New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 8 - HEALTH › Chapter 42 - LICENSING STANDARDS FOR HOME HEALTH AGENCIES › Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 8:42-1.2 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall
				  have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics" means the organization
				  formerly known as the "American Dietetic Association" which provides the Registered
				  Dietitian credential and can be contacted at 120 South Riverside Plaza, Suite 2000,
				  Chicago, Illinois 60606-6995,
www.eatright.org
, 800-877-1600 or
				  312-899-0040.
"Administrator" means a person who is administratively responsible
				  and available for all aspects of agency operations, and:
1. Has a master's degree in administration or a
				health related field, and at least two years of supervisory or administrative
				experience in home health care or in a health care setting; or
2. Has a baccalaureate degree in administration or
				a health related field and four years of supervisory or administrative experience in
				home health care or in a health care setting.
"Advance directive" means as defined in the New Jersey Advance
				  Directives for Health Care Act,
26:2H-53
et seq.
"Advanced practice nurse," also known as a nurse practitioner (see
				  N.J.S.A.
				  45:11-46c), means the same as that term is defined
				  at N.J.S.A.
				  45:11-23.
"Available" means ready for immediate use (pertaining to
				  equipment); capable of being reached (pertaining to personnel).
"Branch office" means an agency site from which services are
				  provided to patients in their homes or place of residence; which is physically
				  separate from the home health agency but shares administrative oversight and
				  services; which meets all requirements for licensure; and which has a registered
				  professional nurse available when the branch office is open to the public.
"Bylaws" means a set of rules adopted by the agency for governing
				  its operation. (A charter, articles of incorporation, and/or a statement of policies
				  and objectives is an acceptable equivalent.)
"Certified homemaker-home health aide" or "CHHA" means a person
				  who has completed a training program approved by the New Jersey Board of Nursing and
				  who is so certified by that Board in accordance with
				  N.J.A.C.
				  13:37-14 and who, under supervision of a
				  registered professional nurse, follows a delegated nursing regiment or performs
				  tasks that are delegated.
"Cleaning" means the removal by scrubbing and washing, as with hot
				  water, soap or detergent, and vacuuming, of infectious agents and/or organic matter
				  from surfaces on which and in which infectious agents may find conditions for
				  surviving or multiplying.
"Clinical note" means a signed and dated notation made at each
				  patient visit by each health care professional who renders a service to the patient.
				  The clinical note shall include a written description of signs and symptoms,
				  treatment, and/or medication(s) administered, the patient's response, and any
				  changes in physical or emotional condition, and may be documented in a flow sheet
				  format. The flow sheet shall be supplemented by a narrative clinical note at least
				  once a week and whenever there is a change in the patient's condition or care, which
				  cannot be clearly documented on a flow sheet. The clinical note shall be written or
				  dictated on the day service is rendered and shall be incorporated into the patient's
				  medical/health record according to the agency's policies and procedures.
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Health.
"Communicable disease" means an illness due to a specific
				  infectious agent or its toxic products, which occurs through the transmission of
				  that agent or its products from a reservoir to a susceptible host.
"Community health nurse" means a registered professional nurse
				  whose practice emphasizes health promotion, health maintenance, primary prevention,
				  health education and management, coordination of health care services, and
				  continuity of care for individuals, families, and groups in the community. The
				  community health nurse's practice includes, but is not limited to, home visits to
				  assess, plan for, and provide nursing services; health guidance and direct care; and
				  coordination of services with community resources, families and other health
				  professionals and paraprofessionals.
"Conspicuously posted" means placed at a location within the
				  agency accessible to and seen by patients and the public.
"Contamination" means the presence of an infectious or toxic agent
				  in the air, on a body surface, or on or in clothes, bedding, instruments, dressings,
				  or other inanimate articles or substances, including water, milk, and food.
"Current" means up-to-date, extending to the present time.
"Department" means the New Jersey State Department of
				  Health.
"Dietitian" means a person who:
1. Is registered or eligible for registration by
				the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics; or
2. Has a bachelor's degree from a college or
				university with a major in foods, nutrition, food service, or institution
				management, or the equivalent course work for a major in the subject area; and has
				completed a dietetic internship accredited by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
				or a dietetic traineeship approved by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics or has
				one year of full-time, or full-time equivalent, experience in nutrition and/or food
				service management in a health care setting; or
3. Has a master's degree plus six months of
				full-time, or full-time equivalent, experience in nutrition and/or food service
				management in a health care setting.
"Director of Nursing" means a registered professional nurse who
				  has at least one of the following qualifications:
1. A master's degree in nursing or a health
				related field and two years combined community health nursing and progressive
				management experience in community health nursing; or
2. A bachelor of science degree in nursing or a
				health related field and three years combined community health nursing and
				progressive management experience in community health nursing.
