Job Description
Job Posting Title
Infection Control Specialist/Infection Preventionist
Company
Department
The Medical Unit in MSF New York is part of the Medical Department of Operational Center – Paris (OCP) and provides technical support for: Tropical Medicine, Infectious Diseases (including antibiotic resistance (ABR), medical article writing and publication and special projects, such as the Febrile Illness Diagnostic Program (FIDP).
Project
MSF
and in particular OCP, is committed to providing hospital-based secondary and
tertiary care to those ill and injured across the range of the organization’s
mission contexts. For instance, surgical and neonatal programs are a major component
of our hospital activity, MSF OCP leads the MSF movement in the number of
surgical acts performed annually. In our projects in
Infections
of soft-tissue, bone, and bloodstream acquired either prior to hospitalization
or in-hospital are a major challenge to the successful outcome for these
patients, particularly considering the global problem of ABR. In recognition,
MSF has made ABR a focus of operations, policy, and advocacy. The MSF OCP
medical department has created a multi-disciplinary team to address ABR in its
operations, including an infectious disease specialist, a microbiologist and an
epidemiologist. For 2018, MSF OCP will finalize its 2018-2021 ABR roadmap (a
model for MSF as a whole) which will focus on 4 pillars: antibiotic
stewardship, infection control, the microbiologic identification of the
etiology and drug-resistance patterns of the principle life-threatening
infections encountered in our patient populations and operational research. In
2018, the ABR team will be based primarily in
Tasks
Essential Functions and Responsibilities
·
Within the ABR OCP roadmap goals, the
infection control specialist will establish a framework for the policies and
procedures of hospital-based infection prevention and control (IPC), focusing
initially on hospital care.
·
The incumbent will be responsible for issues
relating to IPC, including sterilization (quality of materials used by MSF,
definition of standards, procedures and implementation) and the selection,
procurement and use of material for it (hygiene and sterilization products,
medical equipment).
·
In collaboration with other medical department
referents: review and update current MSF OCP IPC policies and recommended
practices, adapted to the context and specific activities of our hospital-based
projects. This will include: minimum standards required of all hospital
structures, which may include everything from ward layout, cohorting of
patients, wound care practices, hand hygiene, barrier practices, hospital
environment sources of pathogenic bacteria, etc.
·
Mapping of IPC in our projects and evaluation
of IPC needs.
·
Make regular field visits to implement and
evaluate performance of hospital IPC activities, sterilization and hygiene
practices including working with hospital managers and operations to evaluate
isolation/contact precautions capacity in existing and planned hospital
structures that have microbiology capacity for IPC of patients with multidrug
resistance (MDR) pathogens.
·
Work with surgeons, infectious diseases’
specialists, the pharma team and others to develop standard case definition for
hospital-acquired tissue infections.
·
Work with the medical department ABR team to
define the roles and responsibilities and training needs of personnel to
establish, monitor, and reinforce basic infection control practices appropriate
for all MSF OCP hospital structures as well as in specialized hospitals,
contribute to the description and function of a multi-disciplinary hospital
"ABR team” that coordinates and collaborates on microbiologic identification of
antibiotic resistant organisms and antibiotic stewardship personnel to promote appropriate
use of antibiotics. In addition, contribute to training materials for infection
and ABR control adapted to OCP hospital levels and activities.
·
Briefings
and debriefings of expatriates going and coming from relevant missions.
·
Respond to field queries about questions on
hygiene sterilization, IPC including identification and control of hospital
outbreaks of ABR.
·
Participation in the activities of the medical
department:
Preparation
of the annual and/or multiannual plan,
Participation
in training,
Support to the HR department
for the validation of CVs, volunteer placements in its area of competence.
·
Contribute to formulation of operational research questions
relevant to IPC, including systematic review of nosocomial infections in
resource-limited settings.
Collaborate
with IPC-relevant partners, both within MSF including intersectionally and
external to MSF regarding IPC in resource-limited settings (implementation,
monitoring, evaluation). In
relationship with MSF-USA:
·
Collaborate with the different departments in
the NY office (programs, communications, fundraising, field HR, Access
Campaign).
·
Participate in different MSF-USA activities:
general assembly, info days, webinars, etc.
· Represent MSF at different conferences, meetings with academia and other NGOs.
Requirements
Required:
·
Medical
Doctor, Registered Nurse (RN), Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), Hospital
Pharmacist or advanced degree, with formal Infection Control training
·
At least two
years’ experience as an Infection Preventionist in an acute care setting or
equivalent combination of education and experience.
·
Knowledge of infection prevention control
practices and processes.
·
Previous work in or knowledge of the
developing country context and understanding of its challenges
·
Ability to work as a team member and interact
with broad spectrum of healthcare personnel.
·
Excellent written and verbal communication
skills.
·
Strong computer and data entry skills,
especially in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
·
Skilled in organizational behavior and group
dynamics.
·
Independent, able to write clearly and
succinctly, ready to collaborate as a team.
·
Englishlanguage fluency required;
·
Ability to travel, spending up to 30-40% time
in
Preferred:
·
Experience working in the field with MSF or a
similar humanitarian organization.
·
French language fluency. Other languages are
an asset (i.e. Arabic).
· Certification in Infection Control or similar.
Type
HQ
Contract Type
Open Ended Contract
Additional Information
Starting salary mid 90’s to low 100’s USD (commensurate with experience)
Desired Hiring Date
16, April 2018
Working Time %
100,00
How to Apply
Please send letter of interest/cover letter and resume to: Employment.msfusa@newyork.msf.org, Attn: "Infection Control Specialist/Infection Preventionist.”
Submissions without cover letter will not be reviewed. No phone calls please.
Application
deadline:
EOE.
Employment/Position Type:
Full TimeShare On :