Description

The Cedars is looking for a Risk Manager/Infection Preventionist to join our nursing team!

The primary responsibilities of the Risk Manager; Quality Assessment Process Improvement (QAPI) Coordinator; community Corporate Compliance coordinator; Infection Preventionist is to lead/perform surveillance activities, monitor trends and facilitate inter-departmental, campus wide activities focused on mitigating risk, promoting process improvement, effective infection prevention and control, participating in policy development and updates as applicable; and providing and/or participating in education related to these areas.  This role serves as a member of nursing leadership team and departmental leaders for the community.  The work requires knowledge of regulatory guidance/requirements, public health mandates, standards of practice and specialized infection prevention training.

Essential Job Functions:

Risk Management:

• Work together with departments to identify risk including safety concerns and trends with a focus on process improvement and education mitigate risk and frequency of the occurrence of accidents, injuries, or other incidents to residents, employees, or visitors
• Review incident reports for IL, AL and HC residents, visitors and employee incidents and work with the Executive Director and/or Director of Nursing and/or appropriate department manager to find solutions. 
• Respond to medical bills related to injuries on campus
• Assist in the development and modification of policies to mitigate risk and promote safety
• Attend stand-up rounds and risk related meetings/gatherings
• Work with nurse management team and/or executive director on researching causes of resident accidents/incidents and interventions to mitigate further risk.
• Oversee event reporting to Caring Communities and ECRI and attend spring and fall risk management meetings, and monthly webinars
• Lead Risk Management meetings with Medical Director in attendance 
• Participate with Bluestem Communities’ annual review and update of the Bluestem Risk Management Plan 
• Work with executive director and nurse management to implement ECRI tool kits, as applicable. 
• Report issues of concern to Executive Director 
• Coordinate communications with attorneys on potential or actual claims including record requests and facility visits.  Review any records sent in response to attorney requests before they are provided. All communications will go thru the Risk Manager (under the guidance of Bluestem Communities attorney and/or ECRI attorney with regular communication with the community ED)
• Review information sent to the Coroner’s Office

Infection Preventionist and Antibiotic Stewardship

• Responsible for the infection prevention and control program as a system for preventing, identifying, reporting, investigating, and controlling infections and communicable diseases for all residents, staff, volunteers, visitors, and other individuals providing services.  This involves surveillance activities and education for preventative measures as well as for infectious diseases. 
• Responsible to complete infectious disease reporting as required by CMS and public health regulation including NHSN reporting, reporting as required to KDHE and Harvey County Health Department
• Work in collaboration with state and federal agencies such as KFMC, KDHE, CDC, CMS in infectious disease management strategies
• Lead educational work for staff, residents, families, vendors and volunteers related to infectious disease risk when appropriate. Serve as staff resource related to infectious disease education.  
• Tracking of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) and reviewing the type of antibiotic use for these MDROs.  
• Review of antibiotic use and ways to reduce the antibiotics.  Track infections and synthesize data to observe for trends or concerns. 

Qualifications

Qualifications and Experience:

• Must be at least twenty-one (21) years of age
• Must be a Registered Nurse licensed to practice in Kansas with Bachelor of Science Degree or actively pursuing this degree  
• Must be detail oriented, analytical and systematic 
• Must have leadership characteristics; able to communicate, educate and work effectively with people at various levels of comprehension
• Must be willing to learn new systems and processes and be continually open to new learning 
• Must have completed CMS approved Infection Prevention and Control specialist training or finalize completion of within the first month of employment 
• Must understand Federal and State regulations for health care services