Washington Administrative Code (Last Updated: November 23, 2016) |
Title 246. Health, Department of |
Chapter 246-320. Hospital licensing regulations. |
Section 246-320-176. Infection control program.
Latest version.
- The purpose of this section is to identify and reduce the risk of acquiring and transmitting infections and communicable diseases between patients, employees, medical staff, volunteers, and visitors.Hospitals must:(1) Develop, implement and maintain a written infection control and surveillance program;(2) Designate staff to:(a) Manage the activities of the infection control program;(b) Assure the infection control program conforms with patient care and safety policies and procedures; and(c) Provide consultation on the infection control program, policies and procedures throughout the entire facility;(3) Ensure staff managing the infection control program have:(a) A minimum of two years experience in a health related field; and(b) Training in the principles and practices of infection control;(4) Develop and implement infection control policies and procedures consistent with the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other nationally recognized professional bodies or organizations;(5) Assure the infection control policies and procedures address, but are not limited to the following:(a) Routine surveillance, outbreak investigations and interventions including pathogen distributions and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles consistent with the 2006 CDC Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee Guideline, Management of Multidrug-Resistant Organisms in Healthcare Settings;(b) Patient care practices in all clinical care areas;(c) Receipt, use, disposal, processing, or reuse of equipment to prevent disease transmission;(d) Preventing cross contamination of soiled and clean items during sorting, processing, transporting, and storage;(e) Environmental management and housekeeping functions;(f) Approving and properly using disinfectants, equipment, and sanitation procedures;(g) Cleaning areas used for surgical procedures before, between, and after use;(h) Hospital-wide daily and periodic cleaning;(i) Occupational health consistent with current practice;(j) Attire;(k) Traffic patterns;(l) Antisepsis;(m) Handwashing;(n) Scrub technique and surgical preparation;(o) Biohazardous waste management according to applicable federal, state, and local regulations;(p) Barrier and transmission precautions; and(q) Pharmacy and therapeutics;(6) Establish and implement a plan for:(a) Reporting communicable diseases according to chapter 246-100 WAC; and(b) Surveying and investigating communicable disease occurrences in the hospital consistent with WAC 246-320-171;(7) Hospitals may develop and implement infection control policies and procedures specific to a patient care area.
Rules
246-100,246-320-171,