Director of Nurses Requirements for the State of Wyoming

Section 9. Nursing Services. The facility shall have sufficient nursing staff to meet the needs of the residents.

(a) Director of Nursing Services. The facility shall designate a Registered Nurse to be a full-time director of nursing services, and he/she shall have experience in areas such as nursing service administration, rehabilitation nursing, psychiatric or geriatric nursing. The director of nursing services shall be responsible for:

(i) Developing policies and procedures for the nursing department, participating in the implementation of resident care policies and bringing patient care problems requiring changes in policy to the attention of the administrator.

(ii) Recommending to the administrator the number and levels of nursing personnel to be employed, participating in their recruitment and selection, and recommending termination of employment when necessary.

(iii) Staffing, assigning, supervising and evaluating the performance of all levels of nursing personnel.

(iv) Participating in planning and budgeting for nursing service.

(v) Establishing written procedures to ensure that nursing personnel, for whom licensure or certification is required, have a valid and current license or certification to practice in Wyoming. Documentation shall be by a photostatic copy of each license or certificate.

(vi) Insuring daily nursing rounds are conducted to ensure each resident receives adequate care to meet his/her needs.

(h) Director of Nursing.

(i) Hospital - Nursing Wings.

(A) A nursing wing with a total occupancy of sixty (60) residents or less shall be allowed to share the director of nursing with the hospital.

(I) The director of nursing shall not act in a charge nurse capacity except on rare occasions with extraordinary circumstances.

(ii) A nursing wing with a total occupancy of over sixty (60) residents shall be allowed to share the director of nursing with the hospital.

(A) An assistant or supervisor shall be employed for the nursing wing and shall not function as a charge nurse except on rare occasions with extraordinary circumstances. The assistant or supervisor shall be responsible to the hospital director of nursing.

(iii) Free-standing Nursing Care Facilities.

(A) The director of nursing shall not function as a charge nurse, in facilities over sixty (60) beds except in rare instances with extraordinary circumstances.