Dir Infection Prevention

Description: The Director Infection Prevention is responsible for directing, managing and ensuring compliance with the Infection Prevention and Control standards of the organization. This job serves as a resource for the organization, health system, and community on infection prevention and control issues. This role also acts as a key facilitator for Joint Commission (JC) preparation and is a primary resource for the continued readiness team on all standards related to infection prevention and control. Typical Duties: Prepares department operating budgets on an annual basis and monitors areas of responsibility for compliance within current budget. Prepares and administers departmental performance evaluations. Promotes departmental and organizational activities for providing courteous customer service to patients, families, visitors and internal customers. Participates in leadership development activities; implements strategies and processes to improve employee morale and performance. Works with physicians, organizational leaders, community leaders, and staff to promote understanding of infection prevention and control (IPC) regulations and functions. Completes hospital’s mandatory knowledge and competency documentation requirements within designated timeframe. Directs, supervises and supports functions of the Department of Infection Prevention staff. Detects and records nosocomial infections on a systematic and current basis using National Healthcare Safety Network definitions and reports them to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Develops plans for and provides leadership to the implementation of efforts to reduce common nosocomial infections within the institution including but not limited to catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI), central line-associated blood stream infections (CLABSI), Clostridium difficile infection, surgical site infections, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection, and ventilator-associated events. Performs daily reviews of microbiology epidemiological report to detect clustering of pathogenic organisms in patient population. Oversees preparation of IPC Surveillance data presented to the Infection Prevention and Control Committee (IPCC). Immediately informs the Medical Director of Infection Control and Prevention of surveillance findings involving unusual organisms or clustering. Conducts epidemiologic investigations of these findings with the assistance of the Medical Director of Infection Control and Prevention. Monitors isolation practices and Standard Precautions while conducting surveillance activities on nursing units and in hospital departments. Reports identified problems to the manager of that particular unit. Supervises staff by determining workloads and schedules; evaluates and makes hiring, corrective action and termination recommendations; and ensures staff are oriented, trained and are following health system policies and departmental procedures. Leads the drafting of the annual IPC plan for the organization and ensures that it is fully implemented once approved. Performs other job related duties as assigned.