About North Country Healthcare (NCH):
North Country Healthcare is a non-profit affiliation of four medical facilities, Androscoggin Valley Hospital, North Country Home Health & Hospice Agency, Upper Connecticut Valley Hospital, and Weeks Medical Center, located in the White Mountains Region of New Hampshire. NCH includes numerous physicians and medical providers at multiple locations. This leading comprehensive healthcare network which employs hundreds of highly-trained individuals delivers integrated patient care through three community hospitals, specialty clinics, and home health and hospice services. NCH remains committed to the health and well-being of the communities we serve.
North Country Healthcare is an equal-opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.
If you require a reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to the Human Resources department at the affiliate to which you are applying.
About North Country Healthcare (NCH):
North Country
Healthcare is a non-profit affiliation of four medical facilities, Androscoggin
Valley Hospital, North Country Home Health & Hospice Agency, Upper
Connecticut Valley Hospital, and Weeks Medical Center, located in the White
Mountains Region of New Hampshire. NCH includes numerous physicians and medical
providers at multiple locations. This leading comprehensive healthcare network
which employs hundreds of highly-trained individuals delivers integrated
patient care through three community hospitals, specialty clinics, and home
health and hospice services. NCH remains committed to the health and well-being
of the communities we serve. Our Leaders and Managers emphasize advancing
High-Reliability Organization (HRO) principles, embedding a culture of safety,
accountability, and consistent high performance.
POSITION SUMMARY:
The Infection Preventionist, RN will direct and coordinate
the North Country Healthcare infection prevention program with overarching goal
of identifying and reducing the risk of endemic and healthcare associated
infections among patients, personnel, medical staff, volunteers, visitors,
students and other healthcare workers that may have contact with the facility.
Direct and coordinate the Blood Borne Pathogen (BBP) Exposure Prevention Plan.
Create, review, revise and manage all policies as they relate to infection
prevention. Ensure compliance with all Federal, State and Local regulations as
they pertain to infection prevention practices. This role emphasizes advancing
High-Reliability Organization (HRO) principles, embedding a culture of safety,
accountability, and consistent high performance in nursing practice.
ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS
Education:
- Bachelor's Degree in healthcare related field
preferred, Registered Nurse required.
- Certification in Infection Prevention and/or
Employee Health desired/preferred.
- Current
NH registered nursing license required.
- Association* accredited course in Basic Life
Support (BLS) (for clinical staff), or Heartsaver CPR AED (for nonclinical
staff), and renewal on a regular basis, with up to a three-month grace period
after the expiration date.
Skills:
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office
Suite (WORD, EXCEL, PowerPoint).
- Must have ability to work in a
team-oriented environment.
- Must
work effectively with others both inside and outside the organization.
- Must
be able to travel outside the organization for meetings and conferences.
- Minimum of 3-5 years of nursing experience, with
a focus on occupational health, public health, or employee wellness preferred.
- Experience in designing and implementing health
promotion initiatives and educational programs preferred.
- Familiarity with state and federal health
regulations related to occupational health preferred.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
1. Participate in committee
assignments as appropriate i.e. Infection Prevention Committee, Diversion Team,
Safety Committee, and Emergency Preparedness to ensure staff are adequately
protected during disasters and/or emergencies.
2. Ensure that Infection
Prevention Plan is current, reflects best practices and is implemented
throughout organization and in compliance with OSHA regulations as well as all
other applicable Federal, State and Local regulations. Review plan on an annual
basis and revise as necessary.
3. Ensure appropriate
surveillance of the facility to identify infections, communicable diseases and
disease outbreaks by reviewing lab reports and clinical data. Ensure
appropriate surveillance of environmental services to verify that techniques,
equipment, and tools meet infection prevention standards.
4. Monitor the Hospital
Acquired Infection Rate and the Surgical Site Infection Rate and submit regular
reports to the Infection Prevention committee. Submit surveillance data to
federal, state and local regulators as required.
5. In conjunction with the
Quality Improvement, design, implement and measure the success of hospital wide
quality improvement initiatives related to infection prevention (eg: Employee
flu vaccinations; Hand Hygiene; hospital acquired UTIs, etc.).
6. Monitors and executes
vaccination programs for both new hires and current staff including but not
limited to Hepatitis-B, Measles, Mumps and Rubella, and Varicella. Consults
with Physician re: administration and standing orders. Maintains all employee
health records.
7. Determines real and
potential health problems and hazards and works in conjunction with other
organization personnel to develop and implement programs to reduce and/or
eliminate these in the workplace. Assist with Safety Committee goals and
specialized safety programs including, but not limited to, coordinating the
monthly Sharps Prevention Committee.
8. Investigate Disease
Outbreaks -- Identify suspected infectious disease outbreaks and conduct
immediate investigation.
9. Take measures to contain
confirmed infectious disease outbreaks as delineated in the Infection
Prevention Plan.
10. Notify the State Health
Department, CMO, CNO, Human Resources and the safety officer of any suspected
or confirmed infectious disease outbreaks.Prepare written report summarizing
actions taken during outbreak, effectiveness of said measures and resolution of
outbreak.
11. Submit report to Quality
Control and other interested parties in a timely manner.
12. Notify the appropriate
responsible party of the risk and take action to ensure that risk is remediated
in a reasonable timeframe.
13. Infection Prevention/Risk
Assessment Policy and Procedure Review. Review all department policies on an
annual basis.
14. Ensure that all policies
are current and reflect best practices. Ensure that all policy changes are
reviewed by appropriate, involved personnel in accordance with policy
management procedures. Ensure that all significant policy changes are reviewed
and approved by the Infection Prevention Committee. Ensure that all employees
are appropriately in-serviced and trained when policy changes occur.
15. Professional Development
Stay current on all relevant APIC, CDC, and DHHS standards, guidelines, and
recommendations, as well as other professional literature and sources.
16. Keep abreast of current
developments in Infection Prevention by:
- Attend State Infection Prevention (NHICEP)
meetings, maintain communications with other Infection Prevention
Practitioners, and participate in relevant email listservs.
- Acts as a trusted resource to others; becomes
involved in decision making. Acts independently and responsibly on behalf of
patients (customers/team) needs, problems, and opportunities.
- Maintain current reference materials related
to Infection Prevention and make such material available to personnel.
- Review professional journals and websites for
pertinent articles and distribute to appropriate personnel.
