Nursing home: means any institution or facility defined as such pursuant to Tennessee state law or the rules and regulations for nursing homes promulgated by the department. See Tennessee Code 63-16-101
Nursing home administrator: means any individual responsible for planning, organizing, directing or controlling the operation of a nursing home or who in fact performs such functions, whether or not such functions are shared by one (1) or more other people. See Tennessee Code 63-16-101
Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Practice of nursing home administration: means the planning, organizing, directing or controlling the operation of a nursing home. See Tennessee Code 63-16-101
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) Each individual who is initially issued a license as a nursing home administrator is deemed registered with the board and shall be issued a certificate of registration.(2) Certificates of registration expire each odd-numbered year.(3) Each licensed nursing home administrator shall submit an application to the board for a new certificate of registration and submit, along with any information requested by the board, a biennial renewal fee as set by the board.(4) Although the license renewal is on a biennial basis, continuing education is required on an annual basis.(5) The board shall promulgate, in accordance with the procedures of the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, such rules as shall be necessary to prescribe programs of continuing education for nursing home administrators and to designate the levels of participation required in programs of continuing education. As a prerequisite for renewal of registration, an individual shall submit to the board satisfactory proof of attendance and participation in such programs.(b) Upon receipt of such application for registration and the registration fee, the board shall issue a certificate of registration to such nursing home administrator unless the board finds reason to deny the same pursuant to § 63-16-108, under the rules and regulations developed by the board.(c)(1) If a nursing home administrator fails to renew the nursing home administrator’s license and pays the biennial renewal fee after renewal becomes due, the license of such person is automatically revoked without further notice or hearing unless renewal is made and all fees are paid prior to the expiration of sixty (60) days from the date such renewal becomes due.(2) Any person whose license is automatically revoked as provided in this section may have the license reinstated by the board in its discretion upon good cause being shown, upon payment of all past due renewal fees and upon the further payment of a nonrefundable sum as set by the board.(d) Any person licensed to practice by this chapter who has retired or may hereafter retire from such practice in this state shall not be made to register as required by this chapter if such person files with the board an affidavit on a form to be furnished by the board, which affidavit states the date on which such person retired from such practice and such other facts as tend to verify such retirement as the board deems necessary. If such person thereafter reengages in such practice in this state, such person shall apply for registration with the board as provided by this chapter and shall meet other requirements as may be set by the board.(e) The commissioner of health shall notify the board of all cases in which a nursing home is sanctioned by suspension of admissions or imposition of a civil monetary penalty or in which the commissioner determines that the quality of care provided to residents is seriously inadequate due to acts or omissions of the administrator. In all such cases, the license or certificate of registration of any person who has engaged in the practice of nursing home administration at that facility during the year preceding the imposition of sanctions or the commissioner’s finding of inadequacy shall not be renewed by the board, until the board has reviewed all information compiled by regulatory agencies pertaining to the quality of care rendered at facilities under the person’s administration. Following such review, the board may renew the license or certificate of registration only upon an affirmative finding that the person can be expected to satisfactorily discharge the duties of an administrator in the future, in a manner that assures an adequate level of care for nursing home residents.(f)(1) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, the division, with the approval of the commissioner, shall establish a system of license renewals at alternative intervals that will allow for the distribution of the license workload as uniformly as is practicable throughout the calendar year. Licenses issued under the alternative method are valid for twenty-four (24) months and expire on the last day of the last month of the license period. However, during a transition period, or at any time thereafter when the board determines that the volume of work for any given interval is unduly burdensome or costly, either the licenses or renewals, or both of them, may be issued for terms of not less than six (6) months nor more than eighteen (18) months. The fee imposed for any license under the alternative interval method for a period of other than twenty-four (24) months shall be proportionate to the annual fee and modified in no other manner, except that the proportional fee shall be rounded off to the nearest quarter of a dollar (25¢).(2) No renewal application will be accepted after the last day of the month following the license expiration date under the alternative method authorized in this subsection (f).
