Field review on new IC standards closing on July 5

The window to comment on four new infection prevention and control standards currently in field review is closing.

The revisions, which require an infection preventionist to be appointed and to outline their specific job duties, including writing policies for preventing the transmission of infectious diseases and special pathogens, would add four new standards to the Infection Prevention and Control chapter.

Many of the additions summarize a lot of the changes hospitals made to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, notes Ivan Gowe, MS, MLS (ASCP)CM, CIC, an infection preventionist in North Carolina.

“This is the recovery phase of the pandemic, when we permanently implement the best and most generalizable elements of our emergency response,” he notes.

Comments are being accepted through July 5. To read the revisions and participate in the online comment process, go here.