This article is adapted from the UCLAx Magazine fall 2024 issue.
Krystal Glover wanted to work in medicine from a young age. As a girl growing up in Belize, she would tag along with her grandmother, who had diabetes, on trips to the hospital for treatment. Standing quietly in the doctor’s office, Glover got an up-close view of what it meant to care for the health of others – both the good and the bad.
“The nurses would ask my grandmother, ‘Is it okay for her to see this?’” Glover recalls. “And grandma would say, ‘It’s okay, she is going to be a nurse.’”
Glover’s grandmother was just about right. After graduating from UC Irvine in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in public health, Glover started working in hospice care during the COVID-19 pandemic. There, she was introduced to the field of infection prevention.
Patients in hospice, many times with compromised immune systems due to cancer or other terminal illnesses, can easily develop painful infections from common bacteria, rare viruses or anything in between. Many are easily avoidable and result from things like lack of hand washing or waiting too long to change bandages. A little training and oversight can have a huge impact in a health care setting.
“Just because these people are at the end of their lives doesn’t mean they need to suffer from unnecessary pain,” Glover said. Recognizing a low-cost opportunity to help her patients, Glover pushed the hospice agency to create an infection control performance improvement project and became the project leader in 2022.
Glover’s push for more focus on preventing infections came amid a similar trend in health care systems throughout the world, where a post-pandemic emphasis on infection control has led to more specialist positions at hospitals and other health care facilities. Infection prevention and control specialists help medical offices document and control infections inside their facilities, report outbreaks to local public health agencies, and prevent future spread by ensuring that both staff and buildings themselves are prepared to deal with potential outbreaks.
The experience in hospice care prompted Glover to focus her career on infection prevention full time. In 2023, she connected with UCLA Health’s Shante Walton, who was in the process of developing an infection prevention certificate program at UCLA Extension. The year-long program was designed specifically for medical professionals like Glover who were looking to gain more in-depth skills in the field. Glover enrolled later that year, and landed a job as an infection preventionist at Garden Grove Hospital and Medical Center before she had even finished her studies.
“I have been able to take away a lot from the program,” Glover said. “I am very grateful.”
As an infection preventionist, Glover reviews any infections in the hospital, takes steps to prevent unnecessary spread and works with fellow medical staff to stop future infections. The job involves a lot of paperwork and data tracking, she said, but there is also a lot of one-on-one interaction with patients and staff.
Glover’s grandmother passed away in 2018, before her granddaughter’s plans for a medical career could become a reality. But Glover says she knows she would be proud; her career is an important one that helps a lot of people. Plus, she enjoys it.
“In other medical fields, I would have been stuck in one unit. But as an infection preventionist, I work in multiple departments,” she said. “Every day is different. I like that.”
