A. Licensure Requirements
From and after July 1, 2012, in order to be eligible to be
licensed as a nursing home administrator, an individual must submit evidence
satisfactory to the Board that he or she:
(1) Is at least twenty-one (21) years of
age;
(2) Is of good moral
character.
(3) Is in good
health
(4) Meets one of the
following educational and/or experiential requirements for licensure:
(a) Has sixty-four (64) semester hours of
academic college work from an accredited institution and has worked in a
full-time (i.e., 40 hour per week) supervisory capacity in a
Mississippi-licensed nursing home for a minimum of two (2) consecutive years
immediately prior to or preceding the date on which the application for the
Administrator-in-Training Program prescribed by Part 2703, Chapter 1, Rule
1.3 is made or received by the Board. For the
purpose of meeting the educational requirements of this paragraph, quarter
hours will be converted into semester hours by the current standard conversion
rate according to Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL);
(b) Has an associate degree from an
accredited institution and has worked in a full-time (i.e., 40 hours per week)
supervisory capacity in a Mississippi-licensed nursing home for a minimum of
two (2) consecutive years immediately prior to or preceding the date on which
the application for the Administrator-inTraining Program established by Part
2703, Chapter 1, Rule
1.3 is received by the
Board;
(c) Has a bachelor's degree
in health care administration or a health care related field or business from
an accredited institution before making application for the
Administrator-in-Training Program established by Part 2703, Chapter 1, Rule
1.3; or Has a bachelor's degree in
any other field of study from an accredited institution before making
application for the Administrator-in-Training Program established by Part 2703,
Chapter 1, Rule
1.3;
(d) For the purposes of licensure, the
academic program must be accredited by an institution recognized by the Council
for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).
(5) Causes:
(a) a criminal records check that has been
performed on the applicant to be sent directly to the Board's administrative
office directly from the employing institution. This document must be signed
and notarized; or
(b) a state and
federal criminal background to be sent to the Board's administrative office
directly from the appropriate governmental agency.
The applicant shall be responsible for the payment of any
fees or costs associated with the state and federal criminal record checks.
Such costs or fees shall be paid by the applicant to the agency completing the
record check. Criminal record checks must have been performed on the applicant
within six (6) months immediately prior to the filing of the Administrator-
in-Training Program Application or the Endorsement Application or a new
criminal record check shall be required.
(6) Meets one of the following clinical
requirements -
(a) Has completed the
Administrator-in-Training Program prescribed by Part 2703, Chapter 1, Rule
1.3; or
(b) Has completed a Board approved
Administrator-in Training Program in Long-Term Care Administration from an
academic institution during which time the institution held National
Association of Long-Term Care Administrator Board (NAB) Program Approval
through the Academic Approval process,
(7) Has pursuant to the Board's standards
developed consistent with Mississippi Code Ann.
73-17-9(a), has
completed a Domains of Practice course to the satisfaction of the Board,
pursuant to Part 2703, Chapter 1, Rule
1.3.
(8) Has pursuant to the Board's standards
developed consistent with Mississippi Code Ann.
73-17-9(a), has
completed a 2-day training course with the Office of Licensure and
Certification, Department of Health, to the satisfaction of the Board, pursuant
to Part 2703, Chapter 1, Rule
1.3.
(9) Has successfully passed the National
Association of Long-Term Care Administrator Board (NAB) examination and the
Mississippi State Board of Nursing Home Administrators examination at the then
current passing score.
(10) Submits
payment of the application, license and other applicable fees prescribed in
Part 2701, Chapter 1, Rule
1.3.H and
(11) Has met all of the requirements required
by Section
73-17-11 of the Mississippi Code
of 1972, as amended.
(12) Request
for Pre-Licensure Determination. An individual may request the Board for a
determination of whether the individual's criminal record will disqualify the
individual from obtaining a license. The determination request shall be in
writing, filed on a form supplied by the Board and signed in the presence of a
notary. The request shall also be accompanied by a judgement of conviction and
a fee of $25.00.
(a) Disqualifying Crimes
Felony
(i) An individual may be denied a
license or permit based on a felony conviction. A felony conviction includes
the following: a deferred conviction, a deferred prosecution, a deferred
sentence, finding or verdict of guilt, admission of guilt or a plea of nolo
contendre.
(ii) Directly Related to
Licensure Practice. Crimes involving fraud or theft. Nursing Home
Administrators often have unfettered access to individuals' privileged
information, financial information, and valuables, including medications,
money, jewelry, credit cards/checkbook, and sentimental items. Nursing Home
Administrators also provide services, working night and weekend shifts at
nursing homes where there is often no direct supervision. Clients in these
settings are particularly vulnerable to the unethical, deceitful, and illegal
conduct of a nursing home administrator. When a nursing home administrator has
engaged in criminal behavior involving physical misconduct, fraud or theft in
the past, the Board is mindful that similar misconduct may be repeated in
nursing homes, thereby placing clients and the public at risk.
(iii) Misdemeanor. The admission of multiple
convictions, including misdemeanor convictions may be used to determine if an
individual shall be denied a license or permit.
(b) Determination Notification
(i) Time for Response. The licensing
authority or its designee shall issue a written determination notification to
the individual within 30 days from the board's receipt of the individual's
request.
