Trump team relaxed training rules for nursing home staff just as pandemic hit

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Caregivers can obtain a license in eight hours online, after which they’re responsible for protecting vulnerable residents.

Shortly after the first coronavirus outbreak ravaged a nursing home in Kirkland, Wash., the Trump administration moved to fulfill a longstanding industry goal — waiving the requirement that nurse’s aides receive 75 hours of training and allowing people who study only eight hours online to become caregivers during the pandemic.

The industry had been fighting for years to reduce training requirements, saying they make it harder to recruit staff. The day after the administration announced the change, the industry rolled out a free online training program for certifying the new role — called a "temporary nurse aide" — that has since been adopted by at least 19 states.

Now, after more than 55,000 nursing home residents and workers across the country have died from the coronavirus, advocates for older adults and families of residents say they fear the change was premature, and contributed to the spread of the disease. Nurse's aides are often the main caretakers of residents, some of whom need round-the-clock monitoring; nurse’s aides are also on the front lines in implementing the cleaning and disinfecting practices that prevent the spread of Covid-19.

"Working in nursing homes is complicated,” said Jesse Martin, vice president of the SEIU in Connecticut, which represents health care workers and has been pushing back against nursing homes hiring temporary nurse’s aides in the state. “You have PPE, you have infection control procedures. Putting someone brand new into the care setting with Covid is a recipe for disaster."

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/15/coronavirus-nursing-homes-361510