Senate Bill sb0694e1

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    CS for SB 694                                  First Engrossed



  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, after January 1,

12         2005; requiring that the database be available

13         to employers and prospective employers;

14         amending s. 400.211, F.S.; revising certain

15         inservice education and performance review

16         requirements; correcting a cross-reference;

17         amending s. 400.215, F.S.; providing that a

18         person who has been screened under certain

19         provisions of law is not required to be

20         rescreened to be employed in a nursing home;

21         providing an effective date.

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23  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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25         Section 1.  Subsection (1) of section 464.203, Florida

26  Statutes, is amended, and subsections (8) and (9) are added to

27  that section, to read:

28         464.203  Certified nursing assistants; certification

29  requirement.--

30         (1)  The board shall issue a certificate to practice as

31  a certified nursing assistant to any person who demonstrates a


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    CS for SB 694                                  First Engrossed



 1  minimum competency to read and write and successfully passes

 2  the required background Level I or Level II screening in

 3  subsection (8) pursuant to s. 400.215 and who meets one of the

 4  following requirements:

 5         (a)  Has successfully completed an approved training

 6  program and achieved a minimum score, established by rule of

 7  the board, on the nursing assistant competency examination,

 8  which consists of a written portion and skills-demonstration

 9  portion approved by the board and administered at a site and

10  by personnel approved by the department.

11         (b)  Has achieved a minimum score, established by rule

12  of the board, on the nursing assistant competency examination,

13  which consists of a written portion and skills-demonstration

14  portion, approved by the board and administered at a site and

15  by personnel approved by the department and:

16         1.  Has a high school diploma, or its equivalent; or

17         2.  Is at least 18 years of age.

18         (c)  Is currently certified in another state; is listed

19  on that state's certified nursing assistant registry; and has

20  not been found to have committed abuse, neglect, or

21  exploitation in that state.

22         (d)  Has completed the curriculum developed under the

23  Enterprise Florida Jobs and Education Partnership Grant and

24  achieved a minimum score, established by rule of the board, on

25  the nursing assistant competency examination, which consists

26  of a written portion and skills-demonstration portion,

27  approved by the board and administered at a site and by

28  personnel approved by the department.

29         (8)  For purposes of this section, background screening

30  shall include:

31  


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    CS for SB 694                                  First Engrossed



 1         (a)  A determination whether the person seeking the

 2  certificate has committed any act that would constitute

 3  grounds for disciplinary sanctions as provided in s.

 4  464.204(1); and

 5         (b)1.  For persons who have continuously resided in

 6  this state for the 5 years immediately preceding the date of

 7  screening, level 1 screening as set forth in chapter 435; or

 8         2.  For persons who have not continuously resided in

 9  this state for the 5 years immediately preceding the date of

10  screening, level 2 screening as set forth in chapter 435.

11         (9)  Beginning January 1, 2005, the Department of

12  Health and the Agency for Health Care Administration shall,

13  after certification of an applicant, post information relating

14  to background screening on the agency's background-screening

15  database, which shall be available only to employers and

16  prospective employers, who, as a condition of employment, are

17  required by law to conduct a background check for the

18  employment of certified nursing assistants.

19         Section 2.  Subsection (4) of section 400.211, Florida

20  Statutes, is amended to read:

21         400.211  Persons employed as nursing assistants;

22  certification requirement.--

23         (4)  When employed by a nursing home facility for a

24  12-month period or longer, a nursing assistant, to maintain

25  certification, shall submit to a performance review every 12

26  months and must receive regular inservice education based on

27  the outcome of these such reviews. The inservice training

28  must:

29         (a)  Be sufficient to ensure the continuing competence

30  of nursing assistants, must be at least 18 hours per year, and

31  may include hours accrued under s. 464.203(7) s. 464.203(8);


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    CS for SB 694                                  First Engrossed



 1         (b)  Include, at a minimum:

 2         1.  Techniques for assisting with eating and proper

 3  feeding;

 4         2.  Principles of adequate nutrition and hydration;

 5         3.  Techniques for assisting and responding to the

 6  cognitively impaired resident or the resident with difficult

 7  behaviors;

 8         4.  Techniques for caring for the resident at the

 9  end-of-life; and

10         5.  Recognizing changes that place a resident at risk

11  for pressure ulcers and falls; and

12         (c)  Address areas of weakness as determined in nursing

13  assistant performance reviews and may address the special

14  needs of residents as determined by the nursing home facility

15  staff.

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17  Costs associated with this training may not be reimbursed from

18  additional Medicaid funding through interim rate adjustments.

19         Section 3.  Subsection (5) of section 400.215, Florida

20  Statutes, is amended to read:

21         400.215  Personnel screening requirement.--

22         (5)  Any provision of law to the contrary

23  notwithstanding, persons who have been screened and qualified

24  as required by this section or s. 464.203 and who have not

25  been unemployed for more than 180 days thereafter, and who

26  under penalty of perjury attest to not having been convicted

27  of a disqualifying offense since the completion of such

28  screening, shall not be required to be rescreened. For

29  purposes of this subsection, screened and qualified under s.

30  464.203 means that the person subject to such screening at the

31  time of certification by the Board of Nursing does not have


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    CS for SB 694                                  First Engrossed



 1  any disqualifying offense under chapter 435 or has received an

 2  exemption from any disqualification under chapter 435 from the

 3  Board of Nursing. An employer may obtain, under pursuant to s.

 4  435.10, written verification of qualifying screening results

 5  from the previous employer or other entity which caused the

 6  such screening to be performed.

 7         Section 4.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

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