A health care facility’s infection control practitioner collaborates with staff to prevent disease from spreading. This includes putting in place general policies to protect patients and caregivers, as well as consulting in specific cases where specific concerns exist. To become an infection control practitioner, you must have at least a Bachelor of Science in nursing, with a master’s degree preferred. Job experience and membership in professional organizations can also be beneficial to applicants, especially at large facilities.
An infection control practitioner’s job entails constant monitoring and surveillance to ensure that hospital staff adhere to protocol. This could include going to wards, interviewing staff, and sitting in on new hire training sessions. Patients may be tested on a regular basis to identify people who may be infected with dangerous diseases. Because some patients are unaware that they are carriers, it is critical to test people in sensitive areas of the facility for potentially hazardous organisms.
An infection control practitioner’s responsibilities also include developing new policies to manage infection. This necessitates staying current with developments in the field in order to apply the most recent research and standards. To stay current with infection control practices, people can attend conferences, subscribe to trade journals, and participate in research. It may be necessary to change the nature of employee training, order new supplies, and take other steps as facilities implement new policies to ensure a smooth transition.
Some facilities hire an infection control specialist to train new employees and teach infection-control refresher courses. In some cases, the practitioner may be tasked with writing the relevant section of the employee handbook. Supervisors and other key staff members can also receive direct training. This top-down approach ensures that employees are up to date on hospital policy and health-care standards, allowing them to provide the best care to patients while also avoiding infection.
The infection control practitioner may be called in as a consultant in cases where patients have dangerous infections or are immunocompromised and thus at higher risk. This member of the staff, in collaboration with other members of the care team, can put policies in place to ensure that the patient is handled safely and effectively. Using isolation rooms, requiring personnel to wear gowns and masks, and requesting frequent tests to monitor the patient’s immune function and infection levels are some of these options.