Wisconsin Nurse Aide Directory Employment Eligibility Verification

PDF Version of BQA 02-004 (PDF, 13 KB)

Date: January 28, 2002 -- DSL-BQA-02-004

From: Donna Cochems, Chief, Caregiver Regulation and Investigation Section

cc:  Susan Schroeder, Director, Bureau of Quality Assurance

Effective immediately, the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Directory staff will no longer be able to provide written verification of a nurse aide’s Directory status to entities. This change is necessary due to limited Directory staff resources and an increase in the workload in maintaining current information regarding the 146,000 nurse aides listed on the Directory. However, we have developed the attached Nurse Aide Directory Employment Eligibility Verification tool [obsolete, see "Important Changes Coming Soon"] to assist you in documenting the information provided by the Nurse Aide Directory Interactive Voice Response (IVR).

Section 146.40 of the Wisconsin Statutes does require nursing homes, hospitals, intermediate care facilities for persons with mental retardation (ICFs/MR), home health agencies and hospices to ensure that the persons they employ to provide nurse aide services are trained and competent to provide those services. These facilities may not hire a person to provide nurse aide services unless the person:

• has completed an approved training and competency testing program, or

• is a full-time employee currently enrolled in a program and eligible for Nurse Aide Directory placement within 120 days from date of enrollment, and the person is competent to provide nursing related services.

You may hire any person who verifies successful completion of a competency test approved by the State of Wisconsin but is awaiting placement on the Nurse Aide Directory. This person may provide direct nursing related duties pending verification of placement on the Directory. You must verify the person’s entry on the Directory within 30 days of hire. Note: Individuals who are listed on another state’s nurse aide registry must not provide any direct nursing related duties until their transfer has been approved and entered on the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Directory.

Interactive Voice Response

You can verify a nurse aide’s current employment eligibility by calling the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Directory Interactive Voice Response (IVR) from a touch-tone phone at (877) 224-0235 [obsolete, see "Important Changes Coming Soon"], 24 hours per day. You are limited to ten inquiries per telephone call but repeated calls are allowed. If the social security number or assigned identification number entered is not on file, the IVR will state that the social security number is not found. Please verify the number with the individual, and contact the Directory to verify that an application has been sent to the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Directory.

If the social security number is on file, the IVR will complete the following message:

• Repeat the social security number of the nurse aide.

• Spell the last name, first name and middle initial.

• State date of birth.

• State the date the nurse aide was entered on the Directory.

• State the type of program resulting in entry on the Directory.

• State date of last competency test completion.

• Indicate nurse aide employment eligibility.

• Indicate if the nurse aide has completed a medication aide program.

• State if a substantiated finding of client abuse, neglect or misappropriation of client’s property has been placed on the Directory. If not, there will be no comment.

• State substantiated findings in another state, if that state provided the information to Wisconsin.

You may document this information on the Nurse Aide Directory Employment Eligibility Verification tool [obsolete, see "Important Changes Coming Soon"]. If the person has provided nurse aide services in another state, you must also contact the other state(s) nurse aide registry regarding misconduct findings (abuse or neglect of a client or misappropriation of a client’s property) in that state before allowing the person to serve as a nurse aide.

Note: The IVR does not include any information about convictions that would bar employment as a caregiver under the Caregiver Law. You must complete a Caregiver Background Check to obtain this information.

If you have questions after hearing the IVR message, you may request verification of Directory status by calling the Nurse Aide Directory at (608) 243-2019. You may request a maximum of ten individuals be checked per day. Again, you may document the information provided by the Directory staff on the Nurse Aide Directory Employment Eligibility Verification tool.

Nurse Aide Employment Eligibility Requirements

Under federal regulations, a nurse aide becomes ineligible for employment in a federally certified (Medicare and/or Medicaid certified) nursing home, home health agency, or hospice if s/he does not perform any nursing related services for compensation in a health care setting during a period of 24 consecutive months. In addition, Wisconsin law does not permit a nurse aide to be employed in a Medicaid certified nursing home or ICF/MR if the aide did not perform any nursing related services during a period of 24 consecutive months.

To maintain eligibility to work in these facilities, the nurse aide must complete a Nurse Aide Directory Renewal form (DSL-2312), to report the most recent nursing-related employment every two years. A representative from the employing health care facility must sign the form to verify that the nursing-related employment was performed under the supervision of a RN or LPN. To regain eligibility, the nurse aide must successfully retake a competency test or retrain and successfully retest.

Wisconsin Nurse Aide Directory and Nurse Aide Training Program Web Site

For more information about Wisconsin’s nurse aide training, testing and Directory requirements, please go to www.dhfs.state.wi.us, click on "Licensing" and then on "Nurse Aide Training & Directory" [replaced by http://dhfs.wisconsin.gov/caregiver/NATDintro.htm]. There you will find the recently posted Wisconsin Nurse Aide Training Program and Directory Manual, a user-friendly manual for nurse aide training and testing programs and facilities that employ nurse aides and aides.

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