North Carolina Administrative Code › Title 10A - HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES › Chapter 13 - NC MEDICAL CARE COMMISSION › Subchapter D - RULES FOR THE LICENSING OF NURSING HOMES › Section .2200 - GENERAL STANDARDS OF ADMINISTRATION › Section 13D .2209 - INFECTION CONTROL

Current through Register Vol. 39, No. 2, July 15, 2024
(a) A facility
				  shall establish and maintain an infection control program for the purpose of
				  providing a safe, clean and comfortable environment and preventing the
				  transmission of diseases and infection.
(b) Under the infection control program, the
				  facility shall decide what procedures, such as isolation techniques, are needed
				  for individual patients, investigate episodes of infection and attempt to
				  control and prevent infections in the facility.
(c) The facility shall maintain records of
				  infections and of the corrective actions taken.
(d) The facility shall ensure communicable
				  disease testing as required by
				  10A NCAC
				  41A, "Communicable Disease Control" which is
				  incorporated by reference, including subsequent amendments. Copies of these
				  Rules may be obtained at no charge by contacting the N.C. Department of Health
				  and Human Services, Division of Public Health, Tuberculosis Control Branch,
				  1902 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1902. Screening shall
				  be done upon admission of all patients being admitted from settings other than
				  hospitals, nursing facilities or combination facilities. Staff shall be
				  screened within seven days of the hire date. The facility shall ensure
				  tuberculosis screening annually thereafter for patients and staff.
(e) All cases of reportable disease as
				  defined by
				  10A NCAC
				  41A"Communicable Disease Control" and
				  outbreaks consisting of two or more linked cases of disease transmission shall
				  be reported to the local health department.
(f) The facility shall use isolation
				  precautions for any patient deemed appropriate by its infection control program
				  and as recommended by the following Centers for Disease Control guidelines,
				  Management of Multidrug-Resistant Organisms In Healthcare Settings, 2006,
				  http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/pdf/ar/MDROGuideline2006.pdf and 2007 Guideline
				  for Isolation Precautions: Preventing Transmission of Infectious Agents in
				  Healthcare Settings,
http://www.cdc.gov/hicpac/2007ip/2007isolationprecautions.html
.
(g) The facility shall prohibit
				  any employee with a communicable disease or infected skin lesion from direct
				  contact with patients or their food, if direct contact is the mode of
				  transmission of the disease.
(h)
				  The facility shall require all staff to use hand washing technique as indicated
				  in the Centers for Disease Control, "Guideline for Hand Hygiene in Health-Care
				  Settings, Recommendations of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices
				  Advisory Committee and the HICPAC/SHEA/APIC/IDSA Hand Hygiene Task Force". This
				  information can be accessed at
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5116a1.htm
.
(i) All linen shall be handled,
				  store, processed and transported so as to prevent the spread of
				  infection.
Authority
					 G.S.
					 131E-104;
					 131E-113;
Eff.
					 January 1, 1996;
Amended Eff. July 1, 2012;
Pursuant to
					 G.S.
					 150B-21.3A, rule is necessary without
					 substantive public interest Eff. March 22,
					 2015.