The 2020 Florida Legislature authorized nursing centers to use paid feeding assistants as long as the following federal standards (§483.60) are met. This includes:
- The feeding assistant being required to work under the supervision of a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse and call the supervisory nurse for help in an emergency.
- The feeding assistant must successfully complete a training program approved by the Agency for Health Care Administration (approved 7/23/20).
- The feeding assistant only provides dining assistance for residents who have no complicated feeding problems such as difficulty swallowing, recurrent lung aspirations and/or tube or parenteral/IV feedings.
- The facility must base resident selection on the interdisciplinary team’s assessment and the resident’s latest assessment and plan of care. Appropriateness for this program should be reflected in the comprehensive care plan.
Learn More
Watch our informative video with PFA Training Curriculum developer Robin Bleier of RB Health Partners, Inc. to learn more about Florida’s Paid Feeding Assistant (PFA) program and how to use these materials to support your facility’s workforce needs.
- Watch the Informational Video
- Download Presenter Handouts
- CMS State Operations Manual Appendix PP, Page 579, F-tag 811, Paid Feeding Assistants
PFA Program Training Curriculum
Florida Health Care Association’s Paid Feeding Assistant (PFA) Training Program is a 12-hour course (8 hours classroom training/4 hours clinical training) developed by RB Health Partners, Inc.. This PFA Training Curriculum includes a Course Outline and Program Overview, with chapters focused on training specific to the areas of:
- Regulatory Review
- Residents Rights
- Infection Control
- Communication and Interpersonal Relationship Skills
- Safety and Emergency Procedures Including Heimlich Maneuver
- Recognizing Changes in Residents that are Inconsistent with their Normal Behavior and the
- Importance of Reporting those Changes to the Supervisory Nurse
- Appropriate Responses to Resident Behavior
- Assistance with Feeding and Hydration
- Feeding Techniques
Supplemental Materials include:
- Outline of Content
- CMS S&C-07-30: Nursing Homes – Issuance of New Tag F373 (Paid Feeding Assistants) as Part of Appendix PP, State Operations Manual, Including Training Materials (8/10/07)
- Residents Rights Explained
- Definition of Terms
- List of Competencies
- Answer Key
- AHCA PFA Program Approval Form
- Certificate of Completion
