(1) The program director must hold an active license in good standing as a registered nurse (RN) in the state of Washington.

(a) The commission may deny or withdraw a program director's approval if there is or has been any action taken against the director which disqualifies them from working with vulnerable populations.

(b) Directing a nursing assistant training program constitutes the practice of nursing. Any unprofessional conduct by a program director, as defined in the Uniform Disciplinary Act, chapter 18.130 RCW, may subject the program director to license discipline under that act.

(2)(a) The program director must have completed a training course on adult instruction or have demonstrated one year of experience teaching adults. Acceptable experience does not include teaching patients. A program director working exclusively in a secondary or postsecondary educational setting is exempt from this requirement.

(b) The training course on adult instruction must provide instruction in:

(i) Understanding the adult learner;

(ii) Techniques for teaching adults;

(iii) Classroom methods for teaching adults;

(iv) Audio visual techniques for teaching adults.

(3) The program director must attend an online orientation provided by the commission within 30 days of approval as program director.

(4) The program director will have a minimum of three years of experience as an RN, of which at least one year will be in direct patient care.

(5) If the program director will also be acting as an instructor, the program director must meet the requirements for instructional staff.

(6) Program director responsibilities:

(a) Implement the common curriculum as developed and described in materials provided by the commission and in accordance with the requirements of WAC 246-841A-440. The program director is responsible for all classroom and clinical training content and instruction;

(b) Ensure compliance with and assume responsibility for meeting the training program requirements of this chapter;

(c) Ensure that all student clinical training is directly supervised:

(i) For instructor-led clinical training provided by the program, direct supervision means that an approved instructor is always on-site to supervise, teach, and evaluate performance while the students are providing care.

(ii) For clinical training provided through the nursing assistant-registered work pathway described in WAC 246-841A-440(8), direct supervision means the program director requires the student to provide verifiable documentation of supervision and competency evaluation by a supervising licensed nurse prior to awarding clinical training credit. To receive clinical training credit, students must provide documentation on the verification form provided by the commission. The student must also provide evidence of at least 40 hours of work in the role of a nursing assistant;

(d) Ensure that the clinical instructor has no concurrent duties during the time he or she is instructing students;

(e) Create and maintain an environment conducive to teaching and learning;

(f) Select and supervise all instructors involved in the course, including clinical instructors and guest lecturers;

(g) Ensure the instructor(s) teaching specialty units on the topics of mental health, dementia, and developmental disabilities are approved to teach the units prior to teaching them. For the instructor to receive approval, the program director will:

(i) Verify the instructor has completed a class on adult instruction as identified in subsection (2)(b) of this section. Acceptable experience does not include teaching patients. An instructor working exclusively in a secondary or postsecondary educational setting is exempt from this requirement.

(ii) Verify the instructor(s) has completed the corresponding specialty class(es) for the unit(s) they will teach. The mental health and dementia specialty classes must be the complete curriculum approved by the department of social and health services; the developmental disabilities specialty class must be the complete curriculum provided by the developmental disabilities administration of the department of social and health services.

(iii) Submit documentation with an instructor application to the commission;

(h) Ensure teaching of specialty units on mental health, dementia, and developmental disabilities occurs only as components of the complete nursing assistant training program. Unless expressly approved by the department of social and health services to provide stand-alone specialty classes on the specialty topics, a nursing assistant training program is only authorized to provide specialty units as components of the overall nursing assistant training program;

(i) Ensure that students are not asked to, nor allowed to, perform any clinical skill with residents or clients until first demonstrating the skill satisfactorily to an instructor;

(j) Provide students with instruction regarding the nursing assistant-registered work pathway as described in WAC 246-841A-440(8), including supervision and documentation requirements;

(k) Ensure evaluation of professional knowledge, skills, and behaviors of students before verifying completion of the course;

(l) Without delay upon successful completion of course requirements:

(i) Provide students a certificate of completion on a form provided by the commission.

(ii) Provide verification of each student's eligibility to take the state exam. Verification is to be provided in accordance with the established procedure provided to program directors by the commission;

(m) Communicate directly with the commission in all matters regarding the program.

(7) The program director may select instructional staff to assist in the teaching of the course.

(a) Instructional staff must teach in their area of expertise.

(b) Instructional staff must have a minimum of:

(i) One year of verifiable paid or unpaid work experience as a licensed nurse within the past three years providing direct patient care for the elderly or chronically ill of any age; or

(ii) Three years of verifiable paid experience as a licensed nurse at any time providing direct patient care for the elderly or chronically ill of any age and verifiable paid or unpaid work experience as a licensed nurse in any role for at least one of the last three years.

(c) A clinical instructor providing care to patients with staff or students is considered a provider of direct patient care.

(d) Instructional staff must complete a training course on adult instruction as described in subsection (2)(b) of this section or have demonstrated one year of experience teaching adults. Instructional staff working exclusively in a secondary or postsecondary educational setting are exempt from this requirement.

(i) Instructional staff who will teach the specialty units of curriculum on the topics of mental health, dementia, or developmental disabilities, must also demonstrate successful completion of those courses described in (g) of this subsection prior to teaching them.

(ii) Instructional staff must hold an active Washington state license to practice as a registered or licensed practical nurse, in good standing. The commission may deny or withdraw an instructor's approval if there is or has been any action taken against the instructor which disqualifies them from working with vulnerable populations.

(iii) Instructional staff may assist the program director in development of curricula, teaching modalities, and evaluation.

(iv) Instructional staff will always be under the supervision of the program director.

(v) A guest lecturer or individual with expertise in a specific course unit may be used in the classroom setting for teaching within that unit without commission approval, following the program director's review of the currency and relevance of content in relation to unit objectives. Guest lecturers must hold a license, certificate, or registration in good standing in their field of expertise. The allowance for a guest lecturer does not apply to the specialty units of the common curriculum on the topics of mental health, dementia, or developmental disabilities. The specialty units must be taught by a program instructor specifically approved by the commission to teach the specialty units as described in subsection (6)(g) of this section.