§ 63-1-1951. Certification, training and registration.

A.  The State Department of Health shall have the power and duty to:

1.  Issue certificates of training and competency for nurse aides;

2.  Approve training and competency programs including, but not limited to, education-based programs and employer-based programs, including those programs established pursuant to Section 223.1 of Title 72 of the Oklahoma Statutes;

3.  Determine curricula and standards for training and competency programs.  The Department shall require such training to include a minimum of ten (10) hours of training in the care of Alzheimer's patients;

4.  Establish and maintain a registry for certified nurse aides and for nurse aide trainees;

5.  Establish categories and standards for nurse aide certification and registration, including feeding assistants as defined in 42 CFR Parts 483 and 488; and

6.  Exercise all incidental powers as necessary and proper to implement and enforce the provisions of this section.

B.  The State Board of Health shall promulgate rules to implement the provisions of this section and shall have power to assess fees.

1.  Each person certified as a nurse aide pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be required to pay certification and recertification fees in amounts to be determined by the State Board of Health, not to exceed Fifteen Dollars ($15.00).

2.  In addition to the certification and recertification fees, the State Board of Health may impose fees for training or education programs conducted or approved by the Department, except for those programs operated by the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs.

3.  All revenues collected as a result of fees authorized in this section and imposed by the Board shall be deposited into the Public Health Special Fund.

C.  Only a person who has qualified as a certified nurse aide and who holds a valid current nurse aide certificate for use in this state shall have the right and privilege of using the title Certified Nurse Aide and to use the abbreviation CNA after the name of such person.  Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be subject to a civil monetary penalty to be assessed by the Department.

D.  1.  The State Department of Health shall establish and maintain a certified nurse aide, nurse aide trainee and feeding assistant registry that:

a.is sufficiently accessible to promptly meet the needs of the public and employers, and

b.provides a process for notification and investigation of alleged abuse, exploitation or neglect of residents of a facility or home, clients of an agency or center, or of misappropriation of resident or client property.

2.  The registry shall contain information as to whether a nurse aide has:

a.successfully completed a certified nurse aide training and competency examination,

b.met all the requirements for certification, or

c.received a waiver from the Board.

3.  The registry shall include, but not be limited to, the following information on each certified nurse aide or nurse aide trainee:

a.the full name of the individual,

b.information necessary to identify each individual,

c.the date the individual became eligible for placement in the registry, and

d.information on any finding of the Department of abuse, neglect or exploitation by the certified nurse aide or nurse aide trainee, including:

(1)documentation of the Department's investigation, including the nature of the allegation and the evidence that led the Department to confirm the allegation,

(2)the date of the hearing, if requested by the certified nurse aide or nurse aide trainee, and

(3)statement by the individual disputing the finding if the individual chooses to make one.

4.  The Department shall include the information specified in subparagraph d of paragraph 3 of this subsection in the registry within ten (10) working days of the substantiating finding and it shall remain in the registry, unless:

a.it has been determined by an administrative law judge, a district court or an appeal court that the finding was in error, or

b.the Board is notified of the death of the certified nurse aide or nurse aide trainee.

5.  Upon receipt of an allegation of abuse, exploitation or neglect of a resident or client, or an allegation of misappropriation of resident or client property by a certified nurse aide or nurse aide trainee, the Department shall place a pending notation in the registry until a final determination has been made.  If the investigation, or administrative hearing held to determine whether the certified nurse aide or nurse aide trainee is in violation of the law or rules promulgated pursuant thereto, reveals that the abuse, exploitation or neglect, or misappropriation of resident or client property was unsubstantiated, the pending notation shall be removed within twenty-four (24) hours of receipt of notice by the Department.

6.  The Department shall, after notice to the individuals involved and a reasonable opportunity for a hearing, make a finding as to the accuracy of the allegations.

7.  If the Department after notice and opportunity for hearing determines with clear and convincing evidence that abuse, neglect or exploitation, or misappropriation of resident or client property has occurred and the alleged perpetrator is the person who committed the prohibited act, notice of the findings shall be sent to the nurse aide and to the district attorney for the county where the abuse, neglect or exploitation, or misappropriation of resident or client property occurred and to the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Attorney General's Office.  Notice of ineligibility to work as a nurse aide in a long-term care facility, a residential care facility, assisted living facility, day care facility, or any entity that requires certification of nurse aides, and notice of any further appeal rights shall also be sent to the nurse aide.

8.  The Department shall require that each facility check the nurse aide registry before hiring a person to work as a nurse aide.  If the registry indicates that an individual has been found, as a result of a hearing, to be personally responsible for abuse, neglect or exploitation, that individual shall not be hired by the facility.

9.  If the state finds that any other individual employed by the facility has neglected, abused, misappropriated property or exploited in a facility, the Department shall notify the appropriate licensing authority and the district attorney for the county where the abuse, neglect or exploitation, or misappropriation of resident or client property occurred.

10.  Upon a written request by a certified nurse aide or nurse aide trainee, the Board shall provide within twenty (20) working days all information on the record of the certified nurse aide or nurse aide trainee when a finding of abuse, exploited or neglect is confirmed and placed in the registry.

11.  Upon request and except for the names of residents and clients, the Department shall disclose all of the information relating to the confirmed determination of abuse, exploitation and neglect by the certified nurse aide or nurse aide trainee to the person requesting such information, and may disclose additional information the Department determines necessary.

12.  A person who has acted in good faith to comply with state reporting requirements and this section of law shall be immune from liability for reporting allegations of abuse, neglect or exploitation.

E.  Each nurse aide trainee shall wear a badge which clearly identifies the person as a nurse aide trainee.  Such badge shall be furnished by the facility employing the trainee.  The badge shall be nontransferable and shall include the first and last name of the trainee.

F.  1.  For purposes of this section, "feeding assistant" means an individual who is paid to feed residents by a facility or who is used under an arrangement with another agency or organization and meets the requirements cited in 42 CFR Parts 483 and 488.

2.  Each facility that employs or contracts employment of a feeding assistant shall maintain a record of all individuals, used by the facility as feeding assistants, who have successfully completed a training course approved by the state for paid feeding assistants.

G.  An individual shall not be eligible for certification as a nurse aide for the period the individual satisfied one or more of the disqualifying criteria found in subsection D of Section 1-1947 of this title.  A nurse aide certified on or after November 1, 2012, and subsequently found to satisfy one or more of the disqualifying criteria found in subsection D of Section 1-1947 of this title shall, for the period he or she satisfies the criteria, be subject to revocation or nonrenewal of certification after reasonable opportunity for notice and hearing pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act.

Added by Laws 1996, c. 336, § 8, eff. Nov. 1, 1996.  Amended by Laws 2002, c. 230, § 16, eff. Nov. 1, 2002; Laws 2005, c. 460, § 13, eff. Nov. 1, 2005; Laws 2006, c. 16, § 44, emerg. eff. March 29, 2006; Laws 2012, c. 358, § 6, eff. Nov. 1, 2012; Laws 2013, c. 379, § 7, emerg. eff. May 29, 2013.

Note

NOTE:  Laws 2005, c. 235, § 1 repealed by Laws 2006, c. 16, § 45, emerg. eff. March 29, 2006.