Washington Administrative Code

(1) A written emergency/disaster/earthquake plan must be readily available to all staff at each program site and in all program owned vehicles. Staff must be trained to ensure smooth implementation of the emergency plan.(2) All staff and volunteers must be trained in evacuation/f…

(1) All adult day centers must develop an annual quality improvement plan that identifies specific concerns regarding the quality of care and services to clients. The plan must also include a description of the plan of action that would address the concerns. The plan must have sp…

WAC 388-71-0702 through 388-71-0776 is effective [July 1, 2003] [February 1, 2014].[Statutory Authority: RCW 74.08.090, 74.09.520. WSR 15-01-174, § 388-71-0776, filed 12/23/14, effective 1/23/15. Statutory Authority: RCW 74.04.050, 74.04.057, 74.04.200, 74.08.090, 74.09.520, and …

The following definitions apply to the LTC worker training requirements:(1) "Activities of daily living" means self-care abilities related to personal care such as bathing, eating, using the toilet, medication assistance, dressing, and transfer. Instrumental activities of daily l…

(1) The department determines a long-term care worker's date of hire according to the first day the long-term care worker is employed by any employer.(2) The date of hire is specific to each long-term care worker. A long-term care worker, including an individual or agency provide…

The following LTC workers are exempt from the 70-hour, 30-hour, 16-hour, nine-hour, or seven-hour basic training requirement:(1) An individual employed as a LTC worker on January 6, 2012, who complied with the basic training requirements in effect on the date of hire;(2) An indiv…

(1) Long-term care worker orientation is two hours of orientation training regarding the long-term care worker's role and the applicable terms of employment. Individuals required to complete the 70-hour home care aide basic training must complete long-term care worker orientation…

(1) For long-term care worker orientation required of those individuals identified in WAC 388-71-0860, long-term care worker orientation is a two hour training that must include introductory information in the following areas:(a) The care setting and the characteristics and speci…

(1) Safety training is part of the long-term care worker requirements. It is a three-hour training that must meet the requirements as described in WAC 388-71-0855, and includes basic safety precautions, emergency procedures, and infection control. Safety training must be complete…

Safety training consists of introductory information in the following areas:(1) Safety planning and accident prevention, including but not limited to:(a) Proper body mechanics;(b) Fall prevention;(c) Fire safety;(d) In-home hazards;(e) Long-term care worker safety; and(f) Emergen…

Unless exempted in WAC 388-71-0839, all long-term care workers must complete orientation and safety training prior to providing care to a client.[Statutory Authority: RCW 74.08.090, 74.39A.009, 74.39A.070, 74.39A.074, 74.39A.076, 74.39A.341, 18.88B.010, 18.88B.021, and 18.88B.041…

(1) The 70-hour home care aide basic training is in addition to orientation and safety training. It is 70 hours and includes:(a) The core competencies and skills that long-term care workers need in order to provide personal care services effectively and safely;(b) Practice and de…

(1) A training program offering remote skills training must meet the following minimum requirements:(a) Provide students with:(i) The opportunity to practice, review, and receive coaching for every skill;(ii) Virtual classroom demonstrations or videos of each skill;(iii) Access t…

Unless exempt from training in WAC 388-71-0839(1) through (7), long-term care workers required to complete the 70-hour basic training must complete core and population specific competencies within 120 days of the date of hire as described in WAC 388-71-0837.[Statutory Authority: …

Unless exempt from the basic training requirements under WAC 388-71-0839, the following individuals must complete the 30-hour basic training under WAC 388-71-0885 within 120 days of the date of hire as described in WAC 388-71-0837:(1) A long-term care worker who only cares for th…

The thirty hour training is a subset of the seventy hour basic training that must include core and population specific basic training. Topics completed in the subset must be on topics relevant to the care needs of the client(s). There is no challenge test for the thirty hour trai…

(1) The following long-term care (LTC) workers must complete 70 hours of basic training and become a certified home care aide under WAC 388-71-0523:(a) An individual provider (IP) who previously provided no more than 20 hours of nonrespite care in any calendar month for one unrel…

Unless exempt from the basic training requirements as defined in WAC 388-71-0839, a parent, including when related by marriage or domestic partnership, who is the LTC worker providing in-home care only for the provider's developmentally disabled adult child receiving services und…

(1) Unless exempt from the basic training requirements under WAC 388-71-0839, a long-term care (LTC) worker working as an individual provider must complete orientation and safety training and nine hours of training within 120 days of the date of hire as described in WAC 388-71-08…

(1) The twelve hour parent provider training must include five hours of orientation and safety training as described in WAC 388-71-0841 and 388-71-0850. The remaining seven hours will cover the following topics:(a) Medicaid personal care;(b) Assessments completed by the division …

Effective July 1, 2026, a spouse or registered domestic partner who is a long-term care worker only for a spouse or domestic partner must complete 21 hours of basic training.[Statutory Authority: RCW 74.08.090, 74.39A.009, 74.39A.070, 74.39A.074, 74.39A.076, 74.39A.341, 18.88B.01…

The 21-hours of basic training must include:(1) Five hours of orientation and safety training to be completed prior to providing care;(2) Ten hours of basic training taken from WAC 388-71-0906; and(3) At least six hours of additional focused training based on the care-receiving s…

Basic training must include all of the competencies under WAC 388-71-0911 for the following topics:(1) Communication skills;(2) Long-term care worker self-care;(3) Problem solving;(4) Client rights and maintaining dignity;(5) Abuse, abandonment, neglect, financial exploitation, a…

