N.J. Admin. Code § 8:42-1.2
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics" means the organization formerly known as the "American Dietetic Association" which provides the Registered Dietitian credential and can be contacted at 120 South Riverside Plaza, Suite 2000, Chicago, Illinois 60606-6995, www.eatright.org, 800-877-1600 or 312-899-0040.
"Administrator" means a person who is administratively responsible and available for all aspects of agency operations, and:
"Advance directive" means as defined in the New Jersey Advance Directives for Health Care Act, 26:2H-53 et seq.
"Advanced practice nurse," also known as a nurse practitioner (see N.J.S.A. 45:11-46c), means the same as that term is defined at N.J.S.A. 45:11-23.
"Available" means ready for immediate use (pertaining to equipment); capable of being reached (pertaining to personnel).
"Branch office" means an agency site from which services are provided to patients in their homes or place of residence; which is physically separate from the home health agency but shares administrative oversight and services; which meets all requirements for licensure; and which has a registered professional nurse available when the branch office is open to the public.
"Bylaws" means a set of rules adopted by the agency for governing its operation. (A charter, articles of incorporation, and/or a statement of policies and objectives is an acceptable equivalent.)
"Certified homemaker-home health aide" or "CHHA" means a person who has completed a training program approved by the New Jersey Board of Nursing and who is so certified by that Board in accordance with N.J.A.C. 13:37-14 and who, under supervision of a registered professional nurse, follows a delegated nursing regiment or performs tasks that are delegated.
"Cleaning" means the removal by scrubbing and washing, as with hot water, soap or detergent, and vacuuming, of infectious agents and/or organic matter from surfaces on which and in which infectious agents may find conditions for surviving or multiplying.
"Clinical note" means a signed and dated notation made at each patient visit by each health care professional who renders a service to the patient. The clinical note shall include a written description of signs and symptoms, treatment, and/or medication(s) administered, the patient's response, and any changes in physical or emotional condition, and may be documented in a flow sheet format. The flow sheet shall be supplemented by a narrative clinical note at least once a week and whenever there is a change in the patient's condition or care, which cannot be clearly documented on a flow sheet. The clinical note shall be written or dictated on the day service is rendered and shall be incorporated into the patient's medical/health record according to the agency's policies and procedures.
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Health.
"Communicable disease" means an illness due to a specific infectious agent or its toxic products, which occurs through the transmission of that agent or its products from a reservoir to a susceptible host.
"Community health nurse" means a registered professional nurse whose practice emphasizes health promotion, health maintenance, primary prevention, health education and management, coordination of health care services, and continuity of care for individuals, families, and groups in the community. The community health nurse's practice includes, but is not limited to, home visits to assess, plan for, and provide nursing services; health guidance and direct care; and coordination of services with community resources, families and other health professionals and paraprofessionals.
"Conspicuously posted" means placed at a location within the agency accessible to and seen by patients and the public.
"Contamination" means the presence of an infectious or toxic agent in the air, on a body surface, or on or in clothes, bedding, instruments, dressings, or other inanimate articles or substances, including water, milk, and food.
"Current" means up-to-date, extending to the present time.
"Department" means the New Jersey State Department of Health.
"Dietitian" means a person who:
"Director of Nursing" means a registered professional nurse who has at least one of the following qualifications:
"Direct patient care" means hands-on or face-to-face contact with patients.
"Disinfection" means the killing of infectious agents outside the body, or organisms transmitting such agents, by chemical and physical means, directly applied.
"Division of Health Facility Survey and Field Operations" or "DHFSFO" means the division within the Department that surveys and inspects licensed health care facilities. The contact information for the DHFSFO is PO Box 367, 120 South Stockton Street, Lower Level, Trenton NJ 08625-0367, http://www.nj.gov/health.
"Documented" means written, signed, and dated or computer generated, and authenticated if an electronic system is used.
"Drug administration" means a procedure in which a prescribed drug or biological product is given to a patient by an authorized person in accordance with all laws and rules governing such procedures. The complete procedure of administration consists of:
"Full-time" means a time period established by the agency as a full working week, as defined and specified in the agency's policies and procedures.
"Governing authority" means the organization, person, or persons designated to assume legal responsibility for the determination and implementation of policy and for the management, operation, and financial viability of the agency.
"Home health agency" or "agency" means an entity licensed by the Department to provide preventive, rehabilitative, and therapeutic services to patients on a visiting basis in a patient's home or place of residence. All home health agencies shall provide, at a minimum, nursing, homemaker-home health aide, and physical therapy services, and are eligible for Medicare-certification.
"Homemaker-home health aide" means a person who has completed a training program approved by the New Jersey Board of Nursing and who is so certified by that Board.
"Hours of operation" means normal business hours, during which the site is open to the public for business.
"Job description" means written specifications developed for each position in the agency, containing the qualifications, duties, competencies, responsibilities, and accountability required of employees in that position.
"Licensed nursing personnel" or "licensed nurse" means a registered professional nurse and a licensed practical (vocational) nurse licensed by the New Jersey Board of Nursing.
