PREPROPOSAL STATEMENT OF INQUIRY
(Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission)
Subject of Possible Rule Making: WAC 246-841-XXX, new nursing assistant rules recognizing training received by home care aides and medical assistants to apply toward nursing assistant certification.
Statutes Authorizing the Agency to Adopt Rules on this Subject: ESSB 6582 (chapter 169, Laws of 2010).
Reasons Why Rules on this Subject may be Needed and What They Might Accomplish: ESSB 6582 requires the nursing care quality assurance commission to adopt rules by July 1, 2011. The intent of the bill is to provide career advancement opportunities for home care aides and medical assistants by recognizing relevant training and experience required for nursing assistants and medical assistants. The bill recognizes the federal law allowing a state-approved competency evaluation program as a federally recognized alternative to the state-approved training and competency evaluation program, and it strives to ensure there is a single competency evaluation for nursing assistants.
Other Federal and State Agencies that Regulate this Subject and the Process Coordinating the Rule with These Agencies: Department of social and health services and Department of Health and Human Services. The department of social and health services will be partners in the rules writing workshops. All invitations for rules writing will be sent to these agencies.
Process for Developing New Rule: Collaborative.
Interested parties can participate in the decision to adopt the new rule and formulation of the proposed rule before publication by contacting Terry J. West, Deputy Executive Director, Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission, P.O. Box 47864, Olympia, WA 98504-7864, (360) 236-4712, or terry.west@doh.wa.gov, http://www.doh.wa.gov/hsqa/Professions/Nursing/RulesInProgress.htm. Rules writing workshops will be held using video conferencing. Notices will be sent to the nursing commission's listserve at nursing-qac@doh.wa.gov, posted to the web site above and in the commission's newsletter.
June 17, 2010
Paula R. Meyer, MSN, RN
Executive Director