§ 131D-4.5 — Rules adopted by Medical Care Commission

North Carolina § 131D-4.5

• Jurisdiction: North Carolina
• Ch. 131D: Inspection and Licensing of Facilities
• Art. 1: Adult Care Homes

Text

The Medical Care Commission shall adopt rules as follows:
(1) Establishing minimum medication administration standards for adult care homes. The rules shall include the minimum staffing and training requirements for medication aides and standards for professional supervision of adult care homes' medication controls. The requirements shall (i) include compliance with G.S. 131D-4.5B and (ii) be designed to reduce the medication error rate in adult care homes to an acceptable level. The requirements shall include, but need not be limited to, all of the following:
a. Training for medication aides, including periodic refresher training.
b. Standards for management of complex medication regimens.
c. Oversight by licensed professionals.
d. Measures to ensure proper storage of medication.
(2) Establishing training requirements for adult care home staff in behavioral interventions. The training shall include appropriate responses to behavioral problems posed by adult care residents. The training shall emphasize safety and humane care and shall specifically include alternatives to the use of restraints.
(3) Establishing minimum training and education qualifications for supervisors in adult care homes and specifying the safety responsibilities of supervisors. The minimum training qualifications shall include compliance with G.S. 131D-4.5C.
(4) Specifying the qualifications of staff who shall be on duty in adult care homes during various portions of the day in order to assure safe and quality care for the residents. The rules shall take into account varied resident needs and population mixes.
(5) Implementing the due process and appeal rights for discharge and transfer of residents in adult care homes afforded by G.S. 131D-21. The rules shall offer protections to residents for safe and orderly transfer and discharge.
(6) Establishing procedures for determining the compliance history of adult care homes' principals and affiliates. The rules shall include criteria for refusing to license facilities which have a history of, or have principals or affiliates with a history of, noncompliance with State law, or disregard for the health, safety, and welfare of residents.
(7) For the licensure of special care units in accordance with G.S. 131D-4.6, and for disclosures required to be made under G.S. 131D-8.
(8) For time limited provisional licenses and for granting extensions for provisional licenses.
(9) For the issuance of certificates to adult care homes as authorized under G.S. 131D-10. (1999-334, s. 1.1; 2000-111, s. 2; 2007-544, s. 3(a); 2011-99, ss. 1, 2; 2011-272, s. 2.)
§ 131D-4.5A. Fees for medication aides.
The Department may impose a fee, not to exceed twenty-five dollars ($25.00), on an applicant seeking certification as an assisted living home medication aide to cover the costs of testing and materials in administering a certification examination. (2010-31, s. 10.36A(a).)
§ 131D-4.5B. Adult care home medication aides; training and competency evaluation requirements.
(a) By January 1, 2012, the Division of Health Service Regulation shall develop a mandatory, annual in-service training program for adult care home medication aides on infection control, safe practices for injections and any other procedures during which bleeding typically occurs, and glucose monitoring. Each medication aide who successfully completes the in-service training program shall receive partial credit, in an amount determined by the Department, toward the continuing education requirements for adult care home medication aides established by the Commission pursuant to G.S. 131D-4.5.
(b) Beginning October 1, 2013, an adult care home is prohibited from allowing staff to perform any unsupervised medication aide duties unless that individual has previously worked as a medication aide during the previous 24 months in an adult care home or successfully completed all of the following:
(1) A five-hour training program developed by the Department that includes training and instruction in all of the following:
a. The key principles of medication administration.
b. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on infection control and, if applicable, safe injection practices and procedures for monitoring or testing in which bleeding occurs or the potential for bleeding exists.
(2) A clinical skills evaluation consistent with 10A NCAC 13F .0503 and 10A NCAC 13G .0503.
(3) Within 60 days from the date of hire, the individual must have completed the following:
a. An additional 10-hour training program developed by the Department that includes training and instruction in all of the following:
1. The key principles of medication administration.
2. The federal Centers of Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on infection control and, if applicable, safe injection practices and procedures for monitoring or testing in which bleeding occurs or the potential for bleeding exists.
b. An examination developed and administered by the Division of Health Service Regulation in accordance with subsection (c) of this section.
(c) By October 1, 2012, the Division of Health Service Regulation shall develop and administer an examination for individuals seeking employment as a medication aide in an adult care home. (2011-99, s. 5.)
§ 131D-4.5C. Adult care home supervisors; infection control training requirements.
(a) The Department shall develop, in consultation with associations representing adult care home providers, model infection prevention and control policies and procedures that are consistent with accepted national standards and address the factors identified in G.S. 131D-4.4A(b)(1). The Department shall make these model infection prevention and control policies and procedures available to adult care homes on the Department's internet website.
(b) The Department shall develop a mandatory, annual course for adult care home supervisors on implementation of the model infection prevention and control policies and procedures developed by the Department in accordance with subsection (a) of this section. Each supervisor that successfully completes the mandatory infection control course shall receive credit, in an amount determined by the Department, toward the continuing education requirements for adult care home supervisors established by the Commission pursuant to G.S. 131D-4.5. (2011-99, s. 5; 2021-189, s. 3.2(b).)