Registered Nurse/Clinical II, Med/Surg-Ortho/Oncology Unit **$8K Sign-On Bonus**

About the position

Valley Presbyterian Hospital is a beacon of health in the San Fernando Valley, committed to providing outstanding care and improving community health. We are seeking an experienced and detail-oriented Director of Infection Prevention, Infection Control Unit to join our dedicated team. The Director of Infection Prevention is a professional who develops, implements, and monitors the hospital-wide Infection Prevention/Control Program (IP/IC).

Responsibilities

• Coordinates functions/activities of the hospital-wide Infection Prevention/Control Program as defined by the Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer based on regulatory requirements.
• Facilitates compliance with local, state and federal rules, recommendations, and regulations.
• Reviews/authors Infection Prevention/Control policies as needed.
• Prepares/authors the annual Infection Prevention/Control Program and Plan to include strategies to accomplish goals, outcome measures, and projects in collaboration with other stakeholders.
• Prioritizes IP/IC goals based on risks of Hospital-Associated Infections (HAIs) within our hospital.
• Prepares monthly/quarterly reports of surveillance data for presentation to the Infection Control meeting and reports findings to the various Medical Staff Committees.
• Prepares surveillance reports/investigations to appropriate Performance Improvement (PI) task forces and departments.
• Reports surveillance findings and recommendations of surveillance data to the staff as necessary.
• Collaborates with all Department Directors/Managers/Supervisors and Medical Directors in implementing aspects of the Infection Prevention/Control Program.
• Collaborates with the Occupational Health Department Manager in investigating and helping to manage employee exposure to communicable and infectious diseases.
• Conducts infection surveillance on a concurrent and/or retrospective basis for the purpose of identifying hospital-associated infections.
• Participates in the development of plans for decreasing/preventing hospital-associated infections or occurrences.
• Designs or adopts the National Safety Network (NHSN) surveillance plans.
• Coordinates and conducts environmental surveillance to evaluate patient care environment for infection control and safety.
• Makes rounds for purposes of case finding, supervision of infection prevention/control practices, environmental sanitation, and serve as a resource for the staff, patients, visitors, and others needing information on infection control.
• Reviews laboratory reports daily to identify hospital-associated infections, identify reportable diseases, and to assess potential outbreak situation.
• Collaborates with Microbiology staff and the clinical pharmacist on significant findings or unusual occurrences.
• Recognizes serious reportable events and epidemiologically significant organisms that may require immediate investigation.
• Reviews patient medical records using the actual chart or the Meditech/Webmedx for patient assessment, data collection for surveillance purposes, to differentiate community-acquired from hospital-associated infections.
• Collects, compiles and identifies data on all required surveillance by the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), the California Department Public Health (CDPH), and by the hospital.
• Analyzes surveillance data and data on special projects/studies for trends, patterns, or clusters of infections and prepares reports to committees.
• Organizes and maintains an electronic file of all data in IP/IC shared file.
• Prepares an annual report and evaluation of the Infection Prevention/Control Program/IP/IC activities with the Chief Medical Officer and the Infection Prevention chairman to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Infection Prevention/Control program.
• Collects and communicates significant Infection Control information to appropriate committees and staff.
• Communicates and collaborates with hospital departments to provide information on infection control practices.
• Communicates information to regulatory agencies as required/needed.
• Provides Infection Prevention/Control/Epidemiology consultation to hospital staff, and physicians per request or as deemed necessary by IP/IC staff.
• Serves as resource on IP/IC risk assessment and prevention and control strategies.
• Performs educational needs assessment of the hospital staff pertaining to IP/IC.
• Provides IP/IC classes to the New Employee Orientation Program, RN Residency Program and department in-services.
• Evaluates the effectiveness of the IP/IC education programs.
• Provides classes on Influenza, TB, or significant or unusual disease or organism as necessary according to current needs and as required by regulatory agencies.
• Provides education materials to staff, patients, relatives or patient designees.
• Acts as the hospital liaison with the local, state and federal agencies following state mandated reporting guidelines.
• Reports surveillance data to NHSN/CDPH and public reporting requirements.
• Coordinates with Plant Operations/Engineering Department on construction activities in the hospital.
• Identifies clusters of infections or unusual occurrences using evidence-based processes, analyze data, and offer recommendations to control outbreak or to correct practices.
• Reports outbreaks or unusual occurrences to the appropriate agency.
• Demonstrates current knowledge of Infection Prevention/Control process/policies/procedures and acts as a role model for IP/IC practice.
• Recognizes infectious and communicable disease process and initiates appropriate actions.
• Applies the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Standard and other current mandates on Infection Prevention/Control.
• Role models hospital values and behavioral norms to every customer group.

Requirements

• Minimum 5 years in an acute health care setting.
• Ability to develop policies and procedures.
• Ability to teach and evaluate clinical performance.
• Ability to provide current educational programs in Infection Prevention and Control topics.
• Bachelor's in Nursing, Microbiology, Public Health or related field required.
• Master's in Nursing, Microbiology, Public Health, Epidemiology or related field preferred.
• Valid California RN License.
• Board Certified in Infection Prevention and Control (C.I.C) required on hire or within one year of hire.
• Valid Fire Card required on hire or within 30 days of hire.
• Completion of basic training course in infection control.

Benefits

• Supportive Environment: We prioritize teamwork, professional growth, and a positive work culture.
• Impactful Work: Your role will directly contribute to the smooth operation of our organization.
• Professional Development: We offer continuous learning and advancement opportunities to help you grow in your career.