I am a tech working in an acute/in hospital unit along with another tech. The tech is a dirt bag, not certified and I am. He just told me our director told him he did not have to be certified for patient care because he works in a hospital not a free standing unit. Anyone have or know where I could get clarification/documentation on this?

First of all I recommend that you talk to the manager and see if that was really what he said.
In the CMS conditions of coverage it does not show a difference between techs working acute or chronic. If your hospital gets income from CMS the techs need to be certified. You can read section V695 about need either State certification or National certification for patient care techs. There are only a few states that have their own certification.

rlb is right about acute & chronic and it looks like anyone who does direct pt care must be cert. This is in V692 and up.

appreciate the info. I am 100% certain our director stated it is not mandatory for our inpatient unit techs to be certified, also we
do not fall under CMS guidelines. What makes him and his boss think this is beyond me. Maybe
we don't get money from them. I signed up for it anyway.

Like it or not, acute dialysis facilities that do not have a certificate for providing chronic hemodialysis services, are not surveyed by CMS and do not necessarily have to comply with the ESRD Conditions for Coverage. Acute dialysis is covered under Medicare part A rather than Medicare part B and Acute units do not fall under the definition of a "Dialysis Facility" in the definitions section of the Conditions for Coverage. Like it or not, the Manager is correct.

I would get certified. I sense you are not overly happy with your manager. What would you do if another opportunity opened up, and you didn't have the required certification?

olddog you are correct. You would think everyone would be made to follow the same rules.

Just a question, I am all in favor of mandatory certification, have been CHT going on 20yrs. Since dialysis is not taught in nursing schools( my wife who is an RN had a 5 day rotation thru a unit,which is more than most have),why is my nurse not required to be a CNN? Since we are striving for better care, shouldn't it be on all levels? Most states don't even requireCEUs to renew your nursing license. Why? I agree with <Guest>, WE shuold follow the same rules.

BRUTUS,

I couldn't agree with you more! Here in Maryland, a PCT must pass a state (Board of Nursing) approved training program yet an RN doesn't need anything but their license. Our RN's go through the same training as our PCT's plus some more intense "nurse" stuff.

Chuck