Has the RCFE license changed due to the CoronaVirus pandemic?
As of the writing of this article in the second quarter of 2020, the answer to that question is: no. The RCFE license has not changed, but we can hope that some of the requirements in the future will. Why do you ask? Well, it’s really simple. If you recall the big MRSA scare, as this superbug changed the landscape of nursing home care facilities by adding many additional mandates for bacteria control, the state of California instituted many new guidelines.
So you can expect that as authorities get the CoronaVirus under control and figure out how best to protect our seniors living in residential care facilities, there will be even more rules and regulations. In addition, it is expected that the staff, nurses, and administrators of residential care facilities are aware of these regulations, and that each facility will need to have a specific plan for the outbreak of any virus or pandemic disease in the future.
How soon will these new requirements emerge? We can’t say for sure, only that they are unavoidable and we look forward to them sooner rather than later. After all, at no other time has our country experienced a pandemic like this in our modern age. It has shaken America to the core and the nursing home industry to its knees. The industry works hard to share best management practices and that is a lot of what must be known to obtain an RCFE license.
No doubt, new protocols will be implemented in each RCFE in the state of California. And since the state of California is always at the forefront of best possible management practices to ensure our seniors are cared for, you can rest assured that the rest of the country will not be left behind in requiring much of the same. if not the exact rules and regulations stipulated in the next guidelines.
RCFE licenses will soon come with stipulations, regulations, rules, and new requirements that must be followed, and state regulators will audit paperwork associated with stiff fines or potential facility closures that they don’t comply with in a timely manner. This will happen because it must, because we are all in this together and we do not want to lose any more lives to this or any future pandemic.
It is always important to have a radar on the horizon and our industry does, it will soon be time to implement these new procedural changes to continue our important work in residential care facilities for the elderly.