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What does an infection control nurse do?

Updated January 8, 2025
8 min read

Infection Control Nurses are the first responders to an outbreak of an infection. They must quickly contain an infection and ensure that it is not spread to other individuals. They also helps in spreading information about disease prevention and protecting public health. After the initial containment of the disease, it is the nurse's job to take care of the patient and work under a doctor to help the patient recover and become healthy again.

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Infection control nurse responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real infection control nurse resumes:

  • Manage cases of patients recently hospitalize, afflict with chronic debilitating conditions and other long-term care needs.
  • Provide all in-service instruction to all employees and new staff members base on OSHA and state regulations.
  • Maintain regulatory compliance with national and regulatory bodies such as JCAHO, CDC, OSHA, and FDA.
  • Track CPR renewals for medical staff.
  • Update and maintain TB and vaccination records for all employees and residents.
  • Perform annual TB skin test for employees and MDOC inmates in prison.
  • Participate in the ICU QI meetings with the ICU director and M.D.S.
  • Participate in investigations of unusual outbreaks utilizing lab, CDC, and health department.
  • Perform surveillance, prevention, and control activities in ICU and stepdown areas of major academic hospital.
  • Coordinate and supervise care on a busy oncology inpatient unit.
  • Conduct unit meetings, in-service education programs, and quality improvement initiatives as assigned.
  • Conduct skills training lectures hospital-wide for emergency, medical-surgical, and intensive care units.
  • Implement policies and procedures that reflect facility mission and philosophy and conduct in-service education to staff.
  • Facilitate in safely placing and removing patients who require isolation precautions base on infection and/or risk status.
  • Monitor and interpret bacteriology reports and infection statistics, recommends appropriate control measures to prevent dissemination of resistant microorganisms.

Infection control nurse skills and personality traits

We calculated that 17% of Infection Control Nurses are proficient in Patients, Infection Prevention, and Infection Control. They’re also known for soft skills such as Compassion, Detail oriented, and Emotional stability.

We break down the percentage of Infection Control Nurses that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Patients, 17%

    Managed cases of patients recently hospitalized, afflicted with chronic debilitating conditions and other long-term care needs.

  • Infection Prevention, 9%

    Oversee infection prevention program, monthly infection prevention/control reports.

  • Infection Control, 6%

    Directed and coordinated infection control programs, advising and consulting with specified personnel about necessary precautions.

  • Public Health, 6%

    Investigated outbreaks; collaborated with public health department in reporting communicable diseases.

  • Infection Control Practices, 5%

    Educated staff on infection control principles and practices; participated in orientation to address infection control practices and employee health issues.

  • Infection Control Policies, 4%

    Participate in environmental rounds to assure compliance with regulatory guidelines and Infection control policies within the facility.

Most infection control nurses use their skills in "patients," "infection prevention," and "infection control" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential infection control nurse responsibilities here:

Compassion. One of the key soft skills for an infection control nurse to have is compassion. You can see how this relates to what infection control nurses do because "registered nurses should be caring and empathetic when working with patients." Additionally, an infection control nurse resume shows how infection control nurses use compassion: "established a compassionate environment by providing emotional, psychological, and spiritual support to patients, friends, and families. "

Detail oriented. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling infection control nurse duties is detail oriented. The role rewards competence in this skill because "registered nurses must be precise because they must ensure that patients get the correct treatments and medicines at the right time." According to an infection control nurse resume, here's how infection control nurses can utilize detail oriented in their job responsibilities: "oriented all employees with regards to infection control. "

Emotional stability. This is an important skill for infection control nurses to perform their duties. For an example of how infection control nurse responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "registered nurses need emotional resilience and the ability to cope with human suffering, emergencies, and other stressors." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an infection control nurse: "develop a plan of care ensuring the patients physical, emotional, and mental needs are being addressed. ".

Organizational skills. infection control nurse responsibilities often require "organizational skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "nurses often work with multiple patients who have a variety of health needs." This resume example shows what infection control nurses do with organizational skills on a typical day: "work collaboratively with team member health, organizational development, patient safety and quality. "

Physical stamina. Another common skill required for infection control nurse responsibilities is "physical stamina." This skill comes up in the duties of infection control nurses all the time, as "nurses should be comfortable performing physical tasks, such as lifting patients." An excerpt from a real infection control nurse resume shows how this skill is central to what an infection control nurse does: "perform new employee physicals, tb skin test, and hepatitis b injections and maintain accurate employee health records. "

Communication skills. Lastly, "communication skills" is an important element of what an infection control nurse does. Infection control nurse responsibilities require this skill because "registered nurses must be able to communicate effectively with patients in order to understand their concerns and evaluate their health conditions." This resume example highlights how infection control nurse duties rely on this skill: "hand hygiene surveillance, continue communication with physicians for follow up on patients conditions. "

Most common infection control nurse skills

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Compare different infection control nurses

Infection control nurse vs. Nurse coordinator

A nurse coordinator is primarily in charge of overseeing all nurses and their activities in a hospital or clinic. Their responsibilities include managing and rotating schedules, assessing nurse performance, organizing nursing programs, and developing strategies to optimize procedures. They may also assist patients and answer inquiries, studying their conditions to develop specific care plans to suit their needs. Furthermore, as a nurse coordinator, it is essential to lead and encourage teams to reach goals, all while implementing the facility's policies and regulations.

