Wisconsin Feeding Assistant Employment Requirements
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Assistant Program - Introduction
A long term care facility (nursing home or intermediate care facility for
persons with mental retardation - ICF/MR) may not employ or use
any individual as a feeding assistant unless the individual has:
Facilities must ensure feeding assistants only serve residents who have no
complicated feeding problems.
Residents with a clinical condition, such as the conditions listed above,
require the employee providing feeding or hydration services to be a
licensed health care professional or nurse aide.
The facility must base their resident selection on the charge nurse’s
assessment and the resident’s latest assessment and plan of care.
Feeding assistants 18 years and older must work under the general
supervision of a registered nurse (RN), or licensed practical nurse (LPN).
While the Department anticipates most feeding assistants will serve
residents in the dining room, feeding assistants are allowed to serve
residents in their own rooms.
The feeding assistant is not permitted to perform other nursing or
nursing-related duties (e.g., measuring or recording input or output,
transferring, toileting, etc.). In an emergency, a feeding assistant must
immediately call a supervisory nurse on the resident call system.
Feeding assistants between the ages of 16 and 18 years must be supervised
more closely than assistants who are over 18 years.
- Feeding assistants between the ages of 16 and 18 years must work
under the DIRECT supervision of an RN or LPN, i.e., the RN or LPN
must be on the same floor or unit as the feeding assistant, but not
necessarily side-by-side.
Feeding assistants must receive an annual inservice on relevant feeding
assistant topics (any topic area included in the curriculum is
appropriate).
In addition, feeding assistants must be evaluated on a yearly basis to
document that their skill performance and feeding competence is
satisfactory.
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Last Revised: June 30, 2008 |
