Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1225425
8 Working Nurse l WorkingNurse.com March 23–April 27, 2020 MY SPECIALTY by Keith Carlson, RN, BSN, CPC, NC-BC How did you become interested in this nursing specialty? I can honestly say that I was thrown into the infection control specialty (now called infection prevention) about 15 years ago. It all began with sorting labs and assisting the directors of infection control for two different hospitals on days when I was flexed as an LVN. As I continued to work with the IC directors, I developed increased interest in the field of infection prevention. I sim- ply found bacteria, viruses and diseases fascinating. After a few months, I began to search for courses in infection control in order to take a deeper dive into the field. Additionally, I had the privilege of shad- owing my father, as he was heavily involved in the facilities' disaster plan- ning. At that time, H1N1 was a hot topic, and he was able to guide me through emerging disease trainings. What's something you learned that was surprising or unexpected? At first, I thought infection prevention guidelines were geared only for nursing; boy, was I wrong! It was fascinating to also learn what roles dietary, engineering/facilities and environmental services play in reducing and preventing infections. As a novice infection preventionist (IP), I had to take a crash course in engineering controls, cleaning and disinfection practices, and accreditation and standards interpreta- tion, as well as the ever-evolving infec- tion definitions. It was definitely over- whelming. As an infection prevention nurse, what are your general responsibilities? Where do I begin? In general, my main responsibility is to minimize morbidity and mortality associated with healthcare- associated infections (HAIs) by identify- ing, monitoring, controlling and prevent- ing the occurrence of infectious diseases within all areas of the healthcare setting and the communities we serve. We work very closely with our lab, infectious disease physicians and espe- cially our microbiology department. We also work closely with our clinical pharmacist as part of our antimicrobial stewardship program. This guides us to enforce isolation precautions if needed and report infectious diseases to public health and the National Healthcare Safety Network database (NHSN) for tracking and analysis. An infection prevention specialist's responsibilities also include being an edu- cator, evaluator, consultant, influencer, collaborator, mentor, leader and liaison. We review annual risk assessments as mandated by the state and regulatory agencies and then create our annual infection prevention plan and set goals Esperanza Salazar, RN, BSN, CIC, HACP Infection Prevention Manager St. Francis Medical Center Lynwood Infection Prevention Manager Combating outbreaks and hospital-associated infections TO PREVENT AND TO PROTECT Esperanza Salazar meets with staff nurse Gilvanete Pellot, RN. Salazar says that one of the challenges of her hectic job is maintaining a regular schedule, since curveballs are thrown at her all day. With the current COVID-19 outbreak, she is on call 24/7.