(A) Introduction: The board has
established the administrator-in-training ("AIT") program as the way
for a person who seeks initial licensure as a nursing home administrator to
obtain a period of practical training and experience ("internship")
in nursing home administration under direct supervision of a licensed nursing
home administrator ("preceptor") who is in full-time practice in a
nursing home that the board approved as the AIT's training agency
("internship site").
(B) Dates: All internships in the AIT
program shall begin on the first day of the first month of the calendar
quarter, namely: January 1, April 1, July 1, or October 1.
(C) Registration:
(1) How to register: To
register for internship in the AIT program, an applicant shall submit all of
the following items to the board:
(a) The fee invoice, preliminary data for AIT program form, the
AIT application, the employment status form, and the facility survey form
having complete and accurate entries of information.
(b) Certified transcript(s) of college credits and proof of
degree(s), in accordance with paragraph (A)(4) of rule 4751-1-05 of the
Administrative Code; said transcripts to be sent by the institution directly to
the office of the board.
(c) Certificate or other specific and adequate documentation of
completion of approved course of study or program of instruction meeting the
special academic requirements in the subject areas specific to health care
administration in accordance with paragraph (A)(5) of rule 4751-1-05 of the
Administrative Code.
(d) Any additional or supplemental documentation to support data
entries on the application form and to establish any qualifying administrative
experience.
(e) The professional development plan, with its supporting
documentation.
(2) Deadline: The
applicant shall submit all parts of the application to the board so that the
application is on file with the board at least twenty-one days before the
regular board meeting that precedes the requested beginning date of an
internship with the AIT program.
(3) Board approval: The
board shall only approve an applicant's registration for internship in the
AIT program if the board is satisfied that the applicant meets, or has arranged
to meet, each of the following requirements:
(a) The applicant is at least twenty-one years of
age.
(b) The applicant has good health and is otherwise suitable to
the practice of nursing home administration according to paragraph (A)(3) of
rule 4751-1-05 of the Administrative Code.
(c) The applicant meets general education requirements of
paragraph (A)(4) of rule 4751-1-05 of the Administrative Code.
(d) The applicant has submitted records to the board to verify
that he or she meets, or has arranged to meet, the special academic
requirements of paragraph (A)(5) of rule 4751-1-05 of the Administrative
Code.
(e) The applicant has arranged for an internship at an internship
site(s) of which the board approves, pursuant to paragraph (A)(6) of rule
4751-1-05 of the Administrative Code.
(f) The internship site(s) will not employ the applicant in any
capacity other than that of an AIT during the internship hours.
(g) The applicant does not have a substantial financial interest
in any nursing home that will be the internship site at which he or she would
serve a major portion of his or her internship.
(h) The applicant successfully completed a background check (BCI
and FBI) with the results sent directly to the board office.
(i) The applicant completed the report of conviction form, as
applicable.
(j) The board, in accordance with section 9.79 of the Revised
Code, has determined that the results of the background check do not make the
individual ineligible for the license.
(D) Training site:
(1) The training site
shall comply with all the following:
(a) The training site shall be under the full-time supervision of
a licensed nursing home administrator who qualifies as a preceptor. Full-time
is defined as a minimum of thirty-five hours per week in the nursing facility.
If the licensed nursing home administration splits time between multiple
buildings, the AIT shall follow the preceptor to those sites, and those
additional sites shall also be approved.
(b) The training site shall provide professional nursing care
under the full-time supervision of a director of nursing who is a registered
nurse. The director of nursing shall have at least two years' full-time
experience as an RN in a nursing home or hospital.
(c) The training site shall be staffed and operated in accordance
with all applicable local, state, and federal laws and rules and be deemed by
the board to provide quality care in a safe environment. The administrator
shall be required to submit copies of all current survey reports.
(d) Out-of-state training sites in contiguous states may be
approved at the discretion of the board. The preceptor and AIT remain under the
board's jurisdiction. All Ohio requirements must be met in order to
successfully complete the program.
(2) The internship shall
only be served at the training site(s) approved by the board prior to the
beginning of the program. An alternate training site is allowed on a temporary
basis only for specific purposes (e.g., when such training cannot be provided
at the approved site).
(E) Professional development plan: The professional development
plan for internship in the AIT program shall provide documentation that the
following requirements have been, or will be, met:
(1) A pre-training
assessment of the applicant's background in terms of educational level,
pertinent experience, maturity, motivation, and initiative has been made
jointly by the applicant and the preceptor.
(2) Based on the
pre-training assessment, the applicant and the preceptor have jointly developed
a detailed goal-oriented professional development plan with adequate supporting
documentation that relates educational objectives, subject areas of the core of
knowledge in nursing home administration, training sites and/or agencies
involved, estimated number of hours needed for mastering each objective, and
total number of hours in the professional development plan. The NAB
professional development plan form shall be used. This form is located within
the "National Administrator-in-Training Program Manual, Module 3 -
NHA" (2021) at https://www.nabweb.org.
