Patient interaction in infection control nursing?

[PeacockMaiden]

I am considering the specialty of infection control nursing. I have an MSN and currently I am working as a nurse case manager for a hospital.

Ever since I took the microbiology pre-req, I have been enchanted with the world of microbes.

I'm considering transitioning into infection control, however I am concerned that it may be too administrative for me, with no patient contact. I do not want to spend my day reading charts and doing other desk work all day long. I'd like a mix of some desk work, but also patient and staff interaction.

Ideally, I'm looking for a position where I could do research, but also serve as a patient and staff educator.

Is this combination of research and patient/staff education available in infection control?

[icp_]

Hi Peacock,

I did a 6 month internship under the director of infection control at a 700 bed hospital and we did daily rounds on patients and teaching to staff as well as patients and families. I believe there are some ICPs who would prefer to sit at a desk all day while others because the nature of their personality enjoy more patient interaction. If that is something you crave, you would definitely be able to make it happen. Hope this helps!

[smilingbig]

Yes!! At this time I am responsible for 100 beds in my hospital and our MICU/CCU. It would depend on the facility though. Our facility conducts follow-up & point-prevalent surveillance cultures, environmental cultures, and this includes lots of educational opportunities with staff & patients & their families. Not all facilities do what we do though. I have made an effort to get to know the nurses that work in my departments and work closely with them to identify areas of improvement when HAIs had become an issue.

Also, we had some Infectious Disease Fellows that were assigned to our department in the past and they began some research projects that some of us are still conducting. Unfortunately, there is a lot of research with regards to chart-review. I think that's unavoidable.