"Licensed practical nurse" or "LPN" means an individual to whom the New Jersey Board of Nursing in the Division of Consumer Affairs of the Department of Law and Public Safety issues licensure as a licensed practical nurse, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 45:11-23 et seq., and N.J.A.C. 13:37.
"Medication" means a drug or medicine as defined by the New Jersey Board of Pharmacy.
"Monitor" means to observe, watch, or check.
"Nursing supervisor" means a registered professional nurse who has at least one of the following qualifications:
"Occupational therapist" means an individual who is so licensed, by the New Jersey Occupational Therapy Advisory Council in the Division of Consumer Affairs of the Department of Law and Public Safety, in accordance with N.J.S.A. 45:9-37.51 et seq., and N.J.A.C. 13:44K.
"Occupational therapy assistant" means an individual who is so licensed pursuant to the New Jersey Occupational Therapy Advisory Council in the Division of Consumer Affairs of the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, in accordance with N.J.S.A. 45:9-37.51 et seq., and N.J.A.C. 13:44K.
"Physical therapist" means an individual who is so licensed by the New Jersey Board of Physical Therapy in the Division of Consumer Affairs of the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 45:9-37.12 et seq., and N.J.A.C. 13:39A.
"Physical therapy assistant" means an individual who is so licensed by the New Jersey State Board of Physical Therapy in the Division of Consumer Affairs of the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 45:9-37.12 et seq., and N.J.A.C. 13:39A.
"Physician" means an individual to whom the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners in the Division of Consumer Affairs of the Department of Law and Public Safety issues licensure to practice medicine or podiatry in the State of New Jersey pursuant to N.J.S.A. 45:9-1 et seq., and N.J.A.C. 13:35.
"Physician assistant" means an individual who meets the qualifications pursuant to N.J.S.A. 45:9-27.10 et seq., and to whom the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners in the Division of Consumer Affairs of the Department of Law and Public Safety issues licensure, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 45:9-27.13.
"Plan of care" (nursing, rehabilitation, social work, dietary counseling) means a written plan based on an assessment of the patient and the care and treatment to be provided by each discipline. Each discipline that provides service shall initiate the development and implementation of its own service plan, including measurable goals with timeframes, at the time of the patient's admission to that service. If the patient does not need a specific service, a plan is not needed for that service.
"Plan of treatment" means a written plan established and authorized in writing by the physician based on an evaluation of the patient's immediate and long-term needs.
"Practitioner Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment form" or "POLST form" means as defined in the Practitioner Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment Act, N.J.S.A. 26:2H-129 et seq., particularly at 26:2H-131.
"Progress note" means a written, signed, and dated notation by the practitioner providing care, periodically summarizing information about the care provided and the patient's response to it.
"Registered professional nurse" means an individual who is licensed by the New Jersey Board of Nursing in the Division of Consumer Affairs of the Department of Law and Public Safety, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 45:11-23 et seq. and N.J.A.C. 13:37.
"Restraint" means a physical device, material, equipment, or chemical (drug) that is used to limit, restrict, or control a patient's free bodily movement to a position of choice.
"Signature" means at least the first initial and full surname and title (for example, R.N., L.P.N., D.D.S., M.D.) of a person, legibly written with the person's own hand, generated by computer with authorization safeguards, or communicated by a facsimile communications system (FAX). A controlled electronic signature system may be used.
"Social worker" means a person who is licensed by the New Jersey State Board of Social Work Examiners and has a master's degree in social work from a graduate school of social work accredited by the Council on Social Work Education, and at least one year of post-master's social work experience in a health care setting pursuant to N.J.S.A. 45:15BB-1 et seq., and N.J.A.C. 13:44G.
"Speech-language pathologist" means a person who is so licensed by the Audiology and Speech Language Pathology Advisory Committee in the Division of Consumer Affairs of the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, pursuant to N.J.A.C. 13:44C.
"Staff education plan" means a written plan developed at least annually and implemented throughout the year which describes a coordinated program for staff education for each service, including in-service programs and on-the-job training.
"Staff orientation plan" means a written plan for the orientation of each new employee to the duties and responsibilities of the service to which he or she has been assigned, as well as to the personnel policies of the facility.
"Sterilization" means a process of destroying all microorganisms, including those bearing spores, in, on, and around an object.
"Supervision" means authoritative procedural guidance by a qualified person for the accomplishment of a function or activity within his or her sphere of competence, with initial direction and periodic on-site inspection of the actual act of accomplishing the function or activity.
"Telehealth" means the use of information and communications technologies, including telephones, remote patient monitoring devices, or other electronic means, to support clinical health care, provider consultation, patient and professional health-related education, public health, health administration, and other services in accordance with the provisions at N.J.S.A. 45:1-61 through 66.
"Telemedicine" means the delivery of a health care service using electronic communications, information technology, or other electronic or technological means to bridge the gap between a health care provider who is located at a distant site and a patient who is located at an originating site, either with or without the assistance of an intervening health care provider, and in accordance with the provisions at N.J.S.A. 45:1-61 through 66. "Telemedicine" does not include the use, in isolation, of electronic mail, instant messaging, phone text, or facsimile transmission.
N.J. Admin. Code § 8:42-1.2