Title: Family Caregiver Certified Nursing Assistant Program

Summary: Requiring the Board of Nursing, in consultation with the Agency for Health Care Administration, to develop a program to train and certify family caregivers as certified nursing assistants for a specified purpose; authorizing family caregivers who complete the program to take the nursing assistant competency examination; providing that such caregivers who pass the examination are eligible for certification as a nursing assistant, etc.

Full Text:
An act relating to the family caregiver certified nursing assistant program; amending s. 464.201, F.S.; defining the terms  family caregiver  and  relative ; creating s. 464.2031, F.S.; requiring the Board of Nursing, in consultation with the Agency for Health Care Administration, to develop a program to train and certify family caregivers as certified nursing assistants for a specified purpose; specifying requirements for the program; authorizing family caregivers who complete the program to take the nursing assistant competency examination; providing that such caregivers who pass the examination are eligible for certification as a nursing assistant; providing conditions on certification for family caregivers who obtain certification as nursing assistants; providing for the lifting of conditions after a specified period; authorizing the board, in consultation with the agency, to adopt rules; amending s. 464.203, F.S.; revising certification requirements for certified nursing assistants to conform to changes made by the act; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Present subsections (5) and (6) of section 464.201, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (6) and (7), respectively, and a new subsection (5) and subsection (8) are added to that section, to read: 464.201 Definitions. As used in this part, the term: (5)    Family caregiver  means a person who provides or intends to provide significant personal care and assistance to a relative who has an underlying physical or cognitive condition that prevents him or her from safely living independently. (8)    Relative  means a parent, spouse, child, sibling, grandparent, great-grandparent, first cousin, aunt, uncle, great-aunt, great-uncle, niece, or nephew, whether related by whole or half blood, by marriage, or by adoption. Section 2. Section 464.2031, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 464.2031   Family caregiver certified nursing assistant program.  (1)   The board, in consultation with the Agency for Health Care Administration, shall develop a program in accordance with C.F.R. ss. 483.151-483.154 to train and certify family caregivers as certified nursing assistants to increase the health care workforce in this state and authorize persons to provide trained nursing services to their relatives. A person who is a caregiver to a relative and wants to serve as the relative s designated certified nursing assistant may participate in the program. (2)   The program must consist of at least hours of training, including all of the following: (a)   A minimum of hours of theoretical instruction in nursing, including, but not limited to, instruction on: 1.   Person-centered care. 2.   The aging process. 3.   Communication and interpersonal skills. 4.   Infection control. 5.   Safety and emergency procedures. 6.   Assistance with activities of daily living. 7.   Dementia care. 8.   End-of-life care. 9.   Mental health and social service needs. 10.   Care of cognitively impaired individuals. 11.   Basic restorative care and rehabilitation. 12.   Patient rights and confidentiality of personal information and medical records. 13.   Relevant legal and ethical issues. Such instruction must be offered in various formats, and any interactive instruction must be provided during various times of the day. (b)   A minimum of hours of skills training on basic nursing skills, including, but not limited to: 1.   Hygiene, grooming, and toileting. 2.   Infection control. 3.   Skin care and pressure sore prevention. 4.   Nutrition and hydration. 5.   Measuring vital signs, height, and weight. 6.   Safe lifting, positioning, and moving of patients. 7.   Wound care. 8.   Portable oxygen use and safety and other respiratory procedures. 9.   Peripheral intravenous assistive activities and alternative feeding methods. 10.   Urinary catheterization and ostomy care. (c)   At least hours of clinical training under direct supervision of a licensed registered nurse, to be completed in at least two separate shifts and in a board-approved health care facility. (3)   A family caregiver who completes the program may take the nursing assistant competency examination and is eligible for certification to practice as a certified nursing assistant under s. 464.203(1)(e) upon passing the examination. (4)   A family caregiver who obtains certification under s. 464.203(1)(e) after completing the program, as a condition of certification, must serve as a designated certified nursing assistant for his or her relative under contract with a licensed nurse registry for at least years. After years of such practice, a certified nursing assistant may practice in any setting authorized by law and is not required to contract with a licensed nurse registry. (5)   The board, in consultation with the Agency for Health Care Administration, may adopt rules to implement this section. Section 3. Paragraph (e) is added to subsection (1) of section 464.203, Florida Statutes, to read: 464.203 Certified nursing assistants; certification requirement.  (1) The board shall issue a certificate to practice as a certified nursing assistant to any person who demonstrates a minimum competency to read and write and successfully passes the required background screening pursuant to s. 400.215. If the person has successfully passed the required background screening pursuant to s. 400.215 or s. 408.809 within days before applying for a certificate to practice and the person s background screening results are not retained in the clearinghouse created under s. 435.12, the board shall waive the requirement that the applicant successfully pass an additional background screening pursuant to s. 400.215. The person must also meet one of the following requirements: (e)   Has completed the program developed by the board under s. 464.2031 and achieved a minimum score, established by rule of the board, on the nursing assistant competency examination, which consists of a written portion and skills-demonstration portion, approved by the board and administered at a site and by personnel approved by the department. Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.