Current through 2024-13, March 27, 2024
Approval and monitoring of training programs for nursing
assistants shall be carried out in accordance with 32 M.R.S.A. Section
2104.
A. The Board's PRESCRIBED GENERALIST
CURRICULUM FOR NURSING ASSISTANT BASIC TRAINING PROGRAMS shall be utilized for
nursing assistant training programs.
1. The
registered professional nurse, by law, is responsible for the supervision and
teaching of nursing personnel. Therefore, a registered professional nurse shall
be in charge of the instructional program to prepare assistants to
nurses.
2. No program shall be
conducted that includes less than 70 hours of classroom instruction, 20 hours
of skills laboratory and 40 hours of correlated, supervised clinical practice
(Shall be effective September 1, 2021).
3. The clinical instructor/student ratio of
one to one may at times be necessary for adequate learning and safe patient
care. The clinical instructor/student ratio must be at least one instructor for
every ten students. The registered professional nurse instructor must provide
direct onsite supervision during clinical learning experiences.
4. All course objectives must be met to
successfully complete this program. All skills must be demonstrated, and the
student must perform return demonstrations satisfactorily, either in the
clinical setting or in the skills laboratory.
5. Content need not be taught in the order
listed. Time may be added and emphasis made by the instructor to highlight
certain aspects of the curriculum.
6. Certified nursing assistant program
students will not be taught content beyond what is included in the Board
approved PRESCRIBED GENERALIST CURRICULUM FOR NURSING ASSISTANT TRAINING
PROGRAMS.
B.
Accreditation or Approval by Other Organizations
The institution or agency conducting the training program or
course, as well as the institutions or agencies cooperating with the program,
shall be licensed or approved by the appropriate State licensing authority or
accredited by the appropriate organization.
C. Instructional Staff
1. Each registered professional nurse shall
be currently licensed to practice as a registered professional nurse in Maine
or hold a current registered nurse multistate license issued by a state that
has adopted the Nurse Licensure Compact in which the licensee legally resides
and meet the federal requirements for nursing assistant instructors
[42 CFR
483.152].
2. Only registered professional nurses shall
serve as classroom and clinical instructors. Members of other disciplines may
assist in the teaching as necessary and desirable.
D. Students
1. Qualifications for Admission
a) Completion of the ninth grade of school
(high school graduation or high school equivalency diploma preferred.
b) Minimum age of 16 years.
c) Nineth-grade English reading and writing
competency level on the Test of Adult Basic education (TABE), Competency Adult
Student Assessment System (CASAS), or other competency assessment mechanisms as
approved by the Board.
2.
Requirements for Retention and Completion
a)
The instructional staff shall develop requirements for class attendance,
scholastic achievement; (minimum of 70%), clinical competence, and personal
growth that shall be consistent with the goal of maintaining the highest
quality of health care for the patient.
b) Criteria for determining student progress
shall be developed and used by the instructional staff in the evaluation of the
students at intervals throughout the training program.
c) Policies or procedures pertaining to
dismissal shall be clearly stated and shall adequately safeguard the rights of
both the students and the institution or agency conducting the training
program.
d) All the above shall be
available in writing to the students.
E. Certificate of Training
1. The institution or agency conducting the
program shall issue a certificate of training to each student who
satisfactorily completes the training program. Such certificate shall clearly
designate the following:
a) Completion of the
Board's PRESCRIBED GENERALIST CURRICULUM FOR NURSING ASSISTANT TRAINING
PROGRAMS;
b) Number of classroom,
skills laboratory, and supervised clinical hours;
c) Beginning and ending dates of the
program;
d) Name of the agency
conducting the training program;
e)
Signature of the registered professional nurse director of the training
program; and
f) Statement of
approval by the Department of Health and Human Services.
2. The director of a nursing educational
program preparing persons for admission to a licensure examination may issue a
certificate of training to a currently enrolled student or to a former student
who has terminated enrollment in the program when such individual has
satisfactorily completed at least the equivalent of the Board's PRESCRIBED
GENERALIST CURRICULUM FOR NURSING ASSISTANT TRAINING
PROGRAMS.
F. Facilities
and Resources
1. The physical facilities
utilized for the training program shall be adequate to the needs of the program
and to the size of instructional staff and student body. These include
classrooms, conference rooms, and laboratories sufficient in numbers and size
to facilitate scheduling classes on a sound educational basis and to fulfill
the objectives of the program.
2.
The resources for planned learning experiences shall include the quality and
variety needed for the objectives of the training program.
G. Hospitals, nursing homes, home health
agencies, hospice and facilities providing assisted housing services licensed
under 10-144 CMR Ch. 113, REGULATIONS GOVERNING the LICENSING and FUNCTIONING
of ASSISTED HOUSING PROGRAMS may be utilized for clinical learning experiences.
Such health care facilities shall meet federal requirements for nursing
assistant training [42 CFR
483.151(b)(2).
H. Up-to-date learning resources shall be
available for use by students and instructors consistent with the needs of the
curriculum.
I. Evaluation of
Training Program
The registered professional nurse director of the training
program and the instructors shall be responsible for determining and developing
methods and procedures to be used in measuring the extent to which the
objectives of the training program have been achieved. The results shall be the
basis for future action in planning improved program delivery.