Nurse Consultant - HAI​/AR Prevention & Response Infection Preventionist

Disease Control & Public Health Response - HAI/AR Program, Communicable Disease Branch

You must be a resident of the State of Colorado to be eligible to apply.

This is a term‑limited position and funding cannot be guaranteed beyond July 31, 2027.

We are committed to increasing the diversity of our staff and providing culturally responsive programs and services. Therefore, we encourage responses from people of diverse backgrounds and abilities.

This position exists to provide infection prevention guidance and perform infection control assessments of targeted facilities; provide expertise to mitigate gaps detected during infection control assessments; and provide expertise during HAI outbreaks and other infection prevention projects. It includes a thorough understanding of healthcare infection prevention guidelines and practices, often including board certification in infection control and related specialties in addition to training and experience in healthcare epidemiology and public health.

Position is held by a nurse with a specialized and unique level of knowledge and expertise which is that of a professional infection preventionist in a hospital, nursing home, and outpatient clinical settings, including knowledge of preventable surgical site and device associated infections, standard and transmission‑based precautions and disinfection of the healthcare environment, the ability to audit infection prevention practices and provide feedback to clinical providers, and the ability to train less experienced infection preventionists in clinical settings on the latest infection prevention practices.

Position provides essential consultation to healthcare facilities, healthcare providers, and local public health agencies around HAI/AR response activities, and relays key information and professional opinions and assessments back to HAI/AR leadership to guide the direction of the public health response activities.

• Provides infection prevention (IP) expertise and performs infection prevention and control assessments (IPC) of targeted facilities, assessing staff practices to identify gaps for mitigation.
• Provides feedback to facilities verbally and in writing, summarizing the gaps identified during an assessment and the corresponding evidence‑based recommendations (CDC, APIC, etc.) needed for mitigation.
• Assesses which practices may have led to transmission, or an outbreak in the facility, in order to guide targeted mitigation efforts to break the chain of infection.
• Assesses healthcare personnel performing their roles to ensure compliance with best practices.
• Assesses healthcare facility compliance with standard precautions and transmission‑based precautions, including those performed during direct patient care.
• Performs the majority of assessments for the HAI/AR program.
• Performs phone consultations and on‑site assessments to review each facility’s infection prevention practices and policies in targeted areas.
• Maintains a matrix that is used to guide prioritization of identified facilities for IPC assessments.
• Conducts outreach to facilities that have been selected for participation in assessments.
• Works with influential facilities (Long‑term acute care hospitals) to conduct annual proactive assessments.
• Provides nursing/infection prevention expertise during healthcare‑associated infection (HAI) outbreak and exposure event investigations.
• Consultation with other CDPHE outbreak team members, facility consultation, or participation in outbreak investigation site visits.
• Determines if possible adverse events might have occurred.
• Raises awareness and educates external partners on HAI/AR prevention and response activities.
• Provides statewide onsite assistance for HAI/AR prevention and response activities, including infection control assessments using CDC‑created tools and other resources. These efforts are statewide, and may include outlying communities with fewer resources, in collaboration with the Field Infection Preventionist.
• Makes infection prevention‑related decisions and takes action with healthcare facilities and partners to implement mitigation actions during HAI/AR…