Accreditation

Create an effective policy to comply with standard IC.6.10

Accreditation Connection, December 22, 2004

Standard IC.6.10 is a major addition to the 2005 JCAHO standards. It is part of emergency management activities and requires hospitals to prepare a response to an influx or risk of an influx of infectious patients.

Although emergency management plans generally address receiving patients during an emergency or disaster, this standard specifies  that hospitals develop plans for receiving patients with infections and providing care to them over an extended period of time.

To deal with a surge of infected patients and comply with IC.6.10, your facility must implement its general emergency management policies. In addition to these policies, you should address the following issues for infectious diseases to maintain compliance:

* Community resources

Determine whether this is a community-wide event and whether other facilities, shelters, hotels, etc., are also accepting infectious patients. If so, coordinate decision-making with community disaster agencies and local and state public health departments.Type of infectious disease/mode of transmissionDetermine what types of infectious disease the patients have and the modes of transmission.

* Type of infectious disease/mode of transmission

Determine what types of infectious disease the patients have and the modese of transmission.

* Supplies

Are adequate supplies available for personal protective equipment and hand hygiene? If not, order the necessary supplies.

* Staffing for infectious patients

If this is a disease to which some healthcare workers have immunity, consider assigning staff with immunity to care for the infectious patients.

*Medications for treatment and prophylaxis

If there is an indication for specific drug treatment of the infectious patients or prophylaxis for exposed persons, obtain those medications in adequate quantity.

Editor's note: This policy is adapted from the new book, Infection Control Compliance Guide: Understanding the JCAHO's Standards, by Gail Bennett, RN, MSN, CIC, and published by HCPro, Inc. Visit www.hcmarketplace.com for more information or to order.

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