Current through September 24, 2024
(1) Any qualified entity or combination of
entities seeking to conduct an MA training program shall make application and
submit to the Board any documents, statements and forms as the Board may
require and pay a training program initial application fee and annual renewal
survey fee. The complete application shall be submitted to the Board no later
than ninety (90) days prior to a scheduled Board of Nursing meeting. A
representative of the Board may conduct a site visit to survey the educational
and clinical facilities prior to the presentation of the program application to
the Board. At a minimum, the entity or combination of entities seeking approval
to conduct a training program shall provide the following:
(a) Name(s) and address(es) of qualified
entity(ies);
(b) The program's
organizational chart;
(c) The name
and credentials of the program's director;
(d) The name and address of clinical
facilities;
(e) The location(s) of
the courses or programs;
(f)
Demonstration of the financial ability to support the program;
(g) The number and type (classroom/clinical)
of education clock hours for each course;
(h) The name(s), license number(s), nursing
education, teaching and nursing experience of the program director and all
instructors;
(i) The program
documentation containing curriculum, admissions, progression, and completion
policies;
(j) The topic outlines,
which list the summarized topics covered in each course and upon request, a
copy of any course materials; and
(k) The submission of any other such
information that the Board may deem necessary.
(2) The qualified entity providing the
training program shall:
(a) Employ or contract
with sufficient numbers of qualified instructors to teach and ensure that the
students are prepared to administer medications in a safe and effective manner;
1. Director of program qualifications:
(i) Current, active, unencumbered registered
nurse in Tennessee or multistate privilege to practice in Tennessee;
and
(ii) At least one (1) year of
nursing experience and medication administration experience in long term
care.
2. Instructor
qualifications:
(i) Current, active,
unencumbered registered or licensed practical nurse in Tennessee or multistate
privilege to practice in Tennessee; and
(ii) At least one (1) year of nursing
experience and medication administration experience in long term
care.
(b)
Provide financial support and resources adequate to teach the students the
curriculum established in T.C.A. §
63-7-127 and these rules, including,
but not limited to classrooms, equipment, supplies, and qualified
administrative, instructional, and support personnel and services;
(c) Inform each student of the requirements
for certification;
(d) Provide a
written program grading system policy which reflects a numerical grading system
or scaled grading system. Students must make a passing grade in both didactic
and clinical courses;
(e) Provide a
written protocol or policy on the mechanism to evaluate a student's
performance. At least one (1) written evaluation is required within the first
half of the program;
(f) Provide a
written policy on the dismissal of students;
(g) Provide a copy of a student's transcript
to the student upon the student's written request and upon the student's
completion of or withdrawal from the program;
(h) Engage in program evaluation that
includes, but is not limited to, obtaining feedback from students, instructors,
and employers of individuals who have successfully completed the MA training
program; and
(i) Maintain records
including results of a board approved examination for each student for a period
of six years following the date the student enrolled in the program.
(3) The program shall not
advertise that it is approved by the Board prior to or after a loss of Board
approval.
(4) The program shall
retain records of attendees of each course and the Board may at any time
examine the records.
(5) The
program shall ensure a first time test taker examination pass rate minimum of
seventy per cent (70%). The Board will evaluate the program's examination pass
rate on an annual basis.
(6) The
program shall file with the Board office an annual report containing, at a
minimum, the following information:
(a) The
total enrollment for the year;
(b)
The number of students graduated;
(c) The employment placement data;
(d) The number of students dismissed or
withdrawn for the year;
(e) The
number of students taking the certification examination; and
(f) A list of training program instructors
and qualifications.
(7)
The program shall obtain approval by the Board on an annual basis.
(8) The program shall submit a training
program annual renewal survey fee.
(9) A representative of the Board may inspect
the program on an annual basis or as directed by the Board or Board's
representative and shall submit a written report to the Board. If any
deficiencies are noted, the program shall have ten (10) days to correct the
deficiencies.
(10) If deficiencies
are not corrected within the Board's prescribed time frame, the program will be
denied approval or removed from approved status and will be prohibited from
enrolling students. Notice will be sent to the program upon denial or removal
of approved status.
