Senate Bill sb0120
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Florida Senate - 2005 SB 120
By Senator Saunders
37-55-05
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to certified nursing
3 assistants; amending s. 464.203, F.S.;
4 requiring that a person pass a background
5 screening as part of the certification process
6 for certified nursing assistants; revising the
7 requirements for conducting the background
8 screening; requiring the Department of Health
9 and the Agency for Health Care Administration
10 to post information relating to background
11 screening on the agency's database after a
12 specified date; requiring that the information
13 be available to employers and prospective
14 employers; amending s. 400.211, F.S.;
15 clarifying certain requirements governing
16 performance reviews and inservice education;
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.
22
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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Florida Senate - 2005 SB 120
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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 includes:
31
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Florida Senate - 2005 SB 120
37-55-05
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 provided 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 provided in chapter 435.
11 (9) Beginning January 1, 2006, 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 and must meet the standard specified in
31 s. 464.203(7);
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Florida Senate - 2005 SB 120
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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.
16
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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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
8 law.
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11 SENATE SUMMARY
12 Revises provision relating to certified nursing
assistants. Requires an applicant for certification as a
13 certified nursing assistant to pass the required
background screening and revises the background screening
14 requirements. Provides that certain persons do not have
to be rescreened if they were previously screened and
15 qualified.
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