Home care aide basic training includes core competencies that describe the behavior and skills that a long-term care worker must exhibit when working with clients and the learning objectives associated with each competency as follows:(1) Communicate effectively and in a respectfu…

(1) Population specific basic training is training on topics unique to the care needs of the population that the home or provider serves. Topics may include but are not limited to:(a) Dementia;(b) Mental health;(c) Developmental disabilities;(d) Young adults with physical disabil…

(1) Effective July 1, 2012, on-the-job training is a method of training where the long-term care worker successfully demonstrates in the 70-hour home care aide basic training, the core competencies for personal care or infection control skills while working with a client on the j…

(1) Nurse delegation core training is required before certified or registered nursing assistants or certified home care aides being may be delegated a nursing task. (2) DSHS approves instructors for nurse delegation core training.[Statutory Authority: RCW 18.20.270, 70.128.230, 7…

(1) Nurse delegation specialized diabetes training is the required course for nursing assistants, certified or registered, and certified home care aides who will be delegated the task of insulin injections.(2) DSHS approves the instructors for the nurse delegation specialized dia…

(1) Before performing any delegated nursing task, long-term care workers must:(a) Successfully complete the DSHS designated nurse delegation core training, "nurse delegation for nursing assistants & home care aides";(b) Be one or more of the following:(i) Certified home care aide…

Nurse delegation core and specialized diabetes training may be required in the same year as basic training if delegated tasks need to be performed. If completed within one hundred and twenty days of hire, the nurse delegation core and specialized diabetes training hours may be ap…

Passing the DSHS competency test is required for successful completion of nurse delegation core training and specialized diabetes training, as provided in WAC 388-71-1106 through 388-71-1130.[Statutory Authority: RCW 74.08.090, 74.09.520. WSR 13-02-023, § 388-71-0956, filed 12/20…

There is no challenge test for nurse delegation core or specialized diabetes training.[Statutory Authority: RCW 18.20.270, 70.128.230, 74.08.090, 74.39A.070, and 74.39A.074. WSR 23-01-022, § 388-71-0958 , filed 12/9/22, effective 1/9/23.]

Only the DSHS developed curriculum for nurse delegation entitled, "nurse delegation for nursing assistants & home care aides," meets the training requirement for nurse delegation core training.[Statutory Authority: RCW 18.20.270, 70.128.230, 74.08.090, 74.39A.070, and 74.39A.074.…

Nurse delegation specialized diabetes training consists of three modules on diabetes, insulin, and injections. Only the curriculum developed by DSHS, "nurse delegation for nursing assistants: special focus on diabetes," may be used for the nurse delegation specialized diabetes tr…

(1) Orientation, safety, basic training, including core and population specific, the 30-hour training, the seven-hour parent provider training, on-the-job training, continuing education, nurse delegation core and specialized diabetes training, specialty and expanded specialty tra…

Before hiring a LTC worker, the home care agency, as defined under RCW 74.39A.009; or the consumer directed employer (CDE) under chapter 74.39A RCW; must review and verify the highest level of training or certification achieved by the individual.(1) When the individual is a home …

(1) Successful completion of the 70-hour home care aide basic training, the two hours of orientation, and the three hours of safety training (referred to collectively as the 75 hours of training) must be documented on a DSHS approved 75-hour training certificate, transcript, or p…

In order to be authorized to provide department paid in-home services, all long-term care workers must obtain home care aide certification as provided in chapter 246-980 WAC unless exempt for the 70-hour basic training as described in WAC 388-71-0875.[Statutory Authority: RCW 18.…

(1) If an individual is required to or chooses to become a certified home care aide and completes the 70-hour training requirements under this section, the individual will be required to continue to comply with these requirements to maintain the credential and complete continuing…

(1) If an individual has previously worked as a LTC worker, but did not complete the training or certification requirements under RCW 18.88B.041, 74.39A.074, and 74.39A.076, and this chapter, a home care agency or consumer directed employer must not employ the individual to work …

The department is authorized under RCW 74.39A.086 to take enforcement action for noncompliance related to training and certification requirements.[Statutory Authority: RCW 74.08.090, 74.09.520, 43.43.832, 74.39A.270, 74.39A.056, 74.39A.074, 43.20A.710, 74.39A.525, 43.43.842, 74.3…

(1) Continuing education is annual training designed to promote professional development and increase a person's knowledge, expertise, and skills. DSHS must approve continuing education curricula and instructors.(2) Continuing education courses may be repeated for credit, however…

(1) All LTC workers who are certified home care aides must comply with the continuing education requirements under chapter 246-980 WAC.(2) LTC workers, who are exempt from home care aide certification as described in RCW 18.88B.041, unless exempt from continuing education as desc…

(1) Until January 1, 2025, continuing education is not required for individual providers caring for only the provider's:(a) Biological, step, or adoptive child, or(b) Sibling, aunt, uncle, cousin, niece, nephew, grandparent, or grandchild, including when related by marriage or do…

(1) If a training entity modifies a department developed curricula in any manner, the training entity must submit the curriculum to the department for approval.(2) Training must not be offered before receiving department curriculum and instructor approval.(3) Online classes when …

To obtain the department's approval of the curriculum for the 70-hour core basic training, the 30-hour basic training, the seven-hour parent provider training, and continuing education, applicants must adhere to the following steps and requirements:(1) Prior to submission:(a) For…

The training entity is responsible for:(1) Coordinating and teaching classes;(2) Assuring that the curriculum used is DSHS-approved and taught as designed;(3) Selecting qualified guest speakers, where applicable;(4) Establishing a method whereby the long-term care worker can rece…