"Direct patient care" means hands-on or face-to-face contact with
				  patients.
"Disinfection" means the killing of infectious agents outside the
				  body, or organisms transmitting such agents, by chemical and physical means,
				  directly applied.
1. "Concurrent
				disinfection" means the application of measures of disinfection as soon as possible
				after the discharge of infectious material from the body of an infected person, or
				after the soiling of articles with such infectious discharges, all personal contact
				with such discharges or articles being minimized prior to such
				disinfection.
2. "Terminal disinfection"
				means the application of measures of disinfection after the patient has ceased to be
				a source of infection, or after the facility's isolation practices have been
				discontinued. (Terminal disinfection is rarely practiced; terminal cleaning
				generally suffices (see definition of "cleaning"), along with airing and sunning of
				rooms, furniture, and bedding. Terminal disinfection is necessary only for diseases
				spread by indirect contact.)
"Division of Health Facility Survey and Field Operations" or
				  "DHFSFO" means the division within the Department that surveys and inspects licensed
				  health care facilities. The contact information for the DHFSFO is PO Box 367, 120
				  South Stockton Street, Lower Level, Trenton NJ 08625-0367,
http://www.nj.gov/health
.
"Documented" means written, signed, and dated or computer
				  generated, and authenticated if an electronic system is used.
"Drug administration" means a procedure in which a prescribed drug
				  or biological product is given to a patient by an authorized person in accordance
				  with all laws and rules governing such procedures. The complete procedure of
				  administration consists of:
1. Removing an
				individual dose from a previously dispensed, properly labeled container (including a
				unit dose container);
2. Verifying that
				the dose matches the prescriber's orders;
3. Verifying the patient's identity;
4. Giving the individual dose to the
				patient;
5. Observing that the patient
				take it (if oral); and
6. Recording the
				required information, including the method of administration.
"Full-time" means a time period established by the agency as a
				  full working week, as defined and specified in the agency's policies and
				  procedures.
"Governing authority" means the organization, person, or persons
				  designated to assume legal responsibility for the determination and implementation
				  of policy and for the management, operation, and financial viability of the
				  agency.
"Home health agency" or "agency" means an entity licensed by the
				  Department to provide preventive, rehabilitative, and therapeutic services to
				  patients on a visiting basis in a patient's home or place of residence. All home
				  health agencies shall provide, at a minimum, nursing, homemaker-home health aide,
				  and physical therapy services, and are eligible for Medicare-certification.
"Homemaker-home health aide" means a person who has completed a
				  training program approved by the New Jersey Board of Nursing and who is so certified
				  by that Board.
"Hours of operation" means normal business hours, during which the
				  site is open to the public for business.
"Job description" means written specifications developed for each
				  position in the agency, containing the qualifications, duties, competencies,
				  responsibilities, and accountability required of employees in that position.
"Licensed nursing personnel" or "licensed nurse" means a
				  registered professional nurse and a licensed practical (vocational) nurse licensed
				  by the New Jersey Board of Nursing.
"Licensed practical nurse" or "LPN" means an individual to whom
				  the New Jersey Board of Nursing in the Division of Consumer Affairs of the
				  Department of Law and Public Safety issues licensure as a licensed practical nurse,
				  pursuant to N.J.S.A. 45:11-23 et seq., and N.J.A.C.
				  13:37.
"Medication" means a drug or medicine as defined by the New Jersey
				  Board of Pharmacy.
"Monitor" means to observe, watch, or check.
"Nursing supervisor" means a registered professional nurse who has
				  at least one of the following qualifications:
1. A bachelor of science degree in nursing and two
				years combined community health nursing and progressive professional
				responsibilities in community health nursing; or
2. Three years combined community health nursing
				and progressive professional responsibilities in community health nursing.
"Occupational therapist" means an individual who is so licensed,
				  by the New Jersey Occupational Therapy Advisory Council in the Division of Consumer
				  Affairs of the Department of Law and Public Safety, in accordance with
				  N.J.S.A.
				  45:9-37.51 et seq., and N.J.A.C. 13:44K.
"Occupational therapy assistant" means an individual who is so
				  licensed pursuant to the New Jersey Occupational Therapy Advisory Council in the
				  Division of Consumer Affairs of the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety,
				  in accordance with
				  N.J.S.A.
				  45:9-37.51 et seq., and N.J.A.C. 13:44K.
"Physical therapist" means an individual who is so licensed by the
				  New Jersey Board of Physical Therapy in the Division of Consumer Affairs of the New
				  Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, pursuant to
				  N.J.S.A.
				  45:9-37.12 et seq., and N.J.A.C. 13:39A.
"Physical therapy assistant" means an individual who is so
				  licensed by the New Jersey State Board of Physical Therapy in the Division of
				  Consumer Affairs of the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, pursuant to
				  N.J.S.A.