(3) Supporting
documentation for the professional development plan shall include
preceptor's qualifications, the qualifications of the nursing director at
the internship site(s), and a description of each internship site and the staff
that is necessary to determine the site's adequacy to meet specific goals
in the professional development plan.
(4) Use of the AIT
self-assessment is mandatory. This is necessary to give the AIT and preceptor
an accurate assessment for the AIT's strengths and weaknesses, and a guide
to the hours needed to be spent instructing each domain of
practice.
(F) Waiver requests:
(1) It is the
responsibility of the AIT and/or preceptor to document any waiver request which
is submitted. Reduction in hour requests must be applied for prior to the AIT
program approval.
(2) Requests for
reduction in internship hours are granted for two reasons: education and
experience. Significant experience in a nursing facility is required in order
to qualify for a three-month/five-hundred-hour reduction based upon experience.
The AIT shall be able to demonstrate mastery of at least
five-hundred-hours' worth of training plan knowledge specific to a nursing
facility setting.
(3) The board-supplied
required training plan must be used.
(4) The plan must list in
the margin the number of hours needed for mastering each subject area and
objective, and must indicate the total number of hours in the
plan.
(5) An AIT requesting a
reduction of the internship hours must still submit a training plan for the
maximum number of hours required at his/her education level (in the margin) in
addition to the second column of hours showing the requested
reduction.
(6) The board's
decision on waiver requests is final.
(G) Training hours:
(1) An internship is
approved for a set number of months and hours. Both the months and the hours
apply, i.e., a nine-month, one-thousand-five-hundred-hour internship shall be
completed over nine months and a total of one thousand five hundred hours. This
applies to internships of all lengths.
(2) Time spent at the
core of knowledge course does not count towards the hours required for the
internship.
(3) The AIT is expected
to serve the internship primarily between the hours of six a.m and six p.m,
Monday to Friday, and serve a minimum of thirty-five hours per week. This does
not preclude the AIT from training on weekends and second and third shifts. The
preceptor is expected to be available to the AIT by phone but is not expected
to work the varying shifts with the AIT.
(4) An AIT may be granted
internship credit for up to ten days of jury duty, but if the days of jury duty
exceed that number, the AIT shall request a leave of absence for the additional
days and be required to make up the time. The board shall not unreasonably deny
such request.
(5) Normally a monthly
schedule of internship should not exceed one hundred eighty hours. Some
allowance is made for extra hours which are served to make up time spent at the
core of knowledge course during the internship.
(6) Vacations/leaves of
absence: request for vacations or leaves of absence in excess of two weeks must
be made to the board office, countersigned by the preceptor and the time must
be made up.
(7) Continuing education
programs attended during the internship will be reported to the board on the
monthly report form.
(8) Continuing education
courses taken prior to licensing will not count for licensure
renewal.
(9) The AIT shall attend
the board's virtual AIT training course.
(10) The AIT must be at
the facility at the specified times. In case of illness or other problems, the
AIT must contact the administrator and explain the absence or tardiness as soon
as possible.
(11) The AIT must comply
with facility policy relative to the treatment of the persons served and
communications, dress code, grooming, etc.
(12) If the AIT
experiences problems at the facility which cannot be resolved in cooperation
with the assigned supervisor, it is the AIT's responsibility to contact
first the preceptor, and if necessary, the board office.
(H) Evaluation:
(1) Monitoring: During an
internship, the board may monitor the internship and may call for the AIT and
preceptor into a conference with the board.
(2) AIT
reporting:
(a) Each AIT shall file such periodic and summary reports as
required by and in the format prescribed by the board.
(b) The AIT and the preceptor shall both sign, then file, each
report required in paragraph (E)(1) of this rule with the board no more than
ten days after the end of each reporting period. If the AIT fails to file
reports promptly, such trainee may be deemed to have abandoned the
administrator-in-training program.
(c) If an AIT fails to report to the board before the deadline in
paragraph (E)(2) of this rule, the board may determine that the AIT abandoned
the AIT program.
(d) The AIT is required to keep an accurate daily log of
all training hours and subject areas covered during the internship. This is
necessary not only to provide an accurate tally of hours on the monthly reports
to the board, but also as documentation of day by day activity. This daily log
is to be kept throughout the internship. It must be available for review by the
board representative at the training site at all times.
(3) Board determination:
After the AIT completes an internship, the board shall determine if the AIT
received training that complies with this rule before the board admits the AIT
to licensure examination.
(I) Reciprocity: The board may grant credit towards the AIT
program for an AIT's internship in another state's internship program
if the AIT registers with the board no later than ninety days after he or she
leaves the other state's training program.
(J) Preceptors:
(1) No preceptor shall be
related by blood or marriage to the AIT.
(2) No preceptor shall
have a personal financial interest in the licensure of an AIT.
(3) A preceptor shall not
train his or her employer or supervisor.
(4) The AIT program is not responsible
for any financial arrangements between an AIT and the
preceptor/facility.
