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CMS: Training Program to Strengthen Nursing Home Infection Control Practices

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is implementing a nursing home training program to equip front-line caregivers and their management with best practices to stop the spread of COVID-19.

The training will be available immediately to the staff of America’s 15,400 Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes. Training will focus on critical topics like infection control and prevention, appropriate screening of visitors, effective cohorting of residents, safe admission and transfer of residents, and the proper use of personal protective equipment.

The first-of-its kind scenario-based training is called the “CMS Targeted COVID-19 Training for Frontline Nursing Home Staff and Management” and it has been designed specifically with COVID-19 in mind. The program features a tailored course that incorporates the most recent lessons learned from nursing homes and teaches front-line staff best practices they can implement to address issues related to COVID-19. The training is available now on the CMS Quality, Safety & Education Portal, with five specific modules designed for front-line clinical staff and 10 designed for nursing home management.

See the full text of this excerpted CMS press release.