Nursing Home Resident Care Addressed

As quality care for residents of nursing homes continues to be a critical issue for Texas, a number of bills have been filed for the 77th Legislative Session that address issues dealing with long-term care. Senate Bill 40 would direct the Higher Education Coordinating Board to establish a tuition assistance program for vocational nursing students attending any school or program in Texas who agree to practice in a long-term care facility in the state following their licensure as a licensed vocational nurse. If the bill passes, the board must determine the maximum amount of financial assistance available under the program, the amount of time the student must agree to practice in a long-term care facility and how soon after completion of courses required for licensure the practice must begin. House Bill 154 would increase the personal needs allowance of a resident of a nursing home or similar long-term facility to $75 per month. Last session, the allowance was raised from $30 to $45 per month. Senate Bill 177 would permit a resident or a guardian of a resident in a nursing home, upon request, to monitor the room of the resident through an electronic monitoring device. The nursing home would have to inform residents of their right of electronic monitoring and make reasonable physical accommodation for electronic monitoring. However, this video or audio surveillance would have to be paid for by the resident. Furthermore, any monitoring would have to protect the privacy rights of other residents and visitors of the nursing home and would have to be done in plain view. A notice would have to be posted on the door of the resident whose room is electronically monitored. Any recording made through the use of electronic monitoring provided by this legislation would be admissible as evidence in a civil or criminal court action or administrative hearing. A nursing home would not be able to refuse admission to or remove an existing resident from a room based upon the resident's request for electronic monitoring. I would appreciate your input on these proposed bills. Please write my Capitol office at P. O. Box 2910,Austin,TX 78768 or email to ron.clark@house.state.tx.us. My staff and I would like to wish you a Happy New Year. State Representative Ron Clark P.O. Box 2910 Austin, TX 78768-2910 (903) 893-9426 * (512) 463-0474 (512) 475-3767 (fax) ron.clark@house.state.tx.us http://www.grayson.edu/district62/RonClark.html