Florida · nursing homes
Florida nursing home staff requirements: what you have to hold on every person
A Florida nursing home has to hold thirty dated things on file for the people it employs. Twenty-eight of them are federal and are the same in every state. Two are Florida's own, and both of them are teaching hours with a deadline measured from a person's first day rather than from the calendar.
What Florida adds
Two things, on top of everything every nursing home in the country already holds. Each one names the section of Florida law it comes from, so you can read it yourself rather than take our word for it.
| What we track | How often | Where the rule comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Twenty-four hours of teaching for every certified nurse aideThis is the hour count that keeps the certificate alive. The federal twelve a year sits underneath it and is counted separately. | 24 hours every 2 years, on named topics | Fla. Stat. 464.203 |
| Teaching on dementia for anyone who gives personal careTwo deadlines off one date, and the first is short. A person who starts on the 3rd is already late on the 3rd of next month. | One hour within 30 days of starting, then a further 3 hours within 7 months | Fla. Stat. 430.5025 |
Two deadlines off one date
Florida's dementia hours are unusual in this set because they are measured in days and months from a person's first shift, not from a calendar year.
Somebody starts on the 3rd of March. One hour is due by the 2nd of April. Three more are due by the 2nd of October. Neither of those dates has anything to do with your training calendar, your survey window or anybody else's anniversary, and neither shows up anywhere unless somebody wrote them down on the day the person was hired.
Buildings that run a monthly in-service and count everyone as covered are the ones that get caught here, because the person who started on the 3rd has a 30-day deadline that lands before your next monthly session.
What Florida does not add
Florida does not add a state background check on top of the Clearinghouse. Level 2 is the check, and the Clearinghouse is where its record lives, so a building that keeps the roster current has the evidence already.
Florida does not add a state training list beyond the nurse aide hours and the dementia hours. The eleven federal teaching topics further down this page are the rest of it.
What every nursing home in the country holds
These twenty-eight are the same in Florida as they are everywhere else, and they are most of the job. Each one names a CMS tag, a piece of the federal code, or both. The guides go through the ones that get cited most.
Licences and certificates
| What we track | How often | Where the rule comes from |
|---|---|---|
| A current RN license | When it runs out. Most last 2 years. | F839 · 42 CFR 483.70(e) |
| A current LPN license | When it runs out. Most last 2 years. | F839 · 42 CFR 483.70(e) |
| Nurse aide certification, still active on the state list | When it runs out. Most last a year. | F728 · 42 CFR 483.35(d) |
| A current license for therapy, social work and pharmacy staff | When it runs out. Most last 2 years. | F839 · 42 CFR 483.70(e) |
| A current administrator license | When it runs out. Most last a year. | F836 · 42 CFR 483.70(a) |
| Proof the food service director is qualified, where no dietitian works full time | When it runs out. Most last 3 years. | F801 · 42 CFR 483.60(a)(2) |
| Proof the activities lead is qualified | When it runs out. Most last 2 years. | F680 · 42 CFR 483.24(c)(2) |
Checks you run on a person
| What we track | How often | Where the rule comes from |
|---|---|---|
| A look at the state nurse aide list before the first shift | Before their first shift, then every 2 years | F729 · 42 CFR 483.35(d)(4) |
| A check for any finding of abuse or neglect against them | Every year | F606 · 42 CFR 483.12(a)(3) |
Health and safety
| What we track | How often | Where the rule comes from |
|---|---|---|
| A first TB check: history, symptoms and a test | Once, in their first two weeks | CDC 2019 via 42 CFR 483.80(a)(2) |
| The hepatitis B shot offered free, and their answer written down | Once, within ten working days of starting | 29 CFR 1910.1030(f) |
| A mask fit test for anyone who wears an N95 | When it runs out. Most last a year. | 29 CFR 1910.134(f) |
| A current CPR card at the healthcare level | When it runs out. Most last 2 years. | F678 · 42 CFR 483.24(a)(3) |
Teaching and in-service
| What we track | How often | Where the rule comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Orientation, before they work on their own | Once, in their first week | F940 · 42 CFR 483.95 |
| Teaching on abuse, neglect and dementia care | Every year | F943 · 42 CFR 483.95(c) |
| Teaching on residents' rights | Every year | F942 · 42 CFR 483.95(b) |
| Teaching on stopping infection spreading | Every year | F945 · 42 CFR 483.95(e) |
| Teaching on the quality program | Every year | F944 · 42 CFR 483.95(d) |
