Employee Health/Infection Control Coordinator/LVN

Surgery Partners, Inc•Lubbock, TX

12h

About The Position

Lubbock Heart & Surgical Hospital is seeking an Employee Health/Infection Control Coordinator/LVN to support infection prevention and employee health across the organization. The role uses epidemiologic principles and statistical methods to identify populations at risk, conduct infection surveillance, investigate hospital-acquired infections and outbreaks, interpret infection data, and develop and evaluate prevention strategies. The coordinator performs environmental surveillance, assesses risks related to construction and other potential sources of disease transmission, and develops annual risk assessments and surveillance plans. Findings, recommendations, action plans, and outcomes are communicated to the Infection Control Committee, hospital departments, leadership, and outside health agencies as appropriate. The position serves as a resource and educator on infection prevention practices, supports policy and procedure development and review, and collaborates with clinical departments, Occupational Health, vendors, public health agencies, and organizational leaders. It also assists with regulatory and OSHA-related compliance, patient placement, employee exposure follow-up, and improvement initiatives. The role provides consultative coverage for infection prevention concerns 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The hospital describes its environment as a family-style atmosphere emphasizing teamwork, diversity, and patient care. The stated schedule is full-time, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.

Requirements

Graduate of an accredited school of nursing.
Currently licensed as a Registered Nurse (RN) by the Texas Board of Nursing.
BCLS and ACLS required.
Minimum of three years of clinical experience.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in Health Science, Emergency Management, Public Health, or a related field.
Infection Control or Employee Health experience.
Demonstrated success building and maintaining relationships and working collaboratively toward consensus with diverse people, levels, and organizations.
Strong written and verbal communication, intercultural, and interpersonal skills, particularly the ability to facilitate, influence, and build consensus.

Responsibilities

Apply epidemiologic principles and statistical methods, including risk stratification, to identify target populations, analyze trends and risk factors, and design and evaluate infection prevention and control strategies.
Conduct ongoing surveillance using CDC/HIPAC/NHSN infection criteria and investigate hospital-acquired infections through review of diagnoses, culture results, patient records, autopsy findings, post-discharge surveillance, and other case-finding methods.
Maintain current infection prevention knowledge through education, peer networking, professional meetings, online resources, and published literature.
Use appropriate communication and data systems and participate in system upgrades and redesigns that support infection prevention activities.
Build positive relationships and collaborate across the organization to promote teamwork, compliance, and infection prevention initiatives.
Communicate, support, and advocate for infection prevention initiatives; manage conflict and facilitate change while maintaining a safe patient environment.
Use performance improvement principles and facilitate process improvement based on surveillance findings in partnership with appropriate departments and the Quality Department.
Assess environmental controls through routine and scheduled surveillance and inspection of water systems, ventilation, construction sites, bloodborne pathogen exposures, and isolation practices.
Develop Infection Control Risk Assessments for construction projects, participate in construction meetings, and recommend infection prevention measures during project planning and implementation.
Conduct annual risk assessments to determine surveillance needs for devices, multidrug-resistant organisms, surgical-site infections, central-line-associated bloodstream infections, urinary tract infections, and other epidemiologically significant conditions.
Develop and implement an annual Infection Prevention plan and surveillance activities; communicate outcomes, analyses, and recommendations to the Infection Control Committee and relevant departments.
Identify and facilitate outbreak investigations with appropriate laboratory, medical, committee, leadership, public health, and CDC resources; report significant findings and develop action plans to stop or prevent future transmission.
Present analyses, recommendations, implemented action plans, outcomes, and future directions to committees and affected departments as required.
Collaborate with the Emergency Department, Admitting, bed board, and nursing units on patient placement to reduce transmission risks and support patient satisfaction.
Develop infection prevention education and informational materials for patients, families, nursing, ancillary, and medical staff, and serve as an organizational resource on infection prevention practices and policies.
Consult with Occupational Health on infection prevention issues and opportunities related to employee exposure and potential disease transmission.
Facilitate review of existing policies and procedures and develop new policies with appropriate departments to reflect current practices, procedures, and technologies.
Provide infection prevention consultative service to the organization 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Maintain current infection prevention and infectious disease information and develop an annual surveillance plan with risk-reduction strategies for approval by the Infection Control Committee.
Collect and analytically interpret infection data based on NHSN data and investigate clusters.
Refer unresolved questions or problems to the Director of Infection Prevention & Employee Health.
Report in-house patients with communicable diseases to county and/or state health departments and maintain records.
Develop and implement mandatory standards, programs, and regulations relevant to infection prevention, and prepare and present plans for regulatory compliance.
Assist with implementing work practice and engineering controls relevant to OSHA.
Provide hospital-wide education, training, and policy review related to infection prevention.
Collaborate with outside vendors and affected departments on implementation and education for new equipment related to infection control.
Maintain quality control monitors as assigned.
Conduct surveillance and follow-up of employee exposures to communicable diseases and trend employee illnesses and injuries to identify safety and health concerns.

Benefits

Medical, vision, and dental benefits.
Paid time off (PTO).
401(k).
Individually tailored 6–12 week orientation.
Opportunities for advancement.
Career ladder.
Consumer discounts through Perks.
Multi-unit training opportunities.
Free continuing education units through Cornerstone, the online training system.
Flexible scheduling.
No mandatory overtime.