Sec. 10.21.13.02. Definitions

A. In this chapter, the following terms have the meanings indicated.

B. Terms Defined.

(1) "Chief executive officer (CEO)" means the individual responsible for the overall management of a facility.

(2) "Clinical director" means the psychiatrist in charge of the clinical care of all psychiatric patients in that facility.

(3) "Emergency situation" means any situation in which a patient's behavior poses a serious and imminent danger to the physical safety of self or others.

(4) "Facility" means any public or private hospital, clinic, or other institution that provides or purports to provide treatment or other services for a mental disorder, except an acute general hospital that does not have a separately identified inpatient psychiatric service.

(5) "Patient" means an individual receiving services for a mental disorder in a facility and includes any student receiving care and treatment in that facility.

(6) "Physician" means an individual who is authorized to practice medicine under Health Occupations Article, Title 14, Annotated Code of Maryland.

(7) "Quiet room" means an unlocked room that patients are not physically prevented from leaving, which is designated for patients' voluntary use to allow them time out of the company of other patients.

(8) "Registered nurse" means an individual who is licensed to practice registered nursing under Health Occupations Article, Title 8, Annotated Code of Maryland.

(9) "Seclusion" means the involuntary confinement of a patient under the direction of a physician or registered nurse alone in a room which a patient is physically prevented from leaving.

(10) "Serious disruption to a therapeutic environment" means imminent danger of damage to the physical environment, or behavior of such a grave or protracted nature that it significantly interferes with the emotional well-being of other patients or with their treatment.

(11) "Treatment team" means the patient's treatment team as defined in COMAR 10.21.03.02C.