481—51.24 (135B) Infection control. There shall be proper policies and procedures for the prevention and control of communicable diseases. The hospital shall provide for compliance with the rules for the control of communicable disease as provided by the state department of public health in 641—Chapter 1, 1987 and 1988 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines on universal precautions and 1985 CDC guidelines for hand washing.
	 51.24(1) Segregation. There shall be proper arrangement of areas, rooms and patients’ beds to provide for the prevention of cross-infections and the control of communicable diseases.
	  a.   	 There shall be proper procedures for the cleansing of rooms and surgeries, immediately following the care of a communicable case.
	  b.   	 Segregation of communicable cases shall include policies for the medical, nursing and lay staffs, providing for proper isolation technique in order to prevent cross-infection.
	 51.24(2) Visitors. The governing authority of the hospital shall establish proper policies for the control of visitors to all services in the hospital in accordance with hospital practice. In the maternity area, each hospital should develop its own criteria, control measures, and protocols to ensure against introduction of infection in this critical area. These criteria should be reviewed and approved by the committee of the hospital.
	 51.24(3) Health examinations. Health examinations for all personnel shall be required at the commencement of employment and thereafter at least every four years. The examination shall include, at a minimum, the health status of the employee. Consideration shall be given to requiring health examinations at shorter intervals for those employees working in high-risk areas. Screening and testing for tuberculosis shall be conducted pursuant to 481—Chapter 59.
	 51.24(4) Notification. Prior to removal of a deceased resident/patient from a facility, the funeral director or person responsible for transporting the body shall be notified by the facility staff of any special precautions that were followed by the facility having to do with the mode of transmission of a known or suspected communicable disease.
This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code section 135B.7.
[ARC 0484C, IAB 12/12/12, effective 1/16/13]