Title 175 Health Care Facilities and Services Licensure, Chapter 14 - Home Health Agencies

What this rule requires your agency to do

• 1Home health aides may perform only personal care, assistance with activities of daily living, and basic therapeutic care, must administer medication only in compliance with the Medication Aide Act, and must not perform acts requiring nursing or medical judgment (14-006.04G4).(Title 175 Health Care Facilities and Services Licensure, Chapter 14 - Home Health Agencies)
• 2Each home health agency must verify and maintain competency records for all home health aides before the aide provides services in a patient's home, and must provide or make available four one-hour inservice programs per year (14-006.04G3, 14-006.04G7a); an aide not acting as such for three years must repeat the 75-hour course (14-006.04G7b).(Title 175 Health Care Facilities and Services Licensure, Chapter 14 - Home Health Agencies)
• 3Each home health agency must establish a written patient bill of rights, provide patients written notice of their rights in advance of care or at the initial evaluation visit, and maintain documentation that the patient/designee received and understands them (14-006.05).(Title 175 Health Care Facilities and Services Licensure, Chapter 14 - Home Health Agencies)
• 4A home health agency must employ only home health aides qualified under Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 71-6601 to 71-6615, who are at least 18, of good moral character, not convicted of a disqualifying crime, able to communicate in the patient's/supervisor's language, and who have completed a 75-hour home health aide training course (or an equivalent listed qualification) with a competency evaluation (14-006.04G1, 14-006.04G5).(Title 175 Health Care Facilities and Services Licensure, Chapter 14 - Home Health Agencies)
• 5A home health agency must not employ a person with an adverse finding on the Nurse Aide Registry regarding patient abuse, neglect, or misappropriation of patient property; hires with other criminal/registry findings must be documented with the basis and how it will not threaten patient safety or property (14-006.04A1c, 14-006.04A1d).(Title 175 Health Care Facilities and Services Licensure, Chapter 14 - Home Health Agencies)
• 6Each home health agency must provide RN-written direction (plan of care/assignment sheet) and RN supervision of home health aides, ensure an RN is available or on call during all hours aide services are provided, and conduct RN supervisory onsite visits at the required intervals (every two weeks for basic therapeutic care; every 62 days and a six-month observation visit for personal-care/ADL aides) (14-006.04G2, 14-006.04G7d).(Title 175 Health Care Facilities and Services Licensure, Chapter 14 - Home Health Agencies)
• 7A registered nurse must make an initial evaluation visit to each patient for whom the physician orders home health aide services, devise a written plan of care for physician approval, and review it as the patient's condition requires but at least every 62 days (14-006.04G7d(2)).(Title 175 Health Care Facilities and Services Licensure, Chapter 14 - Home Health Agencies)
• 8Each home health agency must complete and maintain documentation of pre-employment criminal background checks and registry checks (Nurse Aide Registry, Adult Protective Services Central Registry, Central Register of Child Protection Cases, and Nebraska State Patrol Sex Offender Registry) on each unlicensed direct care staff (14-006.04A1).(Title 175 Health Care Facilities and Services Licensure, Chapter 14 - Home Health Agencies)