Florida Senate - 2021                      CS for CS for SB 1132
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Appropriations; and Health Policy; and
       Senator Bean
       
       
       
       
       576-04470-21                                          20211132c2
    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; requiring the agency to adopt rules;
   11         requiring the agency to authorize the continuation of
   12         certain personal care attendant programs under certain
   13         circumstances; amending s. 400.211, F.S.; authorizing
   14         certain persons to be employed by a nursing home
   15         facility as personal care attendants for a specified
   16         period if a certain training requirement is met;
   17         defining the term “personal care attendants”;
   18         providing an effective date.
   19          
   20  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   21  
   22         Section 1. Paragraph (w) is added to subsection (1) of
   23  section 400.141, Florida Statutes, to read:
   24         400.141 Administration and management of nursing home
   25  facilities.—
   26         (1) Every licensed facility shall comply with all
   27  applicable standards and rules of the agency and shall:
   28         (w)Be allowed to employ personal care attendants as
   29  defined in s. 400.211(2)(d), if such personal care attendants
   30  are participating in the personal care attendant training
   31  program developed by the agency, in accordance with 42 C.F.R.
   32  ss. 483.151-483.154, in consultation with the Board of Nursing.
   33         1. The personal care attendant program must consist of a
   34  minimum of 16 hours of education and must include all of the
   35  topics and lessons specified in the program curriculum.
   36         2. The program curriculum must include, but need not be
   37  limited to, training in all of the following content areas:
   38         a. Residents’ rights.
   39         b. Confidentiality of residents’ personal information and
   40  medical records.
   41         c. Control of contagious and infectious diseases.
   42         d. Emergency response measures.
   43         e. Assistance with activities of daily living.
   44         f. Measuring vital signs.
   45         g. Skin care and pressure sores prevention.
   46         h. Portable oxygen use and safety.
   47         i. Nutrition and hydration.
   48         j. Dementia care.
   49         3. A personal care attendant must complete the 16 hours of
   50  required education before having any direct contact with a
   51  resident.
   52         4. A personal care attendant may not perform any task that
   53  requires clinical assessment, interpretation, or judgment.
   54         5. An individual employed as a personal care attendant
   55  under s. 400.211(2)(d) must work exclusively for one nursing
   56  facility before becoming a certified nursing assistant.
   57  
   58  The agency shall adopt rules necessary to implement this
   59  paragraph. If the state of emergency declared by the Governor
   60  pursuant to Executive Order No. 20-52 is terminated before the
   61  agency adopts rules to implement this paragraph, the agency
   62  shall authorize the continuation of the personal care attendant
   63  program until the agency adopts such rules.
   64         Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 400.211, Florida
   65  Statutes, is amended to read:
   66         400.211 Persons employed as nursing assistants;
   67  certification requirement.—
   68         (2) The following categories of persons who are not
   69  certified as nursing assistants under part II of chapter 464 may
   70  be employed by a nursing facility for a single consecutive
   71  period of 4 months:
   72         (a) Persons who are enrolled in, or have completed, a
   73  state-approved nursing assistant program.;
   74         (b) Persons who have been positively verified as actively
   75  certified and on the registry in another state with no findings
   76  of abuse, neglect, or exploitation in that state.; or
   77         (c) Persons who have preliminarily passed the state’s
   78  certification exam.
   79         (d)Persons who are employed as personal care attendants
   80  and who have completed the personal care attendant training
   81  program developed pursuant to s. 400.141(1)(w). As used in this
   82  paragraph, the term “personal care attendants” means persons who
   83  meet the training requirement in s. 400.141(1)(w) and provide
   84  care to and assist residents with tasks related to the
   85  activities of daily living.
   86  
   87  The certification requirement must be met within 4 months after
   88  initial employment as a nursing assistant in a licensed nursing
   89  facility.
   90         Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.