The governor of Florida signed a bill in 2023 that allows certified nursing assistants in nursing homes to become trained as “qualified medication aides”. The aides could administer “routine” medications to residents, and also perform tasks such as checking blood glucose levels. The nurse assistants would be limited to administer oral, transdermal, ophthalmic, optic, inhaled or topical prescription medication under the supervision of a nurse while doing so.
CNAs would qualify for specified training and must have worked as a CNA for at least a year. Nursing homes won’t be able to count qualified medical aid hours toward required staffing ratios. CNAs must provide a minimum of two hours of direct care per resident per day, and a weekly average of 3.6 hours of direct care per patient per day.
Allowing CNAs to administer “routine” medications to residents in nursing homes, frees up registered nurses to provide other needed care. This law went into effect on July 1, 2023