You can call me Al

You’re a what?  I’m an infection control practitioner.  If you do a job search on Indeed.com, we are called all sorts of things:

• Infection control professional  (ok)
• Infection control officer (badge not included)
• Infection control nurse (you don’t have to be a nurse to do this job.  In fact, I recommend  you’re not)
• Infection control coordinator (this is my current job title.  I rarely coordinate anything)
• Infection Control/Wound Care nurse (laughed out loud when I saw this job posted.  It’s like Mechanic/librarian. 2 totally different skill sets.  Some facility trying to get the most for their money.  Don’t apply.)
• Infection preventionist  (Type it into Word.  It’s underlined.  It’s not even a word.  Always sounds silly to me)
• Hospital Epidemiologist (sometimes this is the same as those above, sometimes not.  Also, nurse epidemiologist).

The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology is our primary professional organization.  They prefer “Infection Preventionist” (which Word is underlining in red right now).  This is why I don’t: Prevention is only one part of what I do. It would be great if it was all I did.  But, “Infection Control” includes prevention of infection when possible, control and/or containment when it happens, and treatment.  I think it’s a broader term that is more accurate.  But that’s just me.

So if you’re looking for a job in this field, those are some of the titles you’ll find.  They are all about the same.  But really, you’re looking for any job with “Director” in the title.  J

There is a major medical center near me that sometimes posts a position for an “Associate Infection Preventionist.”  It’s for someone with interest and the right background, but no experience.  They train you into the job.  This is awesome.  They can do this at a large facility because they have a team of ICPs, infectious disease doctors, and fellows.   At most facilities, which are smaller, there may be only one ICP.  There is nobody there to train a new person into the job, and that’s why it is hard to get into this field.  You might apply for a job as the sole ICP, but it’s unlikely you’ll get hired.  If you do get hired with no experience, you might have a tough time figuring out what to do on day one.