adheres to all Federal and State regulatory requirements. Assists in promoting safe patient care by eliminating hospital acquired infections. Other duties as assigned.
REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS:
Working knowledge of statistics, microbiology, patient care practices, epidemiology, and occupational health. Strong communication skills (written, verbal, and presentation).Team facilitation skills. Proficient with Microsoft Office and online applications. Ability to work independently under minimal supervision, manages multiple deliverables, anticipates needs, responds in a timely manner and is detail oriented. Ability to communicate effectively and professionally with coworkers across disciplines and with multiple levels of employees.
POSITION QUALIFICATIONS: Equal Opportunity Employer Minorities/Women/Veterans/ Disabled
Bachelor's degree in nursing, public health, medical technology, or related field. Two (2) years clinical/healthcare experience preferred. PREFFERED:Certification in Infection Control (CIC).Bi or Multilingual. Houston's oldest hospital is GROWING!Welcome to St. Joseph Medical Center (SJMC), Houston's first and only downtown hospital delivering world-class care for the last 137 years and looking forward to the next century of exceptional care to Houstonians when they need us most. Whether it's for a scheduled surgery, the birth of a baby, an unexpected emergency, or an outpatient visit, we have staff available around the clock to provide you access to immediate, quality health care. SJMC has been providing health care services to Greater Houston residents for over 130 years, which should give you great comfort in knowing that we have a great tradition of caring for our community. We strive to meet our patients' expectations and encourage our patients to provide us with feedback on how we can help them have the best experience possible while they're in our care. Over the last years we have expanded our services to include the Advanced Wound Care Center, Comprehensive Cardiac and Vascular Services, the Women's Center, the St. Joseph Maternal Fetal Medicine Center, and a Weight Loss Surgery Program, just to name a few. As you work with our physicians, nurses, case managers, educators, and other staff, you will be guided through your health care journey, from diagnosis to treatment, with compassion every step of the way. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are at the foundation of the care St Joseph Medical Center provides to our community we are privileged to support in all of our employment practices. We do not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression or any other non-job-related characteristic.
