Infection Control Today®

APIC SFBA is excited to kick off another monthly feature of IP of the Bay!! We feel honored to feature Jeffrey Mantes, BSN, RN, MLS (AMT), LTC-CIP, CIC IP Nurse at O'Connor Hospital! In 2020, a letter (AFL) was sent out by CDPH requiring all SNF's to have a dedicated full-time IP and Santa Clara Valley Healthcare - O’Connor Hospital (OCH) was fortunate to have Jeffrey Mantes, a compassionate nurse step up to the challenge in the middle of a global pandemic. He took full responsibility for being the dedicated IP over the Subacute ADP and worked tirelessly to ensure the teams understood the importance of the fundamentals of hand hygiene, PPE donning/doffing, and CAUTI bundle prevention. He trained champions on all shifts on the fundamentals of IP and met with them regularly and rounded daily. Throughout the past few years, he has continued to drive several initiatives such as education on Enhanced Standard Precautions (ESP), infection surveillance utilizing McGeer’s criteria, environment of care (EOC), and MDRO for all staff and providers. With every challenge presented to the SNF, Jeff tackled it with the team and was a tremendous leader who was always available to listen to their concerns and help implement sustainable change. At every point in the pandemic, when new information was provided Jeff stood up to the challenge and ensured the team was educated timely and circled back to ensure their comprehension. He also ensured he stayed up to date with SNF IP regulatory guidelines from CDC, State, and Local Departments of PH. All the SNF performance improvements (PI) have shown great success, and his works were featured at the poster presentation at the 2022 and 2024 APIC Annual Conferences entitled “Implementing Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Practices including COVID-19 Mitigation Strategies in a Skilled Nursing Facility” and “Implementing Enhanced Standard Precaution (ESP) and Its Impact in a SNF” respectively and was featured and part of the press release in 2022. Jeff has continued to soar in his role as an IP both in acute care and subacute unit at OCH and exemplify strong leadership. He initiated project implementation for CAUTI reduction as one of the CAUTI subcommittee leaders at OCH during monthly HAI Taskforce meeting. He works on improving workflows for CAUTI prevention and updating policies for SNF. He also understood the importance of construction rounding to identify risks and preventive measures during construction and ensure ICRA elements are met. Furthermore, he has obtained his national infection control certifications in both acute care and long-term care. His leadership has engaged the unit leaders and staff, and they are continuing to progress forward in their efforts to reduce HAI's. Thank you, Jeffrey Mantes, BSN, RN, MLS (AMT), LTC-CIP, CIC for all of your contributions to our APIC Chapter and for being our July IP of the Bay! We appreciate all you do and are so grateful to have you in our chapter!