Bill > A4149

Introduced Session

This bill amends current law to revise infection control regulations in long-term care facilities. The bill's amendments to N.J.S.A.26:2H-12.87: 1) remove the requirement for a long-term care facility to assign to the facility's infection prevention and control committee a physician who has completed an infectious disease fellowship; 2) revise infection preventionist qualifications to include certification under the American Health Care Association Infection Preventionist Specialized Training program, or under the Nursing Home Infection Preventionist Training course; 3) restrict the infection preventionist to membership in no more than five infection prevention and control committees; 4) require the infection preventionist to perform other duties within his or her scope of practice when infection preventionist duties are not required; 5) remove the requirement for the infection preventionist to be a managerial employee; 6) provide that in the case of a long-term care facility with a licensed bed capacity equal to more than 100 beds or that provides on-site hemodialysis services, an infection preventionist is to be employed on a part-time basis, or on a full-time basis if it is determined to be necessary based on the facility's risk assessment that is required pursuant to federal law; 7) require that in addition to the infection preventionist, the infection prevention and control committee is also to be responsible for: contributing to the development of policies, procedures, and a training curriculum for long-term care facility staff based on best practices and clinical expertise; monitoring the implementation of infection prevention and control policies and recommending disciplinary measures for staff who routinely violate those policies; assessing the facility's infection prevention and control program by conducting internal quality improvement audits; and ensuring that all employees are trained in infection prevention at such intervals as determined by the Department of Health; and 8) remove a provision that was dated to February 1, 2022.

Committee Categories

Shanique Speight (D)*,  Sterley Stanley (D)*,  Cleopatra Tucker (D)*,  Garnet Hall (D), 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Aging and Human Services Committee (on 04/04/2024)

Official Document