OAR 331-718-0000: Standards of Practice for Respiratory Care

(1) A licensee must comply with the prevailing community standards for professional conduct. The Board recognizes and adopts the American Association of Respiratory Care (AARC) Statement of Ethics and Professional Conduct effective April 2015 as its professional standards model. Documents are available on the AARC Website at https://www.aarc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/statement-of-ethics.pdf. (2) At minimum, licensees are subject to directives and policies established by the medical facilities, businesses or agencies by which they are employed or regulated. (3) A licensee must comply with the following safety and infection control requirements: (a) All devices or items that come into direct contact with a client must be cleaned, sanitized or disinfected according to the manufacturer's instructions or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Standard Precautions; (b) All items that come in direct contact with the client's skin that do not require disinfecting must be clean; (c) All items that come in direct contact with the client's skin that cannot be cleaned or disinfected must be disposed of in a covered waste receptacle immediately after use; (d) All disinfecting solutions and agents must be kept at adequate strengths to maintain effectiveness, be free of foreign material and be available for immediate use at all times unless equipment is prepackaged and pre-sterilized; (e) All high-level and low-level disinfecting agents must be approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. High-level disinfectant means a chemical agent which has demonstrated tuberculocidal activity. Low-level disinfectant means a chemical agent which has demonstrated bactericidal, germicidal, fungicidal and limited viricidal activity; and (f) Before use, disposable prepackaged products and sterilized re-usable instruments must be stored in clean, sterilized containers that can be closed between treatments to maintain effective sterilization of the instrument until removed from the container. (4) A licensee must observe and follow the Standard Precautions adopted by the CDC as defined in OAR 437 Division 2, Subdivision Z, and the CDC Standard Precautions for public service workers regarding personal protection equipment and disposal of blood or bodily fluid contaminated articles, tools and equipment when providing services to patients.