Current through Register Vol. 18, September 20, 2024
(1) The administrator shall develop minimum
qualifications for the hiring of direct care staff and support staff.
(2) The administrator shall develop policies
and procedures for conducting criminal background checks, hiring, and assessing
staff, which include practices that assist the employer in identifying
employees who may pose risk or threat to the health, safety, or welfare of any
resident and provide written documentation of findings and the outcome in the
employee's file.
(a) A name-based or FBI
fingerprint background check shall be conducted on all employees who have
accepted employment at an assisted living facility.
(i) If an applicant has lived outside the
state within the past five years, the assisted living facility must complete
background checks in every state in which the applicant has resided within the
past five years unless the name-based background check yields nationwide
results, or the facility may conduct FBI fingerprint background
check.
(b) The
administrator may allow an employee to work provisionally pending the
background check results so long as there are no indications the employee poses
a risk or threat to the health, safety, or welfare of the residents in the
facility.
(c) An assisted living
facility may not employ any person who meets the criteria of
50-5-225(4),
MCA.
(3) New employees
shall receive orientation and training in areas relevant to the employee's
duties and responsibilities, including:
(a)
an overview of the facility's policies and procedures manual in areas relevant
to the employee's job responsibilities;
(b) a review of the employee's job
description;
(c) services provided
by the facility;
(d) the Montana
Elder and Persons with Developmental Disabilities Abuse Prevention Act found at
52-3-801
et seq., MCA;
(e) the Montana
Long-Term Care Resident Bill of Rights Act found at
50-5-1101
et seq., MCA;
(f) staff who are
responsible for assisting with self-administration of medication will receive
orientation and training on resident Medication Administration Records (MARs)
and the five rights of medication administration; and
(g) all direct care staff will receive, at
minimum, two hours of training in dementia care upon hire and annually
thereafter.
(4) In
addition to meeting the requirements of (3), direct care staff shall be trained
to perform the services established in each resident service plan.
(a) Direct care staff will review each
resident's current service plan or health care plan and document that they have
reviewed the plan and can perform the services required.
(5) Direct care staff shall be trained in the
use of the abdominal thrust maneuver and basic first aid. If the facility
offers cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), at least one person per shift shall
hold a current CPR certificate.
(6)
The following rules must be followed in staffing the assisted living facility:
(a) direct care staff shall have knowledge of
the resident's needs and any events about which the employee should notify the
administrator or the administrator's designated representative;
(b) the facility shall have a sufficient
number of qualified staff on duty 24 hours a day to meet the scheduled and
unscheduled needs of each resident, to respond in emergency situations, and all
related services, including:
(i) maintenance
of order, safety, and cleanliness;
(ii) assistance with medication
regimens;
(iii) preparation and
service of meals;
(iv) housekeeping
services and assistance with laundry; and
(v) assurance that each resident receives the
supervision and care required by the service or health care plan to meet the
resident's basic needs;
(c) an individual on each work shift shall
have keys to all relevant resident care areas and access to all items needed to
provide appropriate resident care;
(d) direct care staff may not perform any
service for which they have not received appropriate documented training;
and
(e) facility staff may not
perform any health care service that has not been appropriately delegated under
the Montana Nurse Practice Act or in the case of licensed health care
professionals, that is beyond the scope of their license.
(7) Employees and volunteers may perform
support services, such as cooking, housekeeping, laundering, general
maintenance, and office work after receiving an orientation to the appropriate
sections of the facility's policy and procedure manual. Any person providing
direct care, however, is subject to the orientation and training requirements
for direct care staff.
(8)
Volunteers may be utilized in the facility, but may not be included in the
facility's staffing plan in lieu of facility employees. In addition, the use of
volunteers is subject to the following:
(a)
volunteers must be supervised and be familiar with resident rights and the
facility's policies and procedures which apply to their duties as a volunteer;
and
(b) volunteers shall not assist
with medication administration, delegated nursing tasks, bathing, toileting, or
transferring.
(9)
Residents may participate voluntarily in performing household duties and other
tasks suited to the individual resident's needs and abilities, but residents
may not be used as substitutes for required staff or be required to perform
household duties or other facility tasks.
AUTH:
50-5-103,
50-5-226,
50-5-227,
MCA; IMP:
50-5-225,
50-5-226,
50-5-227,
MCA
