§ 22 §1812-C — Nursing staff in nursing homes; reimbursement; delegation of duties; and policies

1.
Reimbursement of nursing assistants.
Nursing homes shall be entitled to receive reimbursement under the department's principles of reimbursement, in accordance with approved staffing patterns, for long-term care facilities for nursing assistants enrolled in training programs.
2.
Training program expenses.
Nursing homes shall be entitled to receive reimbursement under the department's principles of reimbursement for long-term care facilities, for all reasonable expenses associated with carrying out a certified nursing assistant educational program, consistent with the department rules governing the licensing and functioning of skilled nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities.
3.
Delegation of nursing duties.
A registered nurse in a skilled nursing facility or an intermediate care facility may delegate the following functions to nursing assistants enrolled in training programs:
4.
Consistent policies.
5.
Rules; supervision of and delegation to nursing assistants.
The Department of Health and Human Services shall revise its rules or adopt rules concerning supervision of and delegation of tasks to certified nursing assistants and nursing assistants in training. The rules shall be developed and adopted jointly by the department and the State Board of Nursing and shall be consistent with other relevant rules.
6.
Rules; maintenance of approved staffing pattern.
The department shall revise its rules or adopt rules to require documentation when any nursing home receives reimbursement for an approved staffing pattern which exceeds the minimum staffing level and fails to meet that approved staffing level for one year. Failure to meet the minimum staffing requirements as set forth in the Regulations Governing the Licensure of Long-Term Care Facilities shall be cause for licensure sanctions permitted under law and rules.
6-A.
Shared staffing.
The department shall permit staff in nursing facilities to be shared with facilities licensed to provide assisted housing services as long as there is a clear, documented audit trail and the staffing in the nursing facilities remains adequate to meet the needs of residents. Staffing to be shared may be based on the average number of hours used per week or month within the assisted housing facility. In a facility licensed to provide assisted housing services under section 7801 in which 2 or more staff are required to be awake and on duty during a night shift, one of the staff may be shared with a nursing facility located in the same building without prior approval from the department, subject to the following provisions.
7.
Health Occupations Training Project.

Legislative History

PL 1985, c. 738, §1 (NEW). PL 1987, c. 195, §§1,2 (AMD). PL 1987, c. 777, §2 (AMD). PL 1995, c. 670, §B1 (AMD). PL 1995, c. 670, §D5 (AFF). PL 2003, c. 416, §2 (AMD). PL 2003, c. 689, §B6 (REV). PL 2023, c. 176, §2 (AMD).