400.452  Staff training and educational programs; core educational requirement.--

(1)  The department shall provide, or cause to be provided, training and educational programs for the administrators and other assisted living facility staff to better enable them to appropriately respond to the needs of residents, to maintain resident care and facility standards, and to meet licensure requirements.

(2)  The department shall also establish a core educational requirement to be used in these programs. Successful completion of the core educational requirement must include successful completion of a competency test. Programs must be provided by the department or by a provider approved by the department at least quarterly. The core educational requirement must cover at least the following topics:

(a)  State law and rules relating to assisted living facilities.

(b)  Resident rights and identifying and reporting abuse, neglect, and exploitation.

(c)  Special needs of elderly persons, persons with mental illness, and persons with developmental disabilities and how to meet those needs.

(d)  Nutrition and food service, including acceptable sanitation practices for preparing, storing, and serving food.

(e)  Medication management, recordkeeping, and proper techniques for assisting residents with self-administered medication.

(f)  Firesafety requirements, including fire evacuation drill procedures and other emergency procedures.

(g)  Care of persons with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders.

(3)  Such a program must be available at least quarterly in each planning and service area of the department. The competency test must be developed by the department in conjunction with the agency and providers. A new facility administrator must complete the core educational requirement including the competency test within 3 months after being employed as an administrator. Failure to complete a core educational requirement specified in this subsection is a violation of this part and subjects the violator to an administrative fine as prescribed in s. 400.419. Administrators licensed in accordance with chapter 468, part II, are exempt from this requirement. Other licensed professionals may be exempted, as determined by the department by rule.

(4)  Administrators are required to participate in continuing education for a minimum of 12 contact hours every 2 years.

(5)  Staff involved with the management of medications and assisting with the self-administration of medications under s. 400.4256 must complete a minimum of 4 hours of training pursuant to a curriculum developed by the department and provided by a registered nurse, licensed pharmacist, or department staff.

(6)  Other facility staff shall participate in training relevant to their job duties as specified by rule of the department.

(7)  A facility that does not have any residents who receive monthly optional supplementation payments must pay a reasonable fee for such training and education programs. A facility that has one or more such residents shall pay a reduced fee that is proportional to the percentage of such residents in the facility. Any facility more than 90 percent of whose residents receive monthly optional state supplementation payments is not required to pay for the training and continuing education programs required under this section.

(8)  If the department or the agency determines that there are problems in a facility that could be reduced through specific staff training or education beyond that already required under this section, the department or the agency may require, and provide, or cause to be provided, the training or education of any personal care staff in the facility.

(9)  The department shall adopt rules to establish training programs, standards and curriculum for training, staff training requirements, procedures for approving training programs, and training fees.