Section 39.1. Definitions

The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

AIT—Administrator-in-training—An individual registered with the Board under § 39.101 (relating to AIT) to serve a period of practical training and experience under the supervision of a licensed nursing home administrator.

AIT program—A program established by the Board as a means for an applicant for licensure as a nursing home administrator to obtain practical training and experience under the supervision of a licensed nursing home administrator.

Act—The Nursing Home Administrators License Act (63 P. S. § § 1101—1114.2).

Board—The State Board of Examiners of Nursing Home Administrators, a departmental administrative board in the Department of State.

Clock hour—A minimum unit of education consisting of 60 minutes of instruction. Programs longer than 60 minutes will be credited in 30 minute increments.

Continuing education record—A document issued by the provider to the participant which contains the title of the program, the hours of education and the dates attended or completed.

Examiner—A member of the Board.

Full-time—A minimum of 4 days per week comprising a minimum of 35 hours.

Governing authority—The board of directors for a not-for-profit nursing home, the county commissioners for a county public nursing home, the licensee for an operated-for-profit nursing home and the Office of Medical Services and Facilities of the Department of Public Welfare for a Commonwealth restoration center.

Individual study—A continuing education course which does not have an instructor or other interactive learning methodologies and which requires a passing grade on a written examination or workbook.

License—Certification of an applicant who has met the requirements of the act and of this chapter that entitle the applicant to serve, act, practice and otherwise hold himself out as a licensed nursing home administrator.

NAB—The National Association of Boards of Examiners of Long-Term Care Administrators.

Nursing home—An institution or facility in which nursing care and related medical or other health services are provided for a period exceeding 24 hours, for two or more individuals, who are not relatives of the administrator, who are not acutely ill and not in need of hospitalization, but who, because of age, illness, disease, injury, convalescence or physical or medical infirmity, need care.

Nursing home administrator—An individual licensed under the act who is charged with the general administration of a nursing home whether or not the individual has an ownership interest in the home and whether or not the individual’s functions and duties are shared with one or more other individuals.

Practice of nursing home administration—The planning, organizing, directing and control of the operation of a nursing home.

Related health facility—An intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded (ICF/MR) licensed by the Department of Public Welfare or a public or private institution licensed by the Department of Health or operated by the Federal government, for profit or not-for-profit, organized to provide professional services for the diagnosis, treatment or care of illness, injury or disease, which is limited to skilled and intermediate care nursing homes, special and general hospitals or other institutions of a similar nature that provide professional nursing and other professional health services to patients admitted for at least a 24-hour period. The term includes an institution or facility licensed by the Department of Health in which health services are provided on a regular basis to resident individuals who do not require the degree of care and treatment that a hospital or skilled nursing facility, as defined in section 802a of the Health Care Facilities Act (35 P. S. § 448.802a), is designed to provide but who, because of the individuals’ mental or physical condition, require health services above the level of room and board.

Supervision—The act of overseeing or directing a license applicant during the period of qualifying work experience.

Supervisor—An individual who is present in a nursing home or related health facility on a full-time basis and who is charged with the responsibility of overseeing a specific department in a nursing home or related health facility; that is, nursing, housekeeping, dietary, laundry, pharmaceutical services, social service, business office, recreation, medical records, admitting, physical therapy, occupational therapy or medical and dental services.

Supervisory experience—Knowledge gained from having acted as a supervisor in the administration of a nursing home, 1,000 of which service shall have been under the supervision of a full-time licensed nursing home administrator. See § 39.5(c) (relating to for admission to licensing examination; examination procedures).

Temporary permit—A permit issued by the Board which authorizes an individual not licensed by the Board to serve as a nursing home administrator only in the particular facility indicated on the permit application for up to 1 year in the event of unusual circumstances affecting the administration of a nursing home, such as the death, disability, resignation or dismissal of the licensed administrator or other emergency as determined by the Board.

The provisions of this § 39.1 adopted January 28, 1972, effective January 29, 1972, 2 Pa.B. 2244; amended April 18, 1975, effective April 19, 1975, 5 Pa.B. 931; amended March 5, 1976, effective March 6, 1976, 6 Pa.B. 418; amended January 25, 1985, effective January 26, 1985, 15 Pa.B. 254; amended December 13, 1991, effective December 14, 1991, 21 Pa.B. 5725; amended March 9, 2001, effective March 10, 2001, 31 Pa.B. 1362; amended July 11, 2008, effective July 12, 2008, 38 Pa.B 3811; amended June 11, 2010, effective June 12, 2010, 40 Pa.B. 3092. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (335549) to (335551).

Notation

Authority

The provisions of this § 39.1 amended under sections 4, 9(b) and 14 of the Nursing Home Administrators License Act (63 P. S. § § 1104, 1109(b) and 1114).

Notes of Decisions

Nursing Home

A mental retardation facility does not meet the definition of a nursing home. Bonham v. Board of Examiners of Nursing Home Administrators, 375 A.2d 821 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1977).

Practice of Nursing Home Administration

In holding that 49 Pa. Code § 39.5(b)(4)(ii) requires that the 1000 hours of service in nursing home administration be spent in the nursing facility, the Court noted that the Board has defined the ‘‘[p]ractice of nursing home administration’’ as ‘‘[t]he planning, organizing, directing, and control of the operation of a nursing home.’’ Romeis v. State Board of Examiners of Nursing Home Administration, 459 A.2d 891 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1983).