Senate Bill sb0694c1
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Florida Senate - 2004 CS for SB 694
By the Committee on Health, Aging, and Long-Term Care; and
Senator Saunders
317-2197-04
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to certified nursing
3 assistants; amending s. 464.203, F.S.;
4 providing that a person must pass the required
5 background screening as a part of the
6 certification process for certified nursing
7 assistants; revising the requirements for
8 conducting the background screening; requiring
9 the Agency for Health Care Administration to
10 post information relating to background
11 screening in its database; requiring that the
12 database be available to employers and
13 prospective employers; amending s. 400.211,
14 F.S.; correcting a cross-reference; amending s.
15 400.215, F.S.; providing that a person who has
16 been screened under certain provisions of law
17 is not required to be rescreened to be employed
18 in a nursing home; providing an effective date.
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20 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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22 Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 464.203, Florida
23 Statutes, is amended, and subsections (8) and (9) are added to
24 that section, to read:
25 464.203 Certified nursing assistants; certification
26 requirement.--
27 (1) The board shall issue a certificate to practice as
28 a certified nursing assistant to any person who demonstrates a
29 minimum competency to read and write and successfully passes
30 the required background Level I or Level II screening in
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Florida Senate - 2004 CS for SB 694
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1 subsection (8) pursuant to s. 400.215 and who meets one of the
2 following requirements:
3 (a) Has successfully completed an approved training
4 program and achieved a minimum score, established by rule of
5 the board, on the nursing assistant competency examination,
6 which consists of a written portion and skills-demonstration
7 portion approved by the board and administered at a site and
8 by personnel approved by the department.
9 (b) Has achieved a minimum score, established by rule
10 of the board, on the nursing assistant competency examination,
11 which consists of a written portion and skills-demonstration
12 portion, approved by the board and administered at a site and
13 by personnel approved by the department and:
14 1. Has a high school diploma, or its equivalent; or
15 2. Is at least 18 years of age.
16 (c) Is currently certified in another state; is listed
17 on that state's certified nursing assistant registry; and has
18 not been found to have committed abuse, neglect, or
19 exploitation in that state.
20 (d) Has completed the curriculum developed under the
21 Enterprise Florida Jobs and Education Partnership Grant and
22 achieved a minimum score, established by rule of the board, on
23 the nursing assistant competency examination, which consists
24 of a written portion and skills-demonstration portion,
25 approved by the board and administered at a site and by
26 personnel approved by the department.
27 (8) For purposes of this section, background screening
28 shall include:
29 (a) A determination whether the person seeking the
30 certificate has committed any act that would constitute
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Florida Senate - 2004 CS for SB 694
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1 grounds for disciplinary sanctions as provided in s.
2 464.204(1); and
3 (b)1. For persons who have continuously resided in
4 this state for the 5 years immediately preceding the date of
5 screening, level 1 screening as set forth in chapter 435; or
6 2. For persons who have not continuously resided in
7 this state for the 5 years immediately preceding the date of
8 screening, level 2 screening as set forth in chapter 435.
9 (9) After a certificate to practice as a certified
10 nursing assistant has been issued, the department and the
11 Agency for Health Care Administration shall post the
12 information relating to background screening on the agency's
13 background-screening database, which shall be available only
14 to employers and prospective employers, who, as a condition of
15 employment, are required by law to conduct a background check
16 for the employment of certified nursing assistants.
17 Section 2. Subsection (4) of section 400.211, Florida
18 Statutes, is amended to read:
19 400.211 Persons employed as nursing assistants;
20 certification requirement.--
21 (4) When employed by a nursing home facility for a
22 12-month period or longer, a nursing assistant, to maintain
23 certification, shall submit to a performance review every 12
24 months and must receive regular inservice education based on
25 the outcome of these such reviews. The inservice training
26 must:
27 (a) Be sufficient to ensure the continuing competence
28 of nursing assistants, must be at least 18 hours per year, and
29 may include hours accrued under s. 464.203(7) s. 464.203(8);
30 (b) Include, at a minimum:
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Florida Senate - 2004 CS for SB 694
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1 1. Techniques for assisting with eating and proper
2 feeding;
3 2. Principles of adequate nutrition and hydration;
4 3. Techniques for assisting and responding to the
5 cognitively impaired resident or the resident with difficult
6 behaviors;
7 4. Techniques for caring for the resident at the
8 end-of-life; and
9 5. Recognizing changes that place a resident at risk
10 for pressure ulcers and falls; and
11 (c) Address areas of weakness as determined in nursing
12 assistant performance reviews and may address the special
13 needs of residents as determined by the nursing home facility
14 staff.
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16 Costs associated with this training may not be reimbursed from
17 additional Medicaid funding through interim rate adjustments.
18 Section 3. Subsection (5) of section 400.215, Florida
19 Statutes, is amended to read:
20 400.215 Personnel screening requirement.--
21 (5) Any provision of law to the contrary
22 notwithstanding, persons who have been screened and qualified
23 as required by this section or s. 464.203 and who have not
24 been unemployed for more than 180 days thereafter, and who
25 under penalty of perjury attest to not having been convicted
26 of a disqualifying offense since the completion of such
27 screening, shall not be required to be rescreened. For
28 purposes of this subsection, screened and qualified under s.
29 464.203 means that the person subject to such screening at the
30 time of certification by the Board of Nursing does not have
31 any disqualifying offense under chapter 435 or has received an
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Florida Senate - 2004 CS for SB 694
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1 exemption from any disqualification under chapter 435 from the
2 Board of Nursing. An employer may obtain, under pursuant to s.
3 435.10, written verification of qualifying screening results
4 from the previous employer or other entity which caused the
5 such screening to be performed.
6 Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
7 law.
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9 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
10 Senate Bill 694
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12 The committee substitute revises the requirements for
conducting the criminal background screening for certification
13 of a certified nursing assistant by the Board of Nursing.
After a certificate to practice as a certified nursing
14 assistant has been issued, the Department of Health and the
Agency for Health Care Administration must post the
15 information relating to background screening on the
background-screening database of the Agency for Health Care
16 Administration, which shall be available only to employers and
prospective employers, who, as a condition of employment, are
17 required by law to conduct a background check of certified
nursing assistants. The committee substitute provides an
18 exemption to entities required to conduct a background
screening of certain employees, from rescreening certified
19 nursing assistants who have been screened and qualified by the
Board of Nursing under specified circumstances.
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