A facility shall designate a person or persons as
Infection Preventionists (IP) to develop and implement policies governing
control of infections and communicable diseases. The IPs shall be qualified
through education, training, experience, or certification or a combination of
such qualifications. The IP's qualifications shall be documented and shall be
made available for inspection by the Department. (Section 2-213(d) of
the Act). The facility's infection prevention and control program as required
by Section 300.696(e)
shall be under the management of an IP.
a) IPs shall complete, or provide proof of
completion of, initial infection control and prevention training, provided by
CDC or equivalent training, covering topics listed in subsection (b)(1) to the
facility, within 30 days after accepting an IP position. Documentation of
required initial infection control and prevention training shall be maintained
in the employee file.
b) Effective
July 1, 2022, a qualified IP candidate shall:
1) Have completed at least 19 hours of
training in infection prevention and control including, but not limited to,
training in the following areas:
A) Principles
of Standard Precautions
B)
Principles of Transmission-Based Precautions
C) Prevention of Healthcare-Associated
Infections
D) Hand
Hygiene
E) Environmental Cleaning,
Sterilization, Disinfection, and Asepsis
F) Environment of Care and Water
Management
G) Employee/Occupational
Health
H) Surveillance and
Epidemiological Investigations
I)
Antimicrobial Stewardship
2) Have clinical work experience related to
infection prevention and control in health care settings including, but not
limited to, hospitals or long-term care settings.
c) A facility shall have at least one IP
on-site for a minimum of 20 hours per week to develop and implement policies
governing prevention and control of infectious diseases.
d) Facilities with more than 100 licensed
beds or facilities that offer high-acuity services, including but not limited
to on-site dialysis, infusion therapy, or ventilator care shall have at least
one IP on-site for a minimum of 40 hours per week to develop and implement
policies governing control of infectious diseases. For the purposes of this
subsection (d), "infusion therapy" refers to parenteral, infusion, or
intravenous therapies that require ongoing monitoring and maintenance of the
infusion site (e.g. central, percutaneously inserted central catheter,
epidural, and venous access devices).
e) A facility's IP shall coordinate with the
facility group listed in Section
300.696(c) to
ensure compliance with Section
300.696.
