Donelle Grove, RN, Infection Preventionist
South Mountain Restoration Center
Donelle Grove, RN, had worked at South Mountain Restoration Center as a floor nurse for many years, always interested in caring for her residents and learning new and better ways to do things. On January 1, 2022, she took over as the facility’s infection control preventionist and jumped into the role with both feet. She took the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) training and passed on her first attempt. She used her class work to review and update several of the facility’s policies related to infection control, contributing to its increase to a five-star rating. Shortly after she came on board, she helped the facilitate navigate through an outbreak of COVID-19, during which only six residents became acutely ill—all on the same unit of 33 residents.
Grove took over coordinating COVID vaccine booster clinics, with 96% of residents having their primary series, 90% of residents having at least one booster, and 76% being considered completely up-to-date. She managed a recent flu vaccination clinic with more than 97% of residents accepting the flu vaccine and 98% of employees having received the vaccine or actively declined it. She has actively reviewed the vaccination status of all residents for pneumococcal, shingles, and hepatitis.
She has coordinated the sterilization of reusable equipment used by facility physicians and in the podiatry and dental clinics, and overseen the quality checks of sterilization equipment. She has provided training to staff on the use of personalized protective equipment (PPE), glucometers, and maintenance and cleaning of the equipment.
Grove was instrumental in understanding the new Enhanced Barrier Precautions and assisted in developing the necessary policies and procedures. She upgraded the management of PPE supplies on the units for efficiency and accountability to allow the implementation of the Enhanced Barrier Precautions and efficient deployment when the need arises for acute infections.
In short, she has had a major impact for the better on the facility’s ability to maintain patient safety and an environment free of infectious disease.
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