86R8866 EAS-D
By: Hancock S.B. No. 1212
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to verification of employability of and consent to
prescription medications obtained by certain nursing facility
employees; authorizing a fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 411.1106(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The executive commissioner of the commission, or the
executive commissioner's designee, is entitled to obtain from the
department criminal history record information maintained by the
department that relates to a person who is:
(1) an applicant for employment for a position in
which the person, as an employee, would have access to sensitive
personal or financial information, as determined by the executive
commissioner, in:
(A) the eligibility services division of the
commission; or
(B) the commission's office of inspector
general; [or]
(2) an employee of the commission who has access to
sensitive personal or financial information, as determined by the
executive commissioner; or
(3) a medication aide or nurse aide who is the subject
of a verification of employability request submitted under Section
242.053, Health and Safety Code.
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 242, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 242.053 to read as follows:
Sec. 242.053. VERIFICATION OF EMPLOYABILITY OF CERTAIN
FACILITY EMPLOYEES REQUIRED; FEE. (a) In this section:
(1) "Medication aide" means an individual who
administers medication to nursing facility residents and holds a
permit issued under Section 242.610.
(2) "Nurse aide" means an individual who provides
nursing or nursing-related services to nursing facility residents
under the delegated authority of a nurse. The term includes an
individual who is required to be listed in the nurse aide registry
under Chapter 250. The term does not include an individual licensed
under Chapter 301, Occupations Code.
(b) A nursing facility may not employ a medication aide or
nurse aide or contract for medication aide or nurse aide services
with a medication aide or nurse aide unless the facility obtains
from the commission a verification of employability for the
medication aide or nurse aide under this section. The executive
commissioner by rule shall establish standards for verification of
employability under this section as necessary to protect facility
residents.
(c) A nursing facility shall request, in the form and manner
prescribed by commission rule, the commission to verify the
employability of a medication aide or nurse aide who is applying for
employment or requesting a contract with the facility. The
commission may not verify the employability of a medication aide or
nurse aide unless the commission obtains the criminal history
record information described by Subdivision (2) for the medication
aide or nurse aide and determines that nothing in the information
would disqualify the individual from employment as a medication
aide or nurse aide. In determining whether to verify the
employability of a medication aide or nurse aide, the commission
shall:
(1) consider the information provided to the
commission by the facility;
(2) consider the information made available to the
commission by the Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas
under Section 411.1106, Government Code, or by the Federal Bureau
of Investigation or another criminal justice agency under Section
411.087, Government Code;
(3) consider the commission's records, including any
information included in a registry maintained by the commission;
and
(4) require the medication aide or nurse aide to
submit a complete set of fingerprints to the commission for
purposes of conducting a criminal history background check.
(d) The commission may require a nursing facility
requesting the commission to verify employability under Subsection
(c) to pay to the commission a fee set by commission rule in an
amount not to exceed the administrative costs the commission incurs
in complying with a request under Subsection (c).
SECTION 3. Section 242.505, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsections (g), (h),
and (i) to read as follows:
(c) Subject to Subsection (g), consent [Consent] to the
prescription of psychoactive medication given by a resident or by a
person authorized by law to consent on behalf of the resident is
valid only if:
(1) the consent is given voluntarily and without
coercive or undue influence;
(2) the person prescribing the medication or that
person's designee provided the following information, in a standard
format approved by the commission [department], to the resident
and, if applicable, to the person authorized by law to consent on
behalf of the resident:
(A) the specific condition to be treated;
(B) the beneficial effects on that condition
expected from the medication;
(C) the probable clinically significant side
effects and risks associated with the medication; and
(D) the proposed course of the medication;
(3) the resident and, if appropriate, the person
authorized by law to consent on behalf of the resident are informed
in writing that consent may be revoked; and
(4) the consent is evidenced in the resident's
clinical record by:
(A) a signed form prescribed by the facility or
by a statement of the person prescribing the medication or that
person's designee that documents that consent was given by the
appropriate person and the circumstances under which the consent
was obtained; and
(B) if applicable, the original or a copy of the
written consent required by Subsection (g).
(g) In addition to the requirements of Subsection (c),
consent to the prescription of an antipsychotic or neuroleptic
medication is valid only if:
(1) the consent to the prescription of that medication
is given in writing by the resident for whom the medication is
prescribed or by a person authorized by law to consent on behalf of
the resident; and
(2) the person prescribing the medication or that
person's designee provides the information listed in Subsection
(h), in a standard format approved by the commission, to the
resident and, if applicable, to the person authorized by law to
consent on behalf of the resident.
(h) The information required under Subsection (g)(2) must
include:
(1) the nature of the medication;
(2) the means of administering the medication,
including:
(A) the dosage;
(B) the administration schedule;
(C) the method of delivery; and
(D) the expected duration of administration;
(3) the right of the resident or a person authorized by
law to consent on behalf of the resident to refuse medication;
(4) the potential medical and clinical consequences of
refusing the medication; and
(5) an explanation of treatment alternatives and the
right of the resident or a person authorized by law to consent on
behalf of the resident to choose such treatments.
(i) In addition to other requirements of this section,
before administering an antipsychotic or neuroleptic medication,
the nursing facility shall inform the resident or a person
authorized by law to consent on behalf of the resident about
facility policies and procedures relating to consent and, on
request of the resident or authorized person, shall make available
a written copy of those policies and procedures.
SECTION 4. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
date of this Act, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission shall adopt rules necessary to implement
Section 242.053, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 242.053, Health and Safety
Code, as added by this Act, a nursing facility licensed under
Chapter 242, Health and Safety Code, is not required to comply with
that section or rules adopted under that section until January 1,
2020.
SECTION 5. Section 242.053, Health and Safety Code, as
added by this Act, applies only to the employment of a medication
aide or nurse aide or a contract entered into with a medication aide
or nurse aide on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.