A4854

An Act concerning nursing education and professional advancement and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. The Department of Health, in consultation with an academic institution in this State and the New Jersey Action Coalition, shall establish a pilot program to develop standards for a post-acute care residency program for registered nurses. At a minimum, the residency program shall: be 12 months in duration; include an orientation period for new residents; include a post-acute care curriculum, post-acute care clinical work that is focused on technical skills and subspecialty training, and a professional development curriculum; and assign residents to designated mentors who are employed by post-acute care facilities.

2. a. The Department of Health shall develop and offer a five-day infection prevention course to certified nurse aides and registered nurses to prepare certified nurse aides and registered nurses to perform infection prevention duties in a health care facility. The infection prevention course shall include instruction on the following topics:

(1) modes of transmission, incubation periods, host resistance, and susceptibility to various infections and communicable diseases;

(2) appropriate measures to prevent the spread of infection;

(3) processes used to sterilize, disinfect, and sanitize a health care facility;

(4) management and communication skills necessary for the coordination of an effective infection prevention program;

(5) regulations which govern infection prevention practice; and

(6) criteria for identifying health care associated infections in patients.

b. The Department of Health shall use available funds whenever possible to offer the infection prevention course free of charge and to reimburse certified nurse aides and registered nurses for any missed worktime that was necessary to complete the course.

3. The Department of Health, in consultation with a long-term care facility in this State, shall establish a pilot program to develop standards for the professional advancement of certified nurse aides. At a minimum, the standards for the professional advancement of certified nurse aides shall be based on: previous work experience, education level, participation in educational opportunities, training, and work performance.

4. The Commissioner of Health shall adopt rules and regulations, in accordance with the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as are necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act.

5. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill requires the Department of Health (DOH) to establish certain nursing education and professional advancement programs.

Under the bill, the DOH, in consultation with an academic institution in this State and the New Jersey Action Coalition, is to establish a pilot program to develop standards for a post-acute care residency program for registered nurses. At a minimum, the post-residency program is to: be 12 months in duration; include an orientation period for new residents; include a post-acute care curriculum, post-acute care clinical work that is focused on technical skills and subspecialty training, and a professional development curriculum; and assign residents to designated mentors who are employed by post-acute care facilities.

The bill provides that the DOH is to develop and offer a five-day infection prevention course to certified nurse aides and registered nurses to prepare certified nurse aides and registered nurses to perform infection prevention duties in a health care facility. The infection prevention course is to include instruction on the following topics: (1) modes of transmission, incubation periods, host resistance, and susceptibility to various infections and communicable diseases; (2) appropriate measures to prevent the spread of infection; (3) processes used to sterilize, disinfect, and sanitize a health care facility; (4) management and communication skills necessary for the coordination of an effective infection prevention program; (5) regulations which govern infection prevention practice; and (6) criteria for identifying health care associated infections patients. The DOH is to use available funds whenever possible to offer the infection prevention course free of charge and to reimburse certified nurse aides and registered nurses for any missed worktime that was necessary to complete the course.

Under the bill, the DOH, in consultation with a long-term care facility in this State, is to establish a pilot program to develop standards for the professional advancement of certified nurse aides. At a minimum, the standards for the professional advancement of certified nurse aides are to be based on: previous work experience, education level, participation in educational opportunities, training, and work performance.