172 Neb. Admin. Code, ch. 108, § 006

Current through June 17, 2024

Section 172-108-006 - COMPETENCY EVALUATIONS

The Department may administer and evaluate competency evaluations; contract for the administration and evaluation of competency evaluations; or request applications for approval to administer and evaluate competency evaluations. Skilled nursing facilities that participate in Medicare and nursing facilities that participate in Medicaid are not eligible to administer and evaluate competency evaluations. A nurse aide course instructor cannot teach a student in the nurse aide course and administer the competency evaluation to the same student. Any applications for approval must include a copy of the evaluation plan and procedures and assurances that the requirements of this section will be met.

006.01CONTENT. A competency evaluation must contain a written or oral portion and a skills demonstration portion.

006.01(A)WRITTEN PORTION. The written or oral portion must:

(i) Address each course requirement listed in section 004 of these regulations;

(ii) Be developed from a pool of questions, only a portion of which is used in any one examination;

(iii) Use a system that prevents disclosure of both the question pool and the individual competency evaluations;

(iv) If oral, be read from a prepared text in a neutral manner;

(v) Be tested for reliability and validity using nationally recognized standards; and

(vi) Meet all other requirements set forth in 42 CFR § 483, Subpart D.

006.01(B)SKILLS DEMONSTRATION. The skills demonstration portion must:

(i) Address each personal care skill listed in section 004 of these regulations;

(ii) Consist of demonstration of randomly selected items drawn from a pool of tasks generally performed by nurse aides;

(iii) Be performed in a setting comparable to the setting in which the nurse aide will operate and be administered and evaluated by a registered nurse with at least one year's experience in providing care for the elderly or the chronically ill of any age; and

(iv) Meet all other requirements set forth in 42 CFR § 483, Subpart D.

006.02NOTIFICATION. Persons taking the competency evaluation will be advised in advance that a record of the successful completion of the examination will be included in the state's nurse aide registry.

006.03SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION. A score of PASS must be achieved for both the written, oral, and skills demonstration parts of the test. The competency testing entity will inform the nurse aide of the test score within 5 calendar days of the completion of the test and will inform the nurse aide registry of the nurse aide's scores within 14 calendar days after the test is completed.

006.04UNSUCCESSFUL COMPLETION. Any person who does not complete the evaluation satisfactorily will be advised in writing within 5 calendar days after the test is scored of the areas which the person did not pass and that the person has 3 opportunities to take the evaluation. The competency testing entity will inform the nurse aide registry of the nurse aide's scores within 14 calendar days after the test is completed.

006.05STORAGE OF EVALUATION INSTRUMENT. Evaluation instruments must be securely stored when they are not being administered or processed.

006.06DATA MANAGEMENT AND TRANSMISSION. Any contractor or provider of competency evaluations must meet state and federal requirements for nurse aide certification testing. This includes a secure system for data management and transmission of data to the Department, as well as the maintenance and security of questions in the written and skills examination pool.

006.06(A)QUALITY ASSURANCE. Any contractor or provider of competency evaluations shall conduct a standard quality assurance program measuring elements of structure, process, and outcomes of all components of the nurse aide competency evaluation. Written and skills exams must be linked to the nurse aide job analysis and supported by psychometric data determining the validity of all testing items on an ongoing basis.

006.06(B)DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING. Data collection and reporting shall include the following reports as requested by the Department:

(i) Pass and fail rates by program or contract;

(ii) Psychometric analysis of exam items;

(iii) Candidate satisfaction rates;

(iv) Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodations provided;

(v) Quality assurance data; and

(vi) Data that supports intra- and inter rater-reliability of the nurse aide tester.

172 Neb. Admin. Code, ch. 108, § 006

Amended effective 9/24/2022