Infection Control Specialist: Nancy Dupont

BEFORE BECOMING an infection control specialist, Nancy Dupont worked in the intensive care unit of the University of Connecticut’s Health Center for 10 years. “I still miss it,” says Dupont, a member of University Health Professionals, Local 3837. “The hands-on care gives nurses the ability to be a patient’s advocate.”

Although she loved nursing, Dupont says some of the challenge was gone.  “I became comfortable. I felt that infection control would be a tremendous challenge because it’s a career that looks at the broader sense of patient care while still interacting with patients and impacting care. It is a view from 10,000 feet and up close all at once,” she says.

Dupont’s job is expansive but her  main responsibility is keeping  infections and epidemics out of the hospital. She truly is the hospital’s gatekeeper.

Healthwire interviewed Dupont about her career on April 22, 2008.

What does your job entail?
It’s challenging to describe what my job entails.  It is so diverse—I can’t say I am solely an educator or a regulatory review person. One of the most accurate titles I have heard is infection preventionist.

Isn’t the position of infection control specialist relatively unknown?
When I started the job 10 years ago, I did not fully understand the scope of this position and, honestly, I’m glad I didn’t. But awareness of the need for infection control professionals has been increasing. It is exciting to me to be able to educate people on what I do.

What do you like the most about what you do? Do you have any pet peeves?
That’s tough. I like many, many things—it is so diverse. Some days I arrive at work with an agenda and don’t even get through the door—my beeper goes off and I spend the day solving an issue that I could not have known would come up. Maybe that’s what I like about it most. My pet peeve is that sometimes I’m pulled in too many directions at one time and can’t be everywhere at once.

You are responsible for helping your hospital prepare for pandemics. Are we ready?
We have prepared a great deal for an emergency event, but no one ever knows if they are completely prepared until it happens.

Would you encourage a young person to pursue a career in your field?
Yes, I definitely would, after they have had a good deal of clinical experience. There is a tremendous opportunity for continuous learning. Things are constantly evolving. You find yourself in situations you would never have dreamt as being a part of your career, and look back at your growth and say “Wow, I have really learned a lot, but boy, I have so much more to learn too!”