Federal Bill Would Allow TNAs Awaiting Certification to Work in Nursing Homes for 24 Months

May 15, 2022

As nursing home operators scramble to get their temporary nurse aides (TNAs) certified and tested by Oct. 7, a new bill introduced this week seeks to extend some of the flexibility offered over the course of the pandemic. 

The temporary nurse aide program was among those earmarked to be discontinued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in April among a series of Covid-related waivers. Nurse aides were allowed to work in long-term care facilities for longer than four months without having to be certified, according to the waiver.

The Building America’s Health Care Workforce Act – introduced by U.S. Reps. Brett Guthrie of Kentucky, Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, and David B. McKinley, P.E. of West Virginia – will look to keep some of these flexibilities in place a little while longer.

Read the full story from Skilled Nursing News here.