(ii) Standing. The
individual shall be provided one of the following responses:
1. Insufficient Information. If the
individual's request contains insufficient information, the licensing authority
or its designee will notify the individual that a determination cannot be made
at this time as to the individual's standing or whether or not the criminal
record will disqualify the individual from obtaining a license.
2. Disqualification Notification. The
licensing authority or its designee shall notify the individual of the
following:
* Grounds and reasons for denial or disqualification.
* The right to a hearing;
* The earliest date to reapply for a license;
* Evidence of rehabilitation may be considered upon
reapplication.
(c) Administrative Hearing. The notice will
advise the individual of the right to a hearing to challenge the licensing
authority or its designee's decision.
(d) Notice of Hearing. The licensing
authority or its designee shall provide in writing to the individual the time,
date and nature of the hearing pursuant to the Board's statutory provisions,
rules and regulations.
B. Applicants for Licensure by Endorsement
for Individuals Licensed in Other States
(1)
An individual licensed in good standing as a nursing home administrator in
another state may qualify for licensure as a nursing home administrator if his
or her educational, training and administrative experience are equal to or
exceeds the requirements specified in Rule 1.1.A.(1) - (6) of Chapter 1, Part
2703 of these Rules and Regulations, and has passed both the National
Association of Long-Term Care Administrator Board (NAB) examination and the
Mississippi State Board of Nursing Home Administrators State examination at the
then current passing score.
(2) The
Board, subject to the law pertaining to the licensing of nursing home
administrators may at its discretion, endorse a nursing home administrator
license issued by the proper authorities of any other state, upon payment of
the biennial license fee, the application fee and all other applicable fees
prescribed in Rule
1.3.H. of Chapter 1, Part 2701, and
submission of evidence satisfactory to the Board that:
(a) The applicant provides satisfactory
evidence of completion of at least a 1,040 hour A.I.T. program in the State of
original license, or provide satisfactory evidence of completion of an A.I.T.
Program as specified in Rule
1.3.B. of Chapter 1, Part
2703;
(b) Applicant must have
successfully passed the NAB Exam with the then current passing score of the
date of his or her initial license;
(c) Applicant successfully passed the
Mississippi State Board of Nursing Home Administrators State Exam within one
hundred twenty (120) days after Board approval;
(d) Applicant has not had a license revoked
or suspended in any state from which he or she has received a nursing home
administrator license; and
(3) A temporary permit to practice as a
nursing home administrator in Mississippi may be issued to an individual
applying for a Mississippi nursing home administrator license for the facility
in which the permit is issued who meets the following conditions:
(a) Submits supporting documentation showing
that he or she meets the licensing requirements found in Rule 1.1.B. of Chapter
1, Part 2703 and pays all required fees;
(b) Holds a current and unencumbered nursing
home administrator license, which is in good standing, in at least one other
state;
(c) Submits a formal
request, along with the Application, documenting the circumstances that created
the need for a temporary permit, as well as the temporary permit fee.
(d) Submits satisfactory proof from each
state board that has issued him or her a nursing home administrator license at
any time in the past:
(i) that there has been
no formal discipline taken against the license;
(ii) that the applicant received an
acceptable NAB Exam Scale score with the then current passing score of the date
of his or her initial license;
(iii) that the applicant either successfully
completed a 1,040 hour A.I.T. Program, or provide satisfactory evidence of
completion of an A.I.T. Program as specified in Rule
1.3.B of Chapter 1, Part
2703.
(e) In no case
shall a temporary permit be issued to an individual for a period longer than
three (3) months.
(f) In no case
shall an individual nursing home facility be administered by a nursing home
administrator holding a "temporary permit" for more than three (3) months in
one (1) calendar year.
(4) Under a declared state of emergency
lawfully declared by either Federal, State or Local government, an
administrator who holds a valid license in good standing in another state, may
be eligible to work as the administrator of record in a Mississippi nursing
home facility after he or she submits to the Board office:
(a) a picture I.D.;
(b) proof of a current nursing home
administrator license which is valid and in good standing in another
state;
(c) a completed 1 page
Application designed for this purpose; The authority to work under these
emergency conditions will be for a maximum period of sixty (60) days.
C. Military Family
Freedom Act. All requirements The issuance of a nursing home administrator's
license by reciprocity to a military-trained applicant or military spouse shall
be subject to the provisions of Section
73-50-1.
D. Universal Recognition of Occupational
Licenses and Temporary Practice Permits or Persons Who Establish Residence in
this State All requirements of 73-50-2 shall be met where applicable.
(1) This Board shall make all reasonable
efforts to issue a license to an applicant for licensure under this section
upon completion of a completed application.
(2) An applicant will not be prohibited for
applying for licensure under the existing licensure requirements established by
the Board.
(3) A license issued
under this section is valid only in Mississippi and it does not make the person
eligible to work in another state under an interstate compact or reciprocal
agreement unless otherwise provided by Mississippi law.
E. Burden of Proof for Licensure Applicants
It is the responsibility of the applicant to demonstrate that
he or she meets the requirements for licensure set forth in Mississippi
Nursing Home Administrators Law of 1970, as amended, and the Rules and
Regulations of the Board.
Miss. Code
Ann. Sections
73-17-7(2) and
73-17-9(a), (b), (c) and
(g)(Rev. 2008); and Miss. Code Ann. Section
73-17-11 (Supp. 2011); and Miss.
Code Ann. Section
73-50-2 and; Miss. Code Ann.
Section 73-50-1,
73-50-2,
73-77-9.