Infection Control Specialist

Fakeeh Care Group · Jeddah, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

EpidemiologistFull timeOn-site

Key Responsibilities and Duties

  1. Maintains close communication with all members of healthcare teams in areas assigned, through meetings and informal discussions to ensure that the program is continuous and proactive.
  2. Assists in initiating precautions and advises concerning precautions and isolation measures applied on any transmissible diseases within the Fakeeh Care entity.
  3. Assists in daily surveillance of all patients in assigned units to identify health care-associated infections based on established guidelines and approved definitions and criteria. Prepares periodic reports related to healthcare associated infections and presents in relevant committees and forums.
  4. On daily basis, collects microbiological reports from the laboratory and other pertinent reports related to infection prevention and control surveillance activities.
  5. Assists in epidemiological investigation during outbreaks, clusters of infection, and exposure incidents across Fakeeh Care entity and helps initiate control measures in collaboration with Infection Control Team and concerned personnel and/or units.
  6. Assists in the staff, students, patient/relatives and visitors education concerning various aspects in infection control and prevention.
  7. Helps monitor staffs compliance with infection control practices through audit.
  8. Identifies problems and risks related to infection control and consults with the Infection Control Team for resolutions.
  9. Serves as resource person in infection-related problems, detects evidence of cross infection and assists in the development of improved infection control.
  10. Assists in the documentation and reporting of diseases that are ‘reportable” to health authorities.
  11. Conducts periodic assessment of the Fakeeh Care entity environment to evaluate conformity with IC principles include:
    • Proper environmental surfaces cleaning and disinfection.
    • Water quality testing; Monitors the results of water cultures as indicated.
    • Monitors air quality measures including (Pressure gradient, air cycles, temperature and humidity of all positive and negative pressure rooms.
    • Conducts fungal cultures post construction involving high-risk areas eg, operating theaters.
    • Assists in the review of environmental cleanliness in areas assigned including cleaning procedures, schedules, and agents used.
  1. Assists in monitoring implementation of healthcare waste program.
  2. Assists in overseeing the ambulatory cares and home care organization:
    • Development and implementation of policies and procedures.
    • Education of staff on proper program implementation, operation, tracking and trending infection control data.
    • Evaluation of employee exposures and follow-up.
  1. Responsible for arranging and organizing infection control committee meetings including preparation of agenda, reports and minutes. Act as a member of other committees as assigned by seniors.
  2. Participates in fire and disaster drills (internal and external).
  3. Other duties as assigned within the scope of responsibility and requirements of the job.

Skills and Abilities

Command of Microsoft office.

Experience

3 years clinical nursing experience in an acute or teaching hospital and strong knowledge base in infection prevention and control. Experience in infection control preferred.

Education

Graduate of a professional school of nursing.

Language

Excellent command in oral and written English. Arabic preferred.

Licenses / Certifications

Current Registered Nurse Licensure from country of origin required. License for practice as per the regional health regulatory authority e.g. (SCFHS / DHA). Certification in Infection Control (CIC) preferred.

About the employer

Fakeeh Care Group

Saudi Arabia

Founded in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 1978 by Dr. Soliman Fakeeh, the Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital (DSFH) has been a true leader in the field, whose pioneering spirit and visionary resolve has - for over three decades - advanced by leaps the standards of healthcare delivery in the Kingdom and in the region. In 1986, the first expansion of the Hospital was inaugurated by His Majesty, the late King Fahd bin Abd al-Aziz. In addition to doubling the facility's inpatient capacity, that expansion introduced such new centers as open-heart surgery and new clinics, including neurosurgery, neurology, nephrology and infertility clinics, and established DSFH as a definitive leader of private healthcare in the Kingdom. In 1999, a second expansion inaugurated by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz, Crown-Prince at the time, marked the addition of two new structures to the DSFH campus, and offered several additional clinics and fitness centers. DSFH was the first private hospital in the Western Region of the Kingdom to become accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI) in 2006 and 2009, and by the Australian Council for Healthcare Standards International (ACHSI) in 2008. DSFH is presently considered one of the most distinguished hospitals in the Middle East, and is visited by over 500,000 patients every year; and it is the first hospital to publish a corporate social responsibility report in the health care sector in the MENA region in 2008. DSFH is a regional pioneer in the field of organ-transplantation, including kidney, bone-marrow, liver, and heart transplantation. Its open-heart surgery centre claims the highest number of operations done in the private sector in the Kingdom with a success rate comparable to any international centre of excellence.