Mandated Nursing Staff Requirements in Skilled Nursing Facilities
According to federal regulation 42 CFR § 483.35, nursing services / nursing staff. The facility must have sufficient nursing staff with the appropriate competencies and skills sets to provide nursing and related services to assure resident safety and attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being of each resident, as determined by resident assessments and individual plans of care and considering the number, acuity and diagnoses of the facility’s resident population in accordance with the facility assessment required at §483.70(e).
(a) Sufficient staff. (1) The facility must provide services by sufficient numbers of each of the following types of personnel on a 24-hour basis to provide nursing care to all residents in accordance with resident care plans:
(i) Except when waived under paragraph (e) of this section, licensed nurses; and
(ii) Other nursing personnel, including but not limited to nurse aides.
(2) Except when waived under paragraph (c) of this section, the facility must designate a licensed nurse to serve as a charge nurse on each tour of duty.
(3) The facility must ensure that licensed nurses have the specific competencies and skill sets necessary to care for residents’ needs, as identified through resident assessments, and described in the plan of care.
(4) Providing care includes but is not limited to assessing, evaluating, planning and implementing resident care plans and responding to resident’s needs.
(b) Registered nurse. (1) Except when waived under paragraph (e) or (f) of this section, the facility must use the services of a registered nurse for at least 8 consecutive hours a day, 7 days a week.
(2) Except when waived under paragraph (e) or (f) of this section, the facility must designate a registered nurse to serve as the director of nursing on a full time basis.
(3) The director of nursing may serve as a charge nurse only when the facility has an average daily occupancy of 60 or fewer residents.
(c) Proficiency of nurse aides. The facility must ensure that nurse aides are able to demonstrate competency in skills and techniques necessary to care for residents’ needs, as identified through resident assessments, and described in the plan of care.
(d) Requirements for facility hiring and use of nursing aides—(1) General rule. A facility must not use any individual working in the facility as a nurse aide for more than 4 months, on a full-time basis, unless—
(i) That individual is competent to provide nursing and nursing related services; and
(ii)(A) That individual has completed a training and competency evaluation program, or a competency evaluation program approved by the State as meeting the requirements of §§483.151 through 483.154; or
(B) That individual has been deemed or determined competent as provided in §483.150(a) and (b).
Additional Nursing Staffing Requirements
(2) Non-permanent employees. A facility must not use on a temporary, per diem, leased, or any basis other than a permanent employee any individual who does not meet the requirements in paragraphs (d)(1) (i) and (ii) of this section.
(3) Minimum competency. A facility must not use any individual who has worked less than 4 months as a nurse aide in that facility unless the individual—
(i) Is a full-time employee in a State-approved training and competency evaluation program;
(ii) Has demonstrated competence through satisfactory participation in a State-approved nurse aide training and competency evaluation program or competency evaluation program; or
(iii) Has been deemed or determined competent as provided in §483.150(a) and (b).
(4) Registry verification. Before allowing an individual to serve as a nurse aide, a facility must receive registry verification that the individual has met competency evaluation requirements unless—
(i) The individual is a full-time employee in a training and competency evaluation program approved by the State; or
(ii) The individual can prove that he or she has recently successfully completed a training and competency evaluation program or competency evaluation program approved by the State and has not yet been included in the registry. Facilities must follow up to ensure that such an individual actually becomes registered.
(5) Multi-State registry verification. Before allowing an individual to serve as a nurse aide, a facility must seek information from every State registry established under sections 1819(e)(2)(A) or 1919(e)(2)(A) of the Act that the facility believes will include information on the individual.
(6) Required retraining. If, since an individual’s most recent completion of a training and competency evaluation program, there has been a continuous period of 24 consecutive months during none of which the individual provided nursing or nursing-related services for monetary compensation, the individual must complete a new training and competency evaluation program or a new competency evaluation program.
(7) Regular in-service education. The facility must complete a performance review of every nurse aide at least once every 12 months, and must provide regular in-service education based on the outcome of these reviews. In-service training must comply with the requirements of §483.95(g).
Common areas of cases I see include: Falls from Beds, Hoyer Lifts and in the Bathroom; Sexual Abuse; Medication Errors and Others.
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For more information about nursing staff requirements or other questions about elder abuse and neglect contact Nursing Home Neglect Attorney Kenneth LaBore for a free consultation at 612-743-9048 or by email at KLaBore @ MNnursinghomeneglect.com.