Home health agencies: waiver program: nurses.

Existing law requires a private or public organization to obtain a license from the State Department of Public Health before providing, or arranging for the provision of, skilled nursing services in the home. Existing law requires that applicants for certification as a home health aide complete a training program and obtain a criminal record clearance. This bill would require the department, on or before March 1, 2019, to begin collaborating with stakeholders to create a waiver program, as specified, to permit home health agencies to obtain a waiver of the one year prior professional nursing requirements imposed by the department in regulation. The bill would require the department to implement the program on or before January 1, 2020. The bill would require the waiver, if granted, to apply to all registered nurses and licensed vocational nurses employed by the home health agency.