Section 116.30  Master Nurse-Trainer and Nurse-Trainers

a)         The Department's Master Nurse-Trainers are designated by the DD Medical Director and shall meet the following criteria:

1)         Demonstration of competence to teach adult learners through:

A)        evidence of previous teaching or training experience; or

B)        completion of courses in teaching and instructing.

2)         Licensure as a registered professional nurse in Illinois with an unencumbered license.  

b)         All registered professional nurses seeking approval to be Nurse-Trainers to provide medication administration training to non-licensed staff shall:

1)         Be licensed as a registered professional nurse in Illinois with an unencumbered license.

2)         Possess one year of clinical registered professional nursing experience within the last five years, preferably in developmental disabilities.

3)         Have successfully completed the DHS Nurse-Trainer Training Program.

c)         Requests for approval as a Nurse-Trainer shall be submitted, in writing, to the DD Medical Director. The DD Medical Director shall approve all requests that show substantial compliance with the requirements.  Previous history as a Nurse-Trainer will be considered during the review process.  The decision to approve or deny requests shall be on file with the Department, which will maintain a list of all approved Nurse-Trainers.

d)         The DD Medical Director shall, upon request, grant conditional approval to a registered professional nurse who fulfills the requirements but has not completed the required Nurse-Trainer course of instruction. Conditional approval shall be granted for no more than 90 calendar days following the date of conditional approval. The nurse given conditional approval shall not train or authorize non-licensed staff to administer medications, but may direct and monitor, as well as educate and train, previously authorized direct care staff on new medications or dosage changes as required.

e)         The DD Medical Director shall revoke the Nurse-Trainer status if:

1)         the Nurse-Trainer's registered professional nurse license is encumbered or revoked; or

2)         the Nurse-Trainer has one or more substantiated or indicated findings or verified determinations of physical abuse, sexual abuse, egregious neglect or financial exploitation.

f)         The DD Medical Director shall revoke the Nurse-Trainer status if, in the DD Medical Director's professional judgment:

1)         the Nurse-Trainer has failed to adequately supervise authorized direct care staff in administering medications;

2)         the Nurse-Trainer has one or more findings as defined in Section 116.20 other than the types of findings listed in Section 116.30(e)(2) and those findings warrant revocation of the nurse's Nurse-Trainer status; or

3)         the Nurse-Trainer otherwise failed to carry out responsibilities in substantial compliance with this Part.

g)         If the nurse's Nurse-Trainer status is revoked, the DD Medical Director shall notify the nurse of the revocation.  The revocation letter will include the basis for the revocation, the effective date, and information about the nurse's right to appeal the revocation.

1)         A nurse who receives a revocation letter including notice of an opportunity for an administrative hearing must submit a request for a hearing to the bureau as listed in the revocation letter. The request is to be provided in one of the formats indicated in the revocation letter and must be received by the date set forth in the letter.  Failure to comply with this Section shall constitute a waiver of the person's right to an administrative hearing.  If the nurse requests an appeal:

A)        The Department shall be required to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the DD Medical Director's revocation of the nurse's Nurse Trainer status is warranted.

B)        Hearings under this Section shall be conducted in accordance with the Department's rules on the conduct of hearings and appeals (89 Ill. Adm. Code 508).  In the event there is a conflict between 89 Ill. Adm. Code 508 and this Part, the provisions of this Part shall prevail.

C)        The nurse may not function as a Nurse-Trainer during the appeal process.

2)         If the nurse does not request a hearing or if the hearing results in a decision that the DD Medical Director's revocation of the nurse's Nurse-Trainer status is warranted, the DD Medical Director shall revoke the nurse's Nurse-Trainer status and notify the nurse, and any agency known to the Department where the nurse is acting as a Nurse-Trainer, of the revocation of the nurse's Nurse-Trainer status.

(Source:  Amended at 41 Ill. Reg. 6534, effective May 26, 2017)