Career Center

Provides leadership in the application of the nursing process to patient care, organizational processes and/or systems, improving outcomes at the program or service level. The Nurse Infection Control Manager /Multi-Drug Resistant Organism (MDRO) Coordinator is responsible for: - Medical Center's Infection Control Program (ICP) and the facility's MDRO Program. - Adhering to established policies, standards of care and standards of practice. Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. English Language Proficiency. In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), 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 State-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). In cases of graduates of foreign schools of professional nursing, possession of current, full, active and unrestricted registration will meet the requirement of graduation from an approved school of professional nursing. OR The completion of coursework equivalent to a nursing degree in a MSN Bridge Program that qualifies for professional nursing registration constitutes the completion of an approved course of study of professional nursing. Students should submit the certificate of professional nursing to sit for the NCLEX to the VA along with a copy of the MSN transcript. (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. 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. Grade Determinations: The following criteria must be met in determining the grade assignment of candidates, and if appropriate, the level within a grade: Nurse I Level I - An Associate Degree (ADN) or Diploma in Nursing, with no additional nursing practice/experience required. Nurse I Level II - An ADN or Diploma in Nursing and approximately 1 year of nursing practice/experience; OR an ADN or Diploma in Nursing and a bachelor's degree in a related field with no additional nursing practice/experience; OR a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing (BSN) with no additional nursing practice/experience. Nurse I Level III - An ADN or Diploma in Nursing and approximately 2-3 years of nursing practice/experience; OR an ADN or Diploma in Nursing and a Bachelor's degree in a related field and approximately 1-2 years of nursing practice/experience; OR a BSN with approximately 1-2 years of nursing practice/experience; OR a Master's degree in nursing (MSN) or related field with a BSN and no additional nursing practice/experience. Nurse II - A BSN with approximately 2-3 years of nursing practice/experience; OR ADN or Diploma in Nursing and a Bachelor's degree in a related field and approximately 2-3 year's of nursing practice/experience; OR a Master's degree in nursing or related field with a BSN and approximately 1-2 year's of nursing practice/experience; OR a Doctoral degree in nursing or meets basic requirements for appointment and has doctoral degree in a related field with no additional nursing practice/experience required. Nurse III - Master's degree in nursing or related field with BSN and approximately 2-3 year's of nursing practice/experience; OR a Doctoral degree and approximately 2-3 year's of nursing practice/experience. Reference: VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G-6 Nurse Qualification Standard. This can be found in the local Human Resources Office. Physical Requirements: see VA Handbook 5005, Part III, Chapter 2, paragraph 7 and VA Handbook 5019, Occupational Health Services at http://vaww1.va.gov/ohrm/Directives-Handbooks/Documents/5019.doc. All applicants must be physically and mentally able to perform efficiently the duties of the position. The population of male and female veterans served ranges from the adult, age 18, to the elderly adult, age 65 and over. VANJHCS is an interdisciplinary teaching facility, serving medical, surgical, mental health, and long-term care inpatients and outpatients. This position requires visual acuity, keen hearing, clear distinctive speech, and manual dexterity. This position requires potentially long periods of continued walking, standing, stooping, sitting, bending, pulling, and pushing. Transferring patients and objects may be required. The incumbent may be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials and may be required to don protective clothing in isolation situations or operative/invasive procedures. The incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders. The incumbent must be a mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations, able to shift priorities based on patient needs. ["1. Utilizes the nursing process effectively to coordinate and evaluate the medical center infection control program.2. Facilitates and promotes the delivery of high-quality care to patients in all adult phases of the life cycle.3. Maintains frequent contact within patient care areas to identify patients with infections and/or at risk of acquiring infections.4. Provides leadership in the implementation of current standards of infection control practices for nursing, allied health, and other medical center employees.5. Studies significant deviation of infection patterns to define risk factors, practices and areas at high risk for hospital acquired infection.6. Ensures an effective tracking and trending system is developed, utilized and incorporated facility wide. Trends are compared with internal and external databases.7. Provides tracking and trending data reports on the findings from the infection control program to individuals, groups, committees, services and top management as appropriate.8. Recommends changes in practices based on analysis and evaluation of infection control surveillance and current regulatory agency standards, and city, state and federal law/regulations.9. Participates in the HIV/ Hep. C case management activities through the Infectious Diseases Clinic.10. Assesses, plans, develops and initiates activities to improve and sustains the quality and effectiveness of infection control programs for positive outcomes.11. Actively participates in interdisciplinary committees or groups that evaluate clinical practice or health services such as Infection Control Committee, Environment of Care Committee, Critical Care Committee, Operating Room Committee, Subcommittee on Research Safety etc.12. Participates in quality improvement teams to collect data, analyze results, design practice changes to improve and evaluate outcomes.13. Participates in the revision of medical center-wide and departmental policies and procedures in areas of expertise and provides consultation to interdisciplinary project teams.14. Evaluates performance improvement measures and activities to assess the effectiveness of the medical center's infection control program.15. Evaluates accreditation standards and ensures that clinical practices, programs, and policies and procedures are in compliance with established professional, community and/or regulatory standards, and recommends / implements changes to meet those standards.16. Serves as a consultant in matters of infection control for all services within the medical center.17. Serves as an active member and facilitates the functioning of the Infection Control Committee.18. Assists in the development and update of nursing policies/practices related to safety, Infection Control and infectious diseases.19. Evaluates the effectiveness of the program with the Infectious Diseases/Infection Control team and participates in the implementation of appropriate changes. Work Schedule: To be discussed during interview\nTelework: Not Available\nVirtual: This is not a virtual position.\nRelocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized\nPermanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized\nFinancial Disclosure Report: Not required"]