(11) In
addition to the minimum standard curriculum provided in T.C.A. §
63-7-127(i)(2), the qualified entity shall provide the following content:
(a) Federal and state laws and rules relative
to medication aides who administer medications in a nursing home, assisted care
living facility, and P.A.C.E.;
(b)
Confidentiality of protected health information;
(c) Program objectives and outcomes, course
objectives or outcomes, teaching strategies, and core competencies or other
evaluation methods that are:
1. Consistent
with the law and rules applicable to medication aides, as set forth in this
chapter;
2. Internally
consistent;
3. Implemented as
written; and
4. Made available to
students in medication aide training programs;
(d) A curriculum plan showing the sequence of
classroom content, clinical experiences, and the number of clock hours allotted
to instruction and clinical experience related to medication
administration;
(e) At least sixty
(60) hours of instruction, consisting of forty (40) classroom hours to be
completed in person or through distance learning and twenty (20) clinical
hours:
1. During the clinical components,
students and instructors must be present in the same location, and the
instruction must be provided in person; and
2. Students must satisfactorily complete the
classroom component prior to participating in the supervised clinical component
of the medication aide training program;
(f) A standard minimum curriculum including:
1. Communication and interpersonal
skills;
2. Resident rights related
to medication administration, including the right of a resident to refuse
medications;
3. The six rights of
medication administration:
(i) The right
medication;
(ii) The right
route;
(iii) The right
time;
(iv) The right
patient;
(v) The right dosage;
and
(vi) The right
documentation.
4. Drug
terminology, storage and disposal, including:
(i) Medical terminology, symbols, and
accepted abbreviations;
(ii) Dosage
measurement;
(iii) Reference
resources;
(iv) Principles of safe
medication storage and disposal;
5. Fundamentals of the following body
systems, including:
(i)
Gastrointestinal;
(ii)
Musculoskeletal;
(iii) Nervous and
sensory;
(iv)
Urinary/renal;
(v)
Cardiovascular;
(vi)
Respiratory;
(vii)
Endocrine;
(viii) Male and female
reproductive; and
(ix)
Integumentary and mucous membranes;
6. Basic pharmacology, drug classifications
and medications affecting body systems, including:
(i) Purposes of various
medications;
(ii) Schedule II, III,
IV, and V controlled substances;
(iii) Special considerations surrounding
controlled substances such as:
(I)
Diversion;
(II) Overdose and
naloxone;
(III) Security and
access;
(IV)
Accountability;
7. Safe administration of medications
including:
(i) Oral medications;
(ii) Topical medications;
(iii) Metered hand-held inhalers with
spacer;
(iv) Proper resident
positioning;
(v) Measurement of
apical pulse and blood pressure in association with medication
administration;
8.
Principles of standard precautions;
9. Documentation of medications in residents'
clinical records, including as-needed medications;
10. Circumstances in which a medication aide
should report to, or consult with, a nurse concerning a resident or residents
to whom medications are administered, including:
(i) The potential need of a resident for the
administration of an as-needed medication, as evidenced by a resident's
expression of discomfort or other indication;
(ii) A resident exercising the right to
refuse medication administration;
(iii) Any deviation from the delegation of
medication administration instructions;
(iv) Any observation about the condition of a
resident that should cause concern to a medication aide.
11. Medication errors, including:
(i) Error prevention through promotion of
safe medication administration practices;
(ii) Timeliness and manner of reporting
medication errors;
12.
The role of the medication aide as set forth in T.C.A. §
63-7-127 and
these rules, shall include:
(i) The fact that
administration of medication is a nursing function that may only be performed
by a medication aide when it has been delegated by a nurse in accordance with
the provisions of T.C.A. §
63-7-127 and these rules;
(ii) The settings in which medications may be
administered by medication aides;
(iii) The types of medications that may be
administered by medication aides as well as those that a medication aide may
not administer.
(12) A class of students shall complete the
program in no fewer than fourteen (14) calendar days, to be completed within
thirty (30) calendar days from the start date.
(13) The supervised clinical practice
component of an approved medication aide training program shall be sufficient
to assure that students are prepared to administer medications as a medication
aide in a safe and effective manner, and;
(a)
While engaged in medication administration, a student shall be under the
one-on-one direction and supervision of a faculty member.
(b) The supervised clinical practice
component shall take place in a nursing home or assisted care living facility
or P.A.C.E. for which the training program has a written agreement to provide
licensed nurse supervision of the student in accordance with this
section.
(14) The
training program shall assure that a medication skills checklist is maintained
for each student to record performance during the supervised clinical practice
and shall include the following:
(a) Each
skill necessary to safely administer medications in accordance with T.C.A.
§
63-7-127 and these rules;
(b) The date each skill is successfully
demonstrated,
(c) The name and
signature of the faculty member who supervised the student's successful
performance of the skill.
(15) The training program shall provide a
copy of the medication skills checklist, certified by the program to be true
and accurate, to each student upon completion of the medication aide training
program.
(16) A medication aide
training program shall close a program, if necessary, in an orderly manner
including providing thirty (30) days advance written notice to the board,
current students, and program applicants of the following:
(a) Tentative date of the closing;
(b) The location where the program's student
records and other records will be retained; and
(c) The name, address, and other contact
information of the custodian of all program records after the program is
closed.
Authority: T.C.A. §§
63-7-127 and
63-7-207.
