Carol O’Boyle, RN, MS, PhD
Consultant, Joint Commission International
Carol O’Boyle brings an accomplished record of infection control experience to her role as a JCI consultant, applying infection control principles in community and home environments in domestic and international health care settings. She possesses strong analytical, communication and presentation skills, and facilitates creative problem-solving for realistic application of infection control principles in contemporary health care facilities.
Dr. O’Boyle’s 30 years of experience includes providing infection prevention and control consultation to a variety of health care settings, including hospitals, clinics and surgery centers in the US, Asia, Europe, Central and South American, and Africa. She has conducted hospital assessments and developed educational programs responsive to the needs of the community, geographic region and country. Her research has included health care worker adherence to infection control recommendations, infection control staffing requirements, and nurses’ responses to bioterrorism threats. She has authored articles and book chapters on infection control.
Before joining JCR, Dr. O’Boyle served as a supervisor in the epidemiology section of the Minnesota Department of Health, and she managed infection control programs in acute care facilities as a nurse epidemiologist. As an associate professor at the University of Minnesota, School of Nursing, she developed an online graduate education course and continuing education courses in infection control. She also served as coordinator of the Public Health Nursing graduate area of study. In addition to her usual course work, she developed and taught a course on international infection control to students from all over the world.
Dr. O’Boyle’s love of science, teaching, and nursing, and her belief that nursing care improved the health of the population, led her to pursue a career in health care. She was further inspired by her two aunts who showed strength and courage as they practiced in incredibly difficult situations—even providing care to inmates of the WWII concentration camps.
Dr. O’Boyle has served on the board of the Association of Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) and has held leadership positions on many APIC national committees including the Scientific Research Council. She also has served as a member of the Society of Hospital Epidemiologists’ International Assistance Committee. She served on the HealthCare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee, which provides advice to the US Surgeon General and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She is an Associate Member of the Graduate School, School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, and an Affiliate Senior Member in Environmental Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota.
Dr. O’Boyle received her bachelor’s of science, master’s of science in public health nursing, and her doctorate in nursing with a minor in public health, from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Dr. O’Boyle is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN). Her other professional affiliations include Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Society of Hospital Epidemiologists, and Sigma Theta Tau.