SB 114 — An Act amending the act of June 9, 1997 (P.L.169, No.14), known as the Nurse Aide Resident Abuse Prevention Training Act, providing for training for long-term care, for criteria for nurse aides and for limitation on department.

PRINTER'S NO.    65

                     THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



                        SENATE BILL
                        No. 114
                                                Session of
                                                  2025

     INTRODUCED BY ARGALL, BROOKS, BOSCOLA, PENNYCUICK, LAUGHLIN,
        J. WARD, CULVER, BROWN, COSTA, MASTRIANO, GEBHARD, PHILLIPS-
        HILL, HUTCHINSON AND SCHWANK, JANUARY 22, 2025

     REFERRED TO EDUCATION, JANUARY 22, 2025


                                     AN ACT
 1   Amending the act of June 9, 1997 (P.L.169, No.14), entitled "An
 2      act providing for Statewide nurse aide training programs
 3      relating to nursing facilities," providing for training for
 4      long-term care, for criteria for nurse aides and for
 5      limitation on department.
 6      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
 7   hereby enacts as follows:
 8      Section 1.    The act of June 9, 1997 (P.L.169, No.14), known
 9   as the Nurse Aide Resident Abuse Prevention Training Act, is
10   amended by adding sections to read:
11   Section 3.1.    Training for long-term care.
12      The department shall:
13          (1)     Develop and implement a long-term care curriculum
14      for nurse aides.
15          (2)     Establish qualifications for individuals to conduct
16      training of the long-term care curriculum. The qualifications
17      shall include, at a minimum, that an instructor must be a
18      registered nurse or a licensed practical nurse under the
19      supervision of a registered nurse as defined in 49 Pa. Code §
 1      21.1 (relating to definitions).
 2            (3)   Establish a training program to implement a train-
 3      the-trainer model so that trainers are able to deliver the
 4      long-term care curriculum to nurse aides in this
 5      Commonwealth. If the training of a nurse aide is performed by
 6      a registered nurse or a licensed practical nurse under the
 7      general supervision of a registered nurse:
 8                  (i)    the registered nurse must be available to the
 9            licensed practical nurse; and
10                  (ii)    the registered nurse must have a minimum of two
11            years of nursing experience, with at least 12 months of
12            employment in a long-term care nursing facility.
13            (4)   Review a facility's application for approval to
14      establish a training program. If the department fails to
15      approve an initial application within 45 calendar days of
16      receipt, the application shall be deemed approved. If the
17      department fails to approve a revised application within 15
18      days of receipt, the application shall be deemed approved.
19   Section 3.2.     Criteria for nurse aides.
20      (a)   Competency examination.--In order to become a nurse aide
21   in this Commonwealth, an individual must:
22            (1)   Successfully complete a State-approved nurse aide
23      curriculum and training program or the long-term care
24      curriculum for nurse aides and achieve a minimum score,
25      established by the department, on the nurse aide competency
26      examination, which shall consist of:
27                  (i)    a written portion that may be taken, at the
28            option of the individual, in person or remotely over the
29            Internet; and
30                  (ii)    a skills-demonstrated portion approved by the

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 1            department and administered at a site and instructor
 2            approved by the department.
 3            (2)   Be a graduate of an accredited registered nurse or
 4      licensed practical nursing program and achieve a minimum
 5      score, established by the department, on the nurse aide
 6      competency examination.
 7            (3)   Notwithstanding any other provision of law, be a
 8      student nurse or graduate nurse that has completed courses
 9      through a nursing program that is equivalent to the
10      requirements of the nurse aide training program and achieves
11      a minimum score as required by the department on the nurse
12      aide competency examination.
13      (b)   Facility proctoring of the competency evaluation.--
14            (1)   The competency evaluation may, at the prospective
15      nurse aide's option, be conducted at the facility in which
16      the prospective nurse aide is or will be employed unless the
17      facility is described in 42 CFR 483.151(b)(2) (relating to
18      state review and approval of nurse aide training and
19      competency evaluation programs).
20            (2)   The department may permit the competency evaluation
21      to be proctored by facility personnel if the department finds
22      that the procedure adopted by the facility ensures that the
23      competency evaluation program:
24                  (i)    is secure from tampering;
25                  (ii)    is standardized and scored by a testing,
26            educational or other organization approved by the
27            department; and
28                  (iii)    requires no scoring by facility personnel.
29   Section 3.3.     Limitation on department.
30      The department may not impose on a provider of a State-

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 1   approved nurse aide program a waiting period between approval of
 2   the training program and the offering of any portion of the
 3   training online as authorized under section 9.
 4      Section 2.   This act shall take effect as follows:
 5          (1)   The addition of section 3.1(1), (2) and (3) of the
 6      act shall take effect in one year.
 7          (2)   The addition of section 3.2(b) of the act shall take
 8      effect in 60 days.
 9          (3)   The remainder of this act shall take effect in 30
10      days.




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