The annual salary of nurse coordinators is $3,869 higher than the average salary of infection control nurses.Even though infection control nurses and nurse coordinators are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require patients, infection control, and osha in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between infection control nurses and nurse coordinator. For instance, infection control nurse responsibilities require skills such as "infection prevention," "public health," "infection control practices," and "infection control policies." Whereas a nurse coordinator is skilled in "customer service," "quality care," "emr," and "critical care." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Nurse coordinators tend to make the most money working in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $80,569. In contrast, infection control nurses make the biggest average salary, $80,270, in the health care industry.nurse coordinators tend to reach similar levels of education than infection control nurses. In fact, nurse coordinators are 3.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Infection control nurse vs. Student/clinical rotation

Clinical rotation is the stage wherein medical students spend their last two years of study as medical team members. During this period, medical students learn to apply their knowledge from the classroom to real-life medical situations. They follow physicians and residents at teaching hospitals and gain relevant practical experience. During the training, they rotate through different medical specialties. They obtain a patient's history, complete physical examinations, and write progress notes. Also, they assist in medical surgeries and procedures with the guidance of physicians. Diagnosis and treatment of patients are two other medical activities that they actively involved in with attending residents' supervision.

Student/clinical rotation positions earn higher pay than infection control nurse roles. They earn a $13,526 higher salary than infection control nurses per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Infection control nurses and student/clinical rotations both require similar skills like "patients," "cpr," and "direct patient care" to carry out their responsibilities.

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, infection control nurse responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "infection prevention," "infection control," "public health," and "infection control practices." Meanwhile, a student/clinical rotation has duties that require skills in areas such as "clinical rotations," "icu," "surgery," and "medical-surgical floors." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Student/clinical rotations earn similar levels of education than infection control nurses in general. They're 0.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Infection control nurse vs. Nurse clinician

A nurse clinician is a health expert who provides care and assistance to patients in hospitals, clinics, or similar establishments. Among their responsibilities include preparing equipment and documents, administering medication, monitoring the patient's condition, maintaining charts, and regularly reporting to physicians. In some establishments, they may also perform administrative support tasks such as answering calls and correspondence, preparing and processing documents, and organizing records. Moreover, a nurse clinician must maintain an active communication line with fellow medical staff to provide optimal services to patients.

On average scale, nurse clinicians bring in lower salaries than infection control nurses. In fact, they earn a $10,012 lower salary per year.By looking over several infection control nurses and nurse clinicians resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "patients," "infection control," and "educational programs." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, infection control nurses are more likely to have skills like "infection prevention," "public health," "infection control practices," and "infection control policies." But a nurse clinician is more likely to have skills like "emergency situations," "patient outcomes," "acls," and "surgery."

Nurse clinicians earn the highest salary when working in the education industry, where they receive an average salary of $73,633. Comparatively, infection control nurses have the highest earning potential in the health care industry, with an average salary of $80,270.When it comes to education, nurse clinicians tend to earn similar degree levels compared to infection control nurses. In fact, they're 4.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.6% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Infection control nurse vs. Nurse educator

A nurse educator is responsible for teaching aspiring professional nurses, designing courses according to the curriculum, and organizing activities to practice and enhance the students' knowledge. Nurse educators manage clinical activities and observe the students' performance in actual training. They must have excellent knowledge of the medical industry, as well as its practices, to respond to the students' inquiries and concerns accurately. A nurse educator identifies the students' strengths and weaknesses, develop comprehensive lesson plans, and strategizing various nursing programs.

Nurse educators tend to earn a lower pay than infection control nurses by an average of $7,188 per year.While both infection control nurses and nurse educators complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like patients, infection control, and educational programs, the two careers vary in some skills.

Even though a few skill sets overlap between infection control nurses and nurse educators, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an infection control nurse might have more use for skills like "infection prevention," "public health," "infection control practices," and "infection control policies." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of nurse educators require skills like "bls," "bsn," "professional development," and "staff development. "

Nurse educators enjoy the best pay in the pharmaceutical industry, with an average salary of $94,493. For comparison, infection control nurses earn the highest salary in the health care industry.nurse educators reach higher levels of education compared to infection control nurses, in general. The difference is that they're 13.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of infection control nurse

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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