PA Nurse Aide Registry Update: PULSE

1. PA Nurse Aide Registry Update: PULSE Key Points…

2. Benefits to Facility Administrations: • Facilitates notification of Registry action. • Current employer may be directly notified when a nurse aide is annotated on the Registry • Division staff will be able to query the database and identify if a nurse aide continues to be employed after Registry action and alert the current employer prior to issuance of deficiencies

3. Benefits to Facility Administrations: • Reduces burden on Facility staff • While not releasing staff from responsibility of ensuring employees are in good standing, enhanced communications will help identify facility employees requiring follow-up • Facilitates tracking of agency employees by allowing tracking of multiple employers

4. Benefits to Facility Administrations: • Reduce scheduling issues associated w/ renewal • Nurse aides may renew on-line up to and including the expiration date of their registration • Employers can facilitate renewal via education / training, as well as making resources available to staff • Employers can monitor renewal more efficiently

5. Issues for Clarification • Facility staff should enter “hire” and “termination” dates for all nurse aides or other staff listed on the Nurse Aide Registry (current or lapsed) • If annotated on the Registry, an individual may not work in a nursing care facility in any capacity

6. Agency staff • Hire dates should reflect the first date the individual began working in your facility • Termination dates should reflect the date the individual became a “do not return”.

7. Employment history is not a matter of public record; therefore, it is not able to be made available to facility staff via the Registry • Employment History Issues • Act 69 permits communication for reference check purposes without retribution • Yearly educational CEU / training requirements are Long-term Care Licensure issues, not Registry renewal requirements

8. Data Entry Expectations • Facilities are encouraged to enter data as soon as possible after the system becomes available in October. • Anticipated that all staff should be entered within one year of implementation

9. Duplicate Registry Request Restrictions • Encourages nurse aides to be responsible • Discourages “identity theft” or “identity sharing”, as it may be… • Permits tracking of “problematic” requestors Note: Duplicate renewal application materials may be requested, but will be mailed directly to the nurse aide. No phone disclosure of log-on ID is permitted due to security issues.

10. The Facility “EIN” or Employer Identification Number is also the Federal Tax ID Number • Miscellaneous • All materials utilized during the workshop will be posted to the DOH website • References: www.health.state.pa.us www.health.state.pa.us/facility http://ujsportal.pacourts.us/WebDocketSheets/OtherCriteria.aspx vanessa.carter@pearson.com wcramer@state.pa.us