Registered Nurse (Infection Prevention) – Amazon Store
Summary The Infection Preventionist (IP) is responsible and accountable for all elements of the nursing process when providing and/or supervising infection control practices and assess, plan, implement, and evaluate infection control practices. The IP influences care outcomes by collaborating with members of the interdisciplinary team and executes position responsibilities that demonstrate leadership, experience, and creative approaches to management of complex infection control situations. Duties Help A Career At VA Salt Lake City Health Care System Can Take You Places (youtube.com) Duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Surveillance for hospital acquired infections using National Healthcare Safety Network definitions.
- Implementation of the MDRO Prevention Initiative.
- Identification and investigation of all potential outbreaks of infection.
- Development of measures for prevention and control of infections using the interdisciplinary approach.
- Provide in-service education related to infection control to care teams.
- Performance of environmental studies as necessary to investigate epidemics, augment educational efforts, and monitor sterilization activities.
- Review and revise, Infection Prevention and Control policies in conjunction with individual care teams.
- Serve as consultants to the Occupational Health Program and care teams.
- Serve as liaison to Sterile Processing Service to assist in compliance with reusable medical equipment (RME) requirements.
- Collaborate with Engineering and Facilities Management on Legionella and construction related dust abatement.
- Serve as liaison to local health departments in reporting communicable diseases and consulting on issues related to community health.
- Review requirements by the Joint Commission, Occupational Safety and Health, Office of Inspector General and other external surveying bodies and advising the VASLCHCS in meeting those requirements.
- Review the Infection Prevention and Control Programs, for the hospital, home care and behavioral health.
- Recommend new or revised practices or procedures based on currently accepted, evidence-based infection prevention and control strategies.
- Review, analyze, and apply pertinent information from current scientific literature and publications.
- Recognize populations who are at high risk for infection, utilizing the principles of human growth and development to assess patient's requirements relative to age specific needs.
- Apply epidemiological principles and statistical methods, including risk stratification, to identify target populations, analyze trends and risk factors, and design and evaluate prevention and control strategies.
- Use appropriate statistical techniques to describe the data, calculate rates, and critically evaluate significance of findings.
- Develop the organization's surveillance plan based on the population(s) served, services provided, and previous surveillance data.
- Use standardized definitions for the identification and classification of events, indicators, or outcomes.
- Analyze data utilizing internal and external (if appropriate) benchmarks.
- Report epidemiologically significant findings.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of the surveillance plan.
- Experience leading collaborative process improvement projects; leading interdisciplinary team/network.
- Prefer experience with data analytics.
- Five (5) years of infection prevention experience in a hospital setting.
- Certification in Infection Control (CIC).
- Demonstrated expertise in preventing and controlling infections.
- Master's in Nursing
- U.S. Citizenship; non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
- All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
- Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
- You may be required to serve a probationary period.
- Subject to background/security investigation.
- Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
- Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
- Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
- English Language Proficiency. In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7403(f), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English.
- Graduate of a school of professional nursing approved by the appropriate accrediting agency and accredited by one of the following accrediting bodies at the time the program was completed by the applicant: The Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) or The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE); OR Individuals attending a master's level bridge program in nursing who have completed coursework equivalent to a bachelor's level degree in Nursing may have opportunity to become registered as a nurse with a state licensing board prior to completion of the bridge program. Upon achievement of a State license, the individual may be appointed on temporary basis and later converted to a permanent appointment upon successful completion and graduation from the bridge program. (Reference VA Handbook 5005, Appendix G6); OR In cases of graduates of foreign schools of professional nursing, possession of a current, full, active, and unrestricted registration will meet the requirement for graduation from an approved school of professional nursing to warrant an appointment as a Nurse who has completed an associated degree/entry level Nursing education program. Credit for foreign nursing education higher that associate degree/entry level requires a formal degree equivalency validation from a recognized equivalency evaluation accepted by VA such as International Consultants of Delaware (ICD).
- Current, full, active, and unrestricted registration as a graduate professional nurse in a State, Territory or Commonwealth (i.e., Puerto Rico) of the United States, or the District of Columbia. Graduate Nurse Technician (GNT) Exception: Candidates who otherwise meet the basic education requirements, but do not possess the required licensure, may be appointed at the entry step of the grade and level applicable to the completed nursing education as a GNT on a 120-day temporary appointment while actively pursuing licensure (may be extended up to two years on a case-by-case-basis.)