AMEND Senate Bill No. 135 at line 27 by striking "capacity." as it appears therein and by substituting in lieu thereof "capacity unless exigent circumstances exist. The term 'exigent circumstances' means a short-term emergency or other unavoidable situation, and all reasonable alternatives to the use of a temporary employee as a nursing supervisor have been exhausted. Within 24 hours of the exigent circumstances that require the use of temporary employment agency staffing to fill a nursing supervisor position in a residential health facility, the facility shall notify the Division, in writing, of the exigent circumstances and the expected duration.".

FURTHER AMEND Senate Bill No. 135 at line 32 by adding the following between the period (".") and the quotation mark:

FURTHER AMEND Senate Bill No. 135 at line 47 by striking the term "Trained NA" and by substituting in lieu thereof "NAIT".

FURTHER AMEND Senate Bill No. 135 at lines 52 and 53 and at lines 58 and 59 by deleting the words ", and increasing the percentage of time that nursing supervisors must spend supervising," as it appears in each place.

FURTHER AMEND Senate Bill No. 135 by striking lines 63 through 66 in their entireties and by substituting in lieu thereof the following:

"(f) An individual in a facility sponsored training program who has completed all but the final 37.5 hours of requisite classroom and clinical training to become a CNA may be counted in the direct care hours and minimum staffing shift ratios under the CNA staffing requirements given in subsections (b), (c), and (e) of this section. The individual shall be referred to as a Nursing Assistant in Training (NAIT). The Division of Long Term Care Residents Protection (Division) shall conduct a study of the Certified Nursing Assistant training programs in Delaware, both those sponsored by facilities and those sponsored by educational institutions. It shall report its findings to the Nursing Home Quality Residents Assurance Commission (Commission). The factors to be studied include, but are not limited to, the percentage of each training program's graduates who passed the Certified Nursing Assistant certification test and the number of attempts it took each graduate to become certified, along with the total number of hours, divided by classroom and clinical time, spent in the overall Certified Nursing Assistant training program. The study shall encompass a period of six months commencing with the promulgation of the Certified Nursing Assistant regulations. The report shall be issued no later than two months after the completion of the study period. Based on the results of its study, the Division shall recommend to the Commission whether a Nursing Assistant while in training and prior to certification should be counted as a CNA in the minimum staffing ratios, and, if so, at what point in the training program.".

FURTHER AMEND Senate Bill No. 135 by deleting lines 105 through 109 in their entirety.

Author: Senator Marshall