JCAHO Nursing Requirements

In an effort to regulate the health care industry, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) as it was formerly called (now known as the Joint Commission) has issued specific nursing requirements. All health care facilities must follow these standards or risk losing their accreditation. While the Joint Commission has set down these standards, health care providers are allowed to develop their own competencies based around these standards. Competency in the health care industry is a life or death situation, and health care providers must take the standards set down by the JCAHO and use them appropriately in order to protect the health and well-being of patients.

Competency

• The main JCAHO nursing requirement is that the staff must be competent to perform their tasks. The Joint Commission recommends that nursing facilities use several different means to determine competency both during the hiring process and at reviews, including testing, role simulation and staff monitoring. In addition to proving the competency of the nursing staff, the health care provider must also provide proof that the person measuring competency of employees be fully qualified to do so. This typically means that the testing person be fully certified and have the qualifications as set down by state governing boards.

Continued Training

• In order to satisfy JCAHO nursing requirements, health care providers are encouraged to support their staff in their pursuit of knowledge by offering continued training in their fields. Whether or not the provider pays for this training is up to the individual provider, but most do offer paid training to their employees. Because the health care industry is constantly changing and new techniques and information are available on an almost daily basis, it is recommended that health care providers regularly schedule training and update sessions for their staff. In addition, the Joint Commission requires that staff be reviewed on their competency at least once every three years.

Documentation and Action

• In order to comply with JCAHO nursing requirements, staff competency must be thoroughly documented. This is particularly true in the event that a staff member proves that she is not competent. Incidents must be logged, and documentation must be provided about the action that was taken with that staff member. The Joint Commission does require health care providers to take action when a staff member is proved to be incompetent at her job. Action taken can range from a temporary suspension with training to educate the staff member or, in serious cases, even termination of the staff member.