CMS to End Blanket Waivers Related to Texas Temporary Nurse Aides on May 11

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has indicated that the blanket waiver (PDF), allowing temporary nurse aides to work for longer than four months without completing their Nurse Aide Training and Competency Evaluation Program (NATCEP) or Competency Evaluation Program (CEP), will end May 11, 2023. Previously, CMS had indicated that the temporary nurse aid waiver would end on April 5, 2023.

All nursing aide training emergency waivers for states and facilities will end at the end of the Public Health Emergency (PHE), which will end on May 11, 2023. This means that facilities will have until September 10, 2023, to have all nurse aides who are hired prