Deeming and Waiver of Nurse Aide Training and Competency

4131 - Deeming and Waiver of Nurse Aide Training and Competency Evaluation (NATCEP) Requirements (Rev. 1, 05-21-04) The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1987 prohibits SNFs and NFs from using as nurse aides any individuals who have not successfully completed a nurse aide training and competency evaluation program (NATCEP) or competency evaluation program (CEP) approved by the State. The OBRAs 1987 and 1989 deemed some individuals to meet this requirement and permitted States to waive this requirement for others. All individuals who are deemed to meet the nurse aide NATCEP requirements, or for whom the State waives the requirement to complete a CEP, must be included in the nurse aide registry described in §4141. A nurse aide is deemed to satisfy the requirement of completing a NATCEP if, before July 1, 1989, he or she completed a nurse aide training and CEP of at least 60 hours and made up at least the difference between the number of hours in the program he or she completed and 75 hours in supervised practical nurse aide training, or in regular in- service nurse aide education. A nurse aide is deemed to satisfy the requirement of completing a NATCEP if, before July 1, 1989, the individual was found competent (whether or not by the State) after completing nurse aide training of at least 100 hours duration. The State may deem an individual to have completed a NATCEP if the individual completed, before July 1, 1989, a NATCEP that it determines would have met the requirements for approval at the time it was offered. The State may waive the requirement for an individual to complete a CEP for any individual who can demonstrate to its satisfaction that he or she has served as a nurse aide at one or more facilities of the same employer in the State for at least 24 consecutive months before December 19, 1989. Any individual described above may be employed as a nurse aide by a nursing home if that individual is also competent to perform nursing or nursing-related services.