				  45:9-37.12 et seq., and N.J.A.C. 13:39A.
"Physician" means an individual to whom the New Jersey State Board
				  of Medical Examiners in the Division of Consumer Affairs of the Department of Law
				  and Public Safety issues licensure to practice medicine or podiatry in the State of
				  New Jersey pursuant to
				  N.J.S.A.
				  45:9-1 et seq., and N.J.A.C. 13:35.
"Physician assistant" means an individual who meets the
				  qualifications pursuant to
				  N.J.S.A.
				  45:9-27.10 et seq., and to whom the New Jersey
				  State Board of Medical Examiners in the Division of Consumer Affairs of the
				  Department of Law and Public Safety issues licensure, pursuant to
				  N.J.S.A.
				  45:9-27.13.
"Plan of care" (nursing, rehabilitation, social work, dietary
				  counseling) means a written plan based on an assessment of the patient and the care
				  and treatment to be provided by each discipline. Each discipline that provides
				  service shall initiate the development and implementation of its own service plan,
				  including measurable goals with timeframes, at the time of the patient's admission
				  to that service. If the patient does not need a specific service, a plan is not
				  needed for that service.
"Plan of treatment" means a written plan established and
				  authorized in writing by the physician based on an evaluation of the patient's
				  immediate and long-term needs.
1. Initiated
				and implemented when the patient is admitted;
2. Coordinated and maintained by the nursing
				service or the physical therapy service, if physical therapy is the sole
				service;
3. Inclusive of, but not
				limited to, the patient's diagnosis, patient goals, means of achieving goals, and
				care and treatment to be provided;
4.
				Current and available to all personnel providing patient care; and
5. Included in the patient's medical/health
				record.
"Practitioner Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment form" or "POLST
				  form" means as defined in the Practitioner Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment Act,
				  N.J.S.A.
				  26:2H-129 et seq., particularly at
				  26:2H-131.
"Progress note" means a written, signed, and dated notation by the
				  practitioner providing care, periodically summarizing information about the care
				  provided and the patient's response to it.
"Registered professional nurse" means an individual who is
				  licensed by the New Jersey Board of Nursing in the Division of Consumer Affairs of
				  the Department of Law and Public Safety, pursuant to
				  N.J.S.A.
				  45:11-23 et seq. and N.J.A.C. 13:37.
"Restraint" means a physical device, material, equipment, or
				  chemical (drug) that is used to limit, restrict, or control a patient's free bodily
				  movement to a position of choice.
"Signature" means at least the first initial and full surname and
				  title (for example, R.N., L.P.N., D.D.S., M.D.) of a person, legibly written with
				  the person's own hand, generated by computer with authorization safeguards, or
				  communicated by a facsimile communications system (FAX). A controlled electronic
				  signature system may be used.
"Social worker" means a person who is licensed by the New Jersey
				  State Board of Social Work Examiners and has a master's degree in social work from a
				  graduate school of social work accredited by the Council on Social Work Education,
				  and at least one year of post-master's social work experience in a health care
				  setting pursuant to N.J.S.A. 45:15BB-1 et seq., and N.J.A.C. 13:44G.
"Speech-language pathologist" means a person who is so licensed by
				  the Audiology and Speech Language Pathology Advisory Committee in the Division of
				  Consumer Affairs of the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, pursuant to
				  N.J.A.C. 13:44C.
"Staff education plan" means a written plan developed at least
				  annually and implemented throughout the year which describes a coordinated program
				  for staff education for each service, including in-service programs and on-the-job
				  training.
"Staff orientation plan" means a written plan for the orientation
				  of each new employee to the duties and responsibilities of the service to which he
				  or she has been assigned, as well as to the personnel policies of the
				  facility.
"Sterilization" means a process of destroying all microorganisms,
				  including those bearing spores, in, on, and around an object.
"Supervision" means authoritative procedural guidance by a
				  qualified person for the accomplishment of a function or activity within his or her
				  sphere of competence, with initial direction and periodic on-site inspection of the
				  actual act of accomplishing the function or activity.
"Telehealth" means the use of information and communications
				  technologies, including telephones, remote patient monitoring devices, or other
				  electronic means, to support clinical health care, provider consultation, patient
				  and professional health-related education, public health, health administration, and
				  other services in accordance with the provisions at
				  N.J.S.A.
				  45:1-61 through 66.
"Telemedicine" means the delivery of a health care service using
				  electronic communications, information technology, or other electronic or
				  technological means to bridge the gap between a health care provider who is located
				  at a distant site and a patient who is located at an originating site, either with
				  or without the assistance of an intervening health care provider, and in accordance
				  with the provisions at
				  N.J.S.A.
				  45:1-61 through 66. "Telemedicine" does not
				  include the use, in isolation, of electronic mail, instant messaging, phone text, or
				  facsimile transmission.