Florida Senate - 2021                             CS for SB 1132
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Health Policy; and Senator Bean
       
       
       
       
       
       588-02981-21                                          20211132c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to personal care attendants; amending
    3         s. 400.141, F.S.; authorizing nursing home facilities
    4         to employ personal care attendants if they are
    5         participating in a certain training program developed
    6         by the Agency for Health Care Administration, in
    7         consultation with the Board of Nursing; providing
    8         minimum requirements for such program; providing
    9         limitations on such personal care attendants’
   10         practice; authorizing the agency to adopt rules;
   11         authorizing certain personal care attendant programs
   12         to continue operating during the agency’s rulemaking
   13         process under certain circumstances; requiring the
   14         agency to notify the Division of Law Revision of the
   15         date certain rules take effect; providing for future
   16         repeal; amending s. 400.211, F.S.; authorizing certain
   17         persons to be employed by a nursing home facility as
   18         personal care attendants for a specified period if a
   19         certain training requirement is met; defining the term
   20         “personal care attendants”; providing an effective
   21         date.
   22          
   23  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   24  
   25         Section 1. Paragraph (w) is added to subsection (1) of
   26  section 400.141, Florida Statutes, to read:
   27         400.141 Administration and management of nursing home
   28  facilities.—
   29         (1) Every licensed facility shall comply with all
   30  applicable standards and rules of the agency and shall:
   31         (w)Be allowed to employ personal care attendants as
   32  defined in s. 400.211(2)(d), if such personal care attendants
   33  are participating in the personal care attendant training
   34  program developed by the agency, in accordance with 42 C.F.R.
   35  ss. 483.151-483.154, in consultation with the Board of Nursing.
   36         1.The personal care attendant training program must
   37  consist of a minimum of 16 hours of education and must include
   38  training in all of the topics and lessons specified in the
   39  program curriculum.
   40         2.The program curriculum for the personal care attendant
   41  training program must include, but need not be limited to, all
   42  of the following content areas:
   43         a.Residents’ rights.
   44         b.Confidentiality of residents’ personal information and
   45  medical records.
   46         c.Control of contagious and infectious diseases.
   47         d.Emergency response measures.
   48         e.Assistance with activities of daily living.
   49         f.Measuring vital signs.
   50         g.Skin care and pressure sore prevention.
   51         h.Portable oxygen use and safety.
   52         i.Nutrition and hydration.
   53         j.Dementia care.
   54         3.A personal care attendant may not perform any task that
   55  requires clinical assessment, interpretation, or judgment.
   56         4.A personal care attendant must work exclusively for one
   57  nursing home facility and may not work as a personal care
   58  attendant for more than one nursing home facility before
   59  becoming a certified nursing assistant.
   60         5.The agency may adopt rules to implement this paragraph.
   61         6.If the Governor’s Emergency Order 20-52 or an extension
   62  thereof expires or is terminated before the completion of the
   63  agency’s rulemaking process to implement this paragraph, any
   64  personal care attendant program that is operating pursuant to
   65  agency approval that was issued during the time in which the
   66  executive order was effective may continue to operate as
   67  authorized until the agency’s rulemaking process is completed,
   68  at which time the program must comply with agency rule. The
   69  agency shall notify the Division of Law Revision of the date
   70  such rules take effect. This subparagraph expires on the
   71  effective date of such rules.
   72         Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 400.211, Florida
   73  Statutes, is amended to read:
   74         400.211 Persons employed as nursing assistants;
   75  certification requirement.—
   76         (2) The following categories of persons who are not
   77  certified as nursing assistants under part II of chapter 464 may
   78  be employed by a nursing facility for a period of 4 months:
   79         (a) Persons who are enrolled in, or have completed, a
   80  state-approved nursing assistant program.;
   81         (b) Persons who have been positively verified as actively
   82  certified and on the registry in another state with no findings
   83  of abuse, neglect, or exploitation in that state.; or
   84         (c) Persons who have preliminarily passed the state’s
   85  certification exam.
   86         (d)Persons who are employed as personal care attendants
   87  and who have completed the personal care attendant training
   88  program developed pursuant to s. 400.141(1)(w). As used in this
   89  paragraph, the term “personal care attendants” means persons who
   90  meet the training requirement in s. 400.141(1)(w) and provide
   91  care to and assist residents with tasks related to the
   92  activities of daily living.
   93  
   94  The certification requirement must be met within 4 months after
   95  initial employment as a nursing assistant in a licensed nursing
   96  facility.
   97         Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.