1. Directs and maintains an Infection Control Program designed for preventing, identifying, reporting, investigating, and controlling infections and communicable diseases for all residents, staff, volunteers, visitors, and other individuals providing services in the facility.
Stays informed of CDC, OSHA, FDA, state, and federal regulations to ensure that the facility follows clinical guidelines and standards and remains in compliance.
Writes standards, policies, and procedures for the infection control program.
2. Monitors staff infection control practices to ensures that staff members follow infection control procedures.
3. Makes recommendations about staff infection control practices.
4. Informs the Directors of Nursing and Staff Development when staff members need instruction, and contributes to inservices and staff meetings on subjects such as:
New infection control material, information, practices, or regulations
Improving staff practices in infection control
Basic infection control practices
Hand washing
Standard Precautions
Infectious diseases
Handling of linens
Isolation practices
Prevention of needle sticks
Handling of hazardous medical waste
5. Acts as facility’s Infection Preventionist:
Establishes, monitors, and maintains Standard and Transmission-based Precautions to be followed to prevent spread of infections.
Determines when and how isolation should be used for a resident; including but not limited to:
The type and duration of the isolation, depending upon the infectious agent or organism involved, and
Assuring the isolation is the least restrictive possible for the resident under the circumstances.
Instructing staff members on how to appropriately isolate the resident.
Establishes the circumstances under which the facility must prohibit employees with a communicable disease or infected skin lesions from direct contact with residents or their food as needed.
Infection Control Nurse 1
Establishes a system of surveillance designed to identify possible communicable diseases or infections before they can spread to other persons in the facility.
Investigates, controls, and prevents infections in the facility.
Maintains a record of incidents and corrective actions related to infections.
Tracks infections in the facility to determine patterns by monitoring and analysis of:
Each unit’s 24 Hour Report
Lab reports
Pharmacy list of antibiotics currently used in the facility
Analyzes data and trends in resident and staff infections by:
Resident or staff member
Type
Date
Frequency
Unit and room
Presents monthly and quarterly infection reports to the Director of Nursing, Quality Assurance Committee, and the Medical Director’s meeting.
Monitors the facility for occurrences of infections including:
Urinary tract infections
Respiratory tract infections
Soft tissue infections
Gastroenteritis
Clostridium difficile
Tuberculosis
Antibiotic-resistant infections
Influenza
6. Acts as facility’s Antibiotic Steward:
Outlines antibiotic use protocols.
Monitors antibiotic use.
Documents findings and reports them to Director of Nursing
7. Monitors and facilitates the facility’s Tuberculosis, TB testing, and treatment.
Orders the PPD and tuberculin syringes to keep each unit in the facility supplied.
Educates the health care team on:
Tuberculosis and treatment
Protocols for Mantoux test administration
When and how to read the test results
What types of test results should be referred to the Infection Control Nurse for follow-up
Monitors TB Logs and unit practices to make sure the TB testing process meets clinical standards of care.
Keeps in her office copies of each unit’s TB logs and copies of employee TB test results.
Infection Control Nurse 2
8. Monitors and facilitates the facility’s Covid-19 Prevention Program.
9. Monitors and facilitates the facility’s Pneumococcal immunizations.
Orders the Pneumococcal vaccine.
Reviews current product information from the vaccine manufacturer.
Distributes the vaccine to the units, and educates the health care team on vaccine administration:
Protocols
Contraindications
Possible side effects
Monitors the Immunization Log and unit practices to assure the process meets clinical standards of care.
10. Monitors and facilitates the facility’s Influenza Vaccinations.
Orders Influenza vaccine, and informs the facility’s Director of Nursing and Charge Nurses when Influenza vaccine is available and that the immunization process should begin.
Distributes vaccine to the units, and educates the health care team on vaccine administration
Protocols
Contraindications
Possible side effects
Gives the Charge Nurses a log of all residents on each unit for a record of the process that including:
Resident name and room number
Resident given information about the vaccine and its benefits and possible side effects
Date vaccine administered
Vaccine refused or contraindicated, and reason why
Temperature for three consecutive days
Side effects noted
Monitors the Immunization Log and the unit practices to make sure the immunization process meets clinical standards of care.
Keeps in her office copies of each unit’s immunization logs after the facility’s process is completed.
10. Monitors and facilitates handling of medical waste and used needles.
Trains employees to use new devices and/or procedures.
Documents employee training in the OSHA Exposure Control Plan.
Monitors facility practices in handling needles, sharps, and exposure to facilitate compliance.
Maintains a log of injuries from contaminated sharps according to OSHA standards that includes:
All work related needle stick injuries and cuts from sharp objects that are contaminated with another person's blood or other potentially infectious materials
Infection Control Nurse 3
Update of follow-up interventions if a recorded employee injury is later diagnosed with an infectious bloodborne disease
Implements and reports follow-up procedures after needle stick or sharps injuries according to OSHA regulations.
11. Implements Outbreak control by onitoring facility for early detection of possible outbreaks.
Reports infections, outbreaks, and diseases to the local health department in accordance with local, state, and federal regulations.
Reports to the Director of Nursing that there is an infectious outbreak if 3% or more of a single unit or of the entire facility is infected within 7 days.
Ensures that outbreaks are reported to the facility’s Medical Director and local health dept within 24 hours of discovery.
Meets with staff to review infection control protocols
Instructs Charge Nurses to keep a log at each nurses’ station tracking the temperatures and symptoms of residents.
Informs the Director of Nursing if an infected unit or the entire facility may need to be quarantined.
Monitors the progression of the outbreak, and when the last infected person displays no signs or symptoms for 72 hours, informs the Director of Nursing that the outbreak is over.