Clinical Program Coordinator - Infection Control REF NO: PSH 07/2026 at KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health

REQUIREMENTS :

• Grade 12 / Matric Certificate or equivalent, Diploma in General Nursing and Midwifery & Registration with the SANC as a General Nurse and Midwife or Accoucher, At least 7 years’ experience as a professional nurse and midwife, Current SANC receipt for 2026, Computer certificate and valid unendorsed EB Driver’s license.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

• Good communication, Leadership and Interpersonal skills.
• Knowledge of Infection Control procedure, protocols, quality assurance standards and protocols.
• Knowledge of Infection control practice, norms and standards.
• Sound verbal, written communication skills.
• Knowledge of Public Service Policies, Acts and Regulations Knowledge of SANC Acts, rules and regulations.
• Knowledge of prescripts i.e Health and Safety Act.
• Good management and supervisory skills.
• Knowledge of National core, Standards and other relevant public service programmes.
• Comprehensive knowledge of infection prevention and control principles, practices and standards in healthcare settings.
• Knowledge of healthcare- associated infections (HAIs), including risk factors, prevention strategies, surveillance and control measures.
• Knowledge of standard precautions and transmission-based precautions, including hand hygiene, personal protective equipment (PPE), respiratory hygiene, isolation and safe patient-care practices.
• Knowledge of national, provincial and institutional IPC policies, guidelines, protocols and quality standards applicable to public hospitals in South Africa.
• Knowledge of outbreak preparedness, investigation, notification, response, containment and post-outbreak evaluation.
• Knowledge of surveillance methods, epidemiological principles, data collection, data validation, analysis and interpretation.
• Knowledge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), antimicrobial stewardship and the role of IPC in reducing the spread of resistant organisms.
• Knowledge of sterilisation, disinfection, decontamination and safe reprocessing of reusable medical equipment.
• Knowledge of environmental IPC, including healthcare waste management, cleaning, linen management, water and sanitation, ventilation and environmental risk assessment.
• Knowledge of occupational health and safety risks, including needle-stick injuries, blood and body-fluid exposures and prevention of occupational infections.
• Knowledge of TB, respiratory infection prevention and other priority communicable diseases relevant to hospital settings.
• Knowledge of quality improvement methodologies, clinical governance, risk management and patient-safety principles.
• Knowledge of emergency preparedness and IPC requirements for epidemics, pandemics and emerging or re-emerging infectious diseases.
• Knowledge of basic health information systems, data management and reporting requirements relevant to IPC.
• Strong leadership and coordination skills to implement the hospital IPC programme across clinical and support services.
• Excellent surveillance and epidemiological data analysis skills, including identification of trends, clusters, hotspots and emerging risks.
• Ability to conduct IPC audits, identify gaps, develop corrective action plans and monitor implementation.
• Strong outbreak investigation and incident- management skills, including rapid assessment and coordination of response measures.
• Excellent communication, presentation and report-writing skills for communicating IPC risks and performance to hospital management, committees and clinical teams.
• Training and facilitation skills for conducting staff induction, in-service education, awareness campaigns and competency assessments.
• Ability to influence behavioural change and improve compliance with hand hygiene, PPE, isolation precautions and other IPC practices.
• Problem-solving and critical-thinking skills for identifying root causes of infection risks and developing practical interventions.
• Data-management and computer skills, including use of spreadsheets, databases, dashboards and electronic reporting systems where applicable.
• Project and quality- improvement management skills, including setting objectives, indicators, targets, timelines and monitoring mechanisms.
• Conflict-resolution, negotiation and interpersonal skills for working effectively with multidisciplinary teams.
• Stakeholder-engagement skills involving nursing, medical, pharmacy, laboratory, CSSD, occupational health, environmental services, laundry, waste management and quality teams.
• Ability to work under pressure and respond effectively to urgent infection-control incidents and outbreaks.
• Ability to maintain accurate, confidential and reliable IPC documentation and records.
• Strategic planning and performance-management skills to translate IPC priorities into measurable hospital improvement outcomes.
• Practical experience in infection prevention and control within a hospital or other healthcare environment.
• Experience in healthcare-associated infection surveillance, data collection, analysis and reporting.
• Experience conducting hand-hygiene, PPE, environmental and other IPC compliance audits.
• Experience developing and implementing IPC improvement plans and monitoring corrective actions.
• Experience in outbreak investigation, outbreak response, contact management and implementation of containment measures.
• Experience in staff training, health education, induction and capacity building on IPC-related topics.
• Experience working with multidisciplinary teams and hospital management structures.
• Experience in quality improvement, clinical governance, patient safety or healthcare risk management.
• Experience in occupational exposure management and prevention of healthcare-worker infections.
• Experience monitoring environmental health and safety risks within healthcare facilities.
• Experience with sterilisation, decontamination and safe handling/reprocessing of medical equipment is advantageous.
• Experience in antimicrobial stewardship, laboratory liaison and management of antimicrobial resistance data is advantageous.
• Experience in preparing formal reports, presentations, audit findings and recommendations for senior management.
• Experience in developing or reviewing IPC policies, procedures, guidelines, standard operating procedures and training materials.
• Experience in emergency preparedness and response to communicable disease threats, epidemics or pandemics is advantageous.

DUTIES :

• Coordinate implementation of the hospital IPC programme; maintain an annual IPC plan; support an effective IPC Committee; ensure policies and guidelines are implemented; provide regular reports to hospital management.
• Conduct HAI surveillance; monitor trends and infection hotspots; analyse data; initiate corrective interventions; provide monthly/quarterly surveillance reports.
• Ensure early detection and notification; coordinate outbreak investigation and response; implement isolation / cohorting and control measures; document outcomes and conduct lessons-learned reviews Conduct hand-hygiene and PPE compliance audits; promote standard precautions; provide feedback to clinical units; develop and monitor corrective action plans Monitor environmental cleanliness; healthcare waste management; linen management; water and sanitation risks; occupational exposure prevention and management.
• Monitor cleaning, disinfection, sterilisation and reprocessing of equipment; conduct audits; verify documentation; identify and address gaps in CSSD/decontamination processes.
• Monitor antimicrobial resistance trends; collaborate with pharmacy, laboratory and clinical teams; support appropriate antimicrobial use; participate in antimicrobial stewardship activities.
• Develop and implement an annual IPC training programme; provide induction and in- service training; conduct outbreak drills; assess staff competency in critical IPC practices.
• Monitor occupational exposures and needle-stick injuries; promote staff vaccination; support post-exposure management; strengthen respiratory protection and other staff safety measures.
• Conduct planned IPC audits; perform gap analysis; implement quality-improvement projects; monitor corrective and preventive actions; evaluate effectiveness of interventions.
• Maintain accurate IPC records and databases; validate data; analyse trends; submit required reports on time; present IPC performance to management and relevant committees.
• Provide IPC education to patients, families and visitors; promote hand hygiene; strengthen isolation precautions; involve patients and caregivers in infection-prevention practices.
• Maintain IPC emergency/outbreak plans; ensure PPE and isolation readiness; conduct simulation exercises; strengthen preparedness for emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.
• Monitor compliance with applicable National Department of Health, KZN Department of Health and regulatory IPC requirements; prepare for assessments, inspections and accreditation processes Work collaboratively with nursing, medical, pharmacy, laboratory, CSSD, environmental/cleaning, laundry, waste-management, occupational-health and quality teams to integrate IPC across hospital services.