Current through Register Vol. 24-18, September 15, 2024
(1) A
medication assistant certification endorsement training program must:
(a) Be a commission-approved nursing
assistant certified training program in good standing, or a commission-approved
nursing educational program in good standing; and
(b) Meet the requirements for initial and
ongoing approval of nursing assistant training programs in this chapter except
for the following differences:
(i) The
program must implement as its common curriculum the complete medication
assistant-certified model curriculum, as adopted and described in materials
from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing;
(ii) The curriculum shall include training on
the specific tasks that a medication assistant may and may not perform as
listed in WAC
246-841A-589.
(iii) The education and training program may
add to the required curriculum as stated in these rules but may not delete any
content from the required curriculum.
(2) The program must provide the minimum
required training hours designed specifically for medication assistant
certification endorsement programs: One hundred hours total, with a minimum of
50 hours of classroom theory, a minimum of 10 hours of skills lab, and a
minimum of 40 hours of clinical practicum.
(a) The training program will provide a
minimum of 40 hours of directly supervised and progressive clinical experience
in the administration of medications to residents in a nursing home.
(b) At no time will the ratio of students to
instructor be allowed to exceed 10 students to one instructor during
clinical.
(c) Instructional staff
for the program must hold an active Washington state license in good standing
as a registered nurse.
(d) The
training program must include a sample lesson plan for one unit with its
application to open a medication assistant certification endorsement
program.
(e) The skills lab
checklists and competency evaluation activities and documentation shall reflect
the medication assistant scope as identified in the National Council of State
Boards of Nursing model curriculum and WAC
246-841A-589.
(f) The following options for traditional and
alternative training programs described in WAC
246-841A-420 through
246-841A-460 are not applicable
for medication assistant certification endorsement programs:
(i) Nursing assistant-registered work
pathway;
(ii) A live online
teaching modality; or
(iii) Hybrid
modalities with asynchronous teaching and learning activities counted as
required classroom theory hours.
(g) The program director must attest to the
student's successful completion of the course on commission-approved forms or
electronic methods designed specifically for medication assistant certification
endorsement programs.
(h) The
standard to maintain an average annual student pass rate of 80 percent for
first-time test-takers on the state's medication assistant competency
evaluation applies to a knowledge exam only; psychomotor or skills competency
evaluation for medication assistants is addressed by the training
program.
(3) In addition
to standard equipment and supplies required for nursing assistant training
programs as described in WAC
246-841A-450, the program must
provide equipment and supplies necessary for students to practice medication
administration and prescriber-ordered treatments identified in the National
Council of State Boards of Nursing medication assistant curriculum and WAC
246-841A-589. All equipment and
supplies should reflect the current standard of nursing home practices.
Required equipment and supplies include, but are not limited to:
(a) A medication cart;
(b) Professionally developed placebo
medications that simulate actual medications in their appearance and packaging,
enabling students to practice medication administration steps in the skills
lab;
(c) A glucometer;
(d) A pulse oximeter; and
(e) Materials required to teach oxygen
administration.
(4) Be
subject to corrective actions for nursing assistant training programs as
described in WAC
246-841A-465 through
246-841A-490, when requirements
are not met for initial and ongoing approval of nursing assistant training
programs (WAC
246-841A-420 through
246-841A-460), including those
specific to medication assistant certification endorsement programs (WAC
246-841A-586 through
246-841A-595).
