Rochelle Beard, MSN, RN, CIC, CPHQ

Rochelle Beard is a registered nurse and infection preventionist with career experience in pediatrics, acute and long-term care, employee health, quality improvement, leadership, and education.

Rochelle obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from Xavier University in 2009 and her Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) with a public health emphasis in 2016, which led her into the field of infection prevention. Over the course of the next five years, Rochelle grew the infection prevention and control programs in two healthcare facilities in the Louisville, Kentucky area. She was recruited to serve as a resource to infection preventionists across the Commonwealth of Kentucky through her work with the Kentucky Hospital Association. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she was instrumental in engaging infection preventionists across Kentucky and sharing information important for use within local communities and healthcare organizations. Rochelle used her infection prevention acumen and her leadership abilities to help provide organizational support to local chapters of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) as a means of cross facility collaboration and enhanced engagement. Through her leadership, she has been able to serve as a resource to hundreds of infection preventionists across the state of Kentucky by providing education, creating tools and resources, promoting collaboration and broad-scoped engagement, and relationship building. She has gained expertise in guiding and implementing programs funded through federal agencies and how those programs demonstrate value and accountability.

Over the years, Rochelle’s work in infection prevention has been recognized by her peers through receipt of three APIC chapter rewards, including the APIC Kentuckiana Rising Star Award in 2018 and both the APIC Kentuckiana and APIC Bluegrass chapter Distinguished Service Awards in 2021 and 2024, respectively. Rochelle maintains an active presence in National APIC by serving on the communications committee and in the Kentucky APIC chapters, including service as multiple committee chairs, webmaster, and Past-President. She is also currently serving on the board for the Kentucky Association for Healthcare Quality (KAHQ) as the Director of Publications and Marketing. She is board-certified in infection prevention, certified in healthcare quality, and continues to demonstrate competence in practice and depth in teaching and supporting new, as well as experienced, infection preventionists.