| Teaching on the compliance and ethics program, if your company runs five or more buildings | Every year | F946 · 42 CFR 483.95(f) |
| Teaching on mental health and behavior needs | Every year | F949 · 42 CFR 483.95(i) |
| Teaching on talking with residents, for hands-on staff | Every year | F941 · 42 CFR 483.95(a) |
| Teaching on what to do in an emergency | Every year | 42 CFR 483.73(d)(1) |
| Teaching on blood and needle safety | Every year | 29 CFR 1910.1030(g) |
| Teaching on the chemicals they handle | When they start, and again when a new chemical arrives | 29 CFR 1910.1200(h) |
| Twelve hours of teaching for each nurse aide | 12 hours every year, counted from their own start date | F947 · 42 CFR 483.95(g) |
| A written look at how each nurse aide is doing | Every year | F730 · 42 CFR 483.35(d)(7) |
| Teaching on keeping resident information private | When they start, and again whenever your privacy policy changes | 45 CFR 164.530(b)(1) |
Employment paperwork
| What we track | How often | Where the rule comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Form I-9, filled in and kept | Once, in their first three days of work | 8 CFR 274a.2(b)(1)(ii) |
Three more that nearly every building does anyway
These three are not on the tables above, and the reason is narrow: they rest on federal guidance or on a reporting program rather than on a rule with a section number. Almost every nursing home does all three, several state Medicaid programs have made the first one a condition of payment, and a page that called them law would be a page a surveyor would stop trusting.
- A check against the federal list of people barred from Medicare and Medicaid work. Every month. A name that was clear in January can be on it in February, so this is one to run on employees and contractors alike.
- Teaching on the signs of TB. Every year. What the signs are, who is at risk, and what to do about it. Teaching, not a test.
- A flu shot, or their reason for saying no. Every year. Their answer either way, written down. The count of who said yes is what goes in the yearly report.
What you still have to check yourself
Real in Florida, and not on the tables above, because we could not put a section number next to them without guessing. Guessing at a citation is worse than admitting the gap, because the guess is the thing somebody quotes back.
- The Level 2 fingerprint screening through the AHCA Clearinghouse before hire, renewed every five years. Every Florida building runs this and the Clearinghouse keeps the roster. We could not pin the five-year renewal to a section number, so it is not in the table above.
- Whether Florida sets a state TB testing rule for nursing homes. Assisted living has a yearly one. We could not confirm the nursing home position either way, and guessing on this one would be worse than saying so.
Where the Florida rows came from
Read on .
Questions Florida buildings ask
How soon does dementia training have to happen in a Florida nursing home?
One hour within 30 days of the person's first day, and three more hours within seven months, for anybody who gives personal care. Both deadlines count from that person's own start date, so every new hire brings two new dates with them rather than joining a class you already run.
How many CNA training hours does Florida require?
Twenty-four every two years on named topics, under Fla. Stat. 464.203. That is the count that renews the certificate. The federal twelve hours a year sit underneath it and are counted from the person's own hire anniversary, so a building that runs one number for both will be short on one of them.
What is Level 2 screening?
Florida's fingerprint-based background screening, run through the AHCA Clearinghouse, which keeps a roster of who at your building has been screened and when. It is required before hire and renewed on a five-year cycle. It is not on the table above because we could not pin the renewal cycle to a section number, not because it is optional.
Does Florida require an annual TB test in nursing homes?
We do not know, and we are not going to guess. Florida's assisted living rules carry a yearly requirement. Whether the same applies to a nursing home is the one item on this page we could not confirm, so check it against your own source and take the federal position as your floor in the meantime.
Do these hours apply to dietary and housekeeping staff?
The 24 hours are for certified nurse aides. The dementia hours reach anybody who gives personal care, which is a wider group than the aides and narrower than the whole building. The federal topics further down this page apply to everybody, including contractors and volunteers.
Where to go next
- How Credolex works in a nursing home
- F947 and F943: required training, the guide behind the tag Florida leans on
- What North Carolina asks for
- What Texas asks for
- What New Jersey asks for
- Every state we have read so far