(5) The AIT cannot serve
as the director of nursing while in the administrator-in-training
program.
(6) At the discretion of the board, a
licensed nursing home administrator may be approved by the board to supervise
the practical training and experience of future nursing home administrators in
the board-approved AIT program.
(7) Approval is temporary and shall be
re-applied for prior to the start of each training program. If the board should
determine that a nursing home administrator is unsatisfactory to serve as a
preceptor, the board may withdraw its approval and deny future
approval.
(8) Preceptors shall
attend the board's virtual preceptor training course for each AIT unless
they have attended one in the past year.
(9) The board shall base its approval on
the following:
(a) Whether the administrator is in good standing with the board:
has an active license, and any recent disciplinary action on
record.
(b) Whether the administrator has successfully completed
NAB's online preceptor training course.
(c) Whether the administrator has successfully mentored other
AITs.
(d) The manner in which the administrator has administered the
facility as documented by state inspections and certifications and any recent
substandard care citations.
(e) A preceptor shall be a full-time nursing home administrator
who has been licensed in and has practiced full-time in Ohio for a minimum of
two years and shall have a current certificate of registration.
(10) The preceptor shall request
permission from the board to train more than one AIT concurrently. There is a
limit of two AITs per preceptor at any one time. Out-of-state preceptors must
have been licensed and practiced full-time for a minimum of two years and have
a current certificate of registration.
(11) The preceptor should
provide adequate orientation to the trainee before assigning responsibilities.
Orientation should include knowledge of physical layout, personnel policies,
goals, objectives, programs, etc.
(12) The preceptor should
spell out the AIT's responsibilities, authority and limitations in the
student role.
(13) The preceptor should
provide physical facilities and equipment needed by the AIT to perform the
required tasks.
(14) The preceptor shall contact the board
if problems arise that preclude the successful completion of the program by the
AIT.
(15) The preceptor shall notify the board
of any employment status changes potentially affecting the AIT's
internship program.
(16) If a preceptor fails to provide the
AIT an opportunity to follow and complete the board-approved professional
development plan while the AIT is under the preceptor's supervision, the
board may disqualify the preceptor from further service in the preceptor
program.
(K) Adverse actions:
(1) If the AIT
experiences problems at the facility which cannot be resolved in cooperation
with the assigned supervisor, it is the AIT's responsibility to contact
first the preceptor, and if necessary, the board office.
(2) If an AIT discontinues his or her
internship in the approved internship site(s), the AIT and the preceptor shall
report the AIT's discontinuance to the board before the tenth day after
the discontinuance.
(3) The board may disqualify or disallow
all (or part) of an internship period if the board determines that an AIT fails
to serve an internship that complies with this rule.
(4) The board may terminate or rearrange
all or part of the internship if, during an AIT's internship, the board
determines that the internship is unsatisfactory.
(5) An AIT shall not serve in the
capacity of a licensed nursing home administrator or assistant administrator.
The board may disqualify the entire internship period of an AIT who serves in
the capacity of a licensed nursing home administrator.
(6) If a preceptor fails to provide the
AIT an opportunity for an adequate internship while the AIT is under his or her
supervision, the board may disqualify the preceptor from further service in the
AIT program.
(7) The board may deny an AIT admission
for examination to become a licensed nursing home administrator if the AIT
falsified or misrepresented facts on an application, documents that support an
application, or in any periodic or summary reports on an
internship.
(8) According to rule 4751-1-12 of the
Administrative Code, the board may suspend or revoke a license if the
administrator falsified or misrepresented facts on an application, documents
that support an application, or in any periodic or summary reports on an
internship.
(L) Non-party: Any financial arrangements between
preceptor/facility and administrator-in-training are the joint responsibility
of the parties involved and are not the responsibility of the
board.
(M) Core of knowledge:
(1) The core of knowledge
course is designed specifically for the administrator-in-training (AIT)
participant. This course meets the special academic requirement set by BELTSS
for qualifying to take the state licensure board examination.
(2) The content of the
course is designed to provide information and promote understanding that will
lead to more effective performance in the administration of long-term care. The
subject areas covered have been recommended by the national association of
long-term care administrator boards and endorsed by BELTSS.
(3) BELTSS expects you to
attend every day of the core of knowledge course. You may be required to make
up time, which may incur an additional fee.
(4) All those
satisfactorily completing the course will receive a certificate which satisfies
the requirement of the board of executives of long-term services and supports
(BELTSS).
(5) The BELTSS core code
of conduct, available from the course provider, shall be followed.
(N) Definitions for this rule:
"AIT application" means
"'Form AIT' (Rev., January 2023)."
"Employment status form" means
"'Employment Status Form' (Rev., January 2023)."
"Facility survey form" means
"'Facility Survey Form' (Rev., December 2016)."
"Preliminary data for AIT program"
means "'Preliminary Data for AIT Program' (Rev., January
2023)."
"Report of conviction form" means
"'Report of Conviction Form' (Rev., March 2020)."
