44:73:04:06Personnel health program.

The facility shall have a personnel health program for the protection of the residents. Before assignment to duties or within fourteen days after employment, a licensed health professional must evaluate all personnel to ensure no personnel is infected with any reportable communicable disease that poses a threat to others. The evaluation must include an assessment of previous vaccinations and tuberculin skin tests. The facility may not allow anyone with a communicable disease, during the period of communicability, to work in a capacity that would allow spread of the disease. Personnel absent from duty because of a reportable communicable disease that may endanger the health of residents, and fellow personnel may not return to duty until the personnel is determined by a physician, physician's designee, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or clinical nurse specialist to no longer have the disease in a communicable stage. For purposes of this section, “licensed health professional” means a physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, physical therapist, speech-language pathologist, occupational therapist, physical or occupational therapy assistant, nurse, nursing facility administrator, dietitian, pharmacist, respiratory therapist, or social worker who holds a current license to practice in this state or privilege to practice.

Source: SL 1975, ch 16, § 1; 4 SDR 14, effective September 14, 1977; 6 SDR 93, effective July 1, 1980; 14 SDR 81, effective December 10, 1987; 22 SDR 70, effective November 19, 1995; 24 SDR 90, effective January 4, 1998; 26 SDR 96, effective January 23, 2000; transferred from § 44:04:04:06, 42 SDR 51, effective October 13, 2015; 51 SDR 53, effective November 11, 2024; 53 SDR 34, effective September 24, 2026.