Targeted COVID-19 Training for Frontline Nursing Home Staff & Management

On August 25, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a national nursing home training program for frontline nursing home staff and nursing home management.  The “Targeted COVID-19 Training for Frontline Nursing Home Staff & Management” is available immediately, with five (5) specific modules designed for frontline clinical staff and ten (10) designed for nursing home management.  The training is available on CMS’s Quality, Safety & Education Portal.

Please note, this training is separate and distinct from Project ECHO, more about which can be found here, which is specifically tied to CARES Act funding.

The training for frontline staff, called “CMS Targeted COVID-19 Training for Frontline Nursing Home Staff,” covers the following:

• Module 1: Hand Hygiene and PPE
• Module 2: Screening and Surveillance
• Module 3: Cleaning the Nursing Home
• Module 4: Cohorting
• Module 5: Caring for Residents with Dementia in a Pandemic

The training for management, called “CMS Targeted COVID-19 Training for Nursing Home Management,” covers the following:

• Module 1: Hand Hygiene and PPE
• Module 2: Screening and Surveillance
• Module 3: Cleaning the Nursing Home
• Module 4: Cohorting
• Module 5: Caring for Residents with Dementia in a Pandemic
• Module 6: Basic Infection Control
• Module 7: Emergency Preparedness and Surge Capacity
• Module 8: Addressing Emotional Health of Residents and Staff
• Module 9: Telehealth for Nursing Homes
• Module 10: Getting Your Vaccine Delivery System Ready

To ensure nursing homes are aware of the training and availing themselves of it, CMS is directing Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) to include the training in the action plans that QIOs develop in collaboration with each nursing home they assist.  This will help ensure that nursing homes are building the training into their existing quality improvement efforts.