Infection Prevention & Nursing Education Leader

Odessa Memorial Healthcare Center•Odessa, WA

About The Position

The Infection Prevention & Nursing Education Leader ensures the Hospital's IP Plan is implemented robustly to ensure the safety of patients, staff, and visitors including the management of risks associated with communicable disease transmission, medical procedures, equipment and devices, and barriers to continuous improvement in clinical outcomes. Work focuses on all aspects of quality, safety, and performance improvement and is conducted in accordance with professional standards, organizational objectives and applicable regulatory/accreditation requirements. This position collaborates with medical staff, hospital leaders and staff along with community providers in carrying out infection prevention initiatives related to patient, staff and volunteers. Considerable understanding of the importance of data to infection surveillance and outbreak management (e.g. establishing baseline, providing objective measurement, determining the degree of the problem, showing variation/cause of variation, identifying root causes, developing appropriate solutions, etc.) is also required. Duties performed involve weighing and evaluating many factors requiring judgement, analytical ability and problem solving in dealing with complex data and situations. Patient-focused functions include comprehensive annual and on-going risk assessments and risk reduction strategies related to infectious disease transmission, construction/renovation projects, waterborne and airborne illness events, hospital-acquired infections, surveillance for and containment of pathogens of concern, environment of care risks, staff and patient education, and ensuring notifiable diseases are reported according to application regulations. The Infection Prevention & Nursing Education Leader is in frequent communication with leaders to provide timely feedback and to develop and implement pro-active, preventative and/or corrective action plans in response to actual and potential IP and safety issues. This position will develop and educate nursing staff on clinical skills, documentation & everchanging regulatory requirements. This position may be asked to work a shift on acute/ED or the long-term side as needed.

Requirements

Registered Nurse (RN) WA License
A minimum of 3 years of clinical experience
A minimum of 3 years of progressively responsible and recent related healthcare work experience

Nice To Haves

A minimum of 2 years of clinical experience in a Lead or Management role

Responsibilities

Implement the Hospital's IP Plan to ensure the safety of patients, staff, and visitors.
Manage risks associated with communicable disease transmission, medical procedures, equipment, and devices.
Focus on quality, safety, and performance improvement in accordance with professional standards, organizational objectives, and regulatory requirements.
Collaborate with medical staff, hospital leaders, staff, and community providers on infection prevention initiatives.
Utilize data for infection surveillance and outbreak management.
Conduct comprehensive annual and ongoing risk assessments and implement risk reduction strategies.
Address infectious disease transmission, construction/renovation projects, waterborne and airborne illness events, hospital-acquired infections, pathogens of concern, and environment of care risks.
Provide staff and patient education on infection prevention.
Ensure notifiable diseases are reported according to regulations.
Communicate with leaders to provide feedback and develop/implement action plans for IP and safety issues.
Develop and educate nursing staff on clinical skills, documentation, and regulatory requirements.