Nursing Services- Staff Ratio Requirements for the State of Vermont

(c) Registered Nurse.

(1) The facility must use the services of a registered nurse for at least 8 consecutive hours a day, 7 days a week.

(2) The facility must designate a registered nurse to serve as the director of nursing on a full time basis.

(3) The director of nursing may serve as a charge nurse only when the facility has an average daily occupancy of 60 or fewer residents.

(d) Staffing Levels. The facility shall maintain staffing levels adequate to met resident needs.

(1) At a minimum, nursing facilities must provide:

(i) no fewer than 3 hours of direct care per resident per day, on a weekly average, including nursing care, personal care and restorative nursing care, but not including administration or supervision of staff; and

(ii) of the three hours of direct care, no fewer than 2 hours per resident per day must be assigned to provide standard LNA care (such as personal care, assistance with ambulation, feeding, etc.) performed by LNAs or equivalent staff and not including meal preparation, physical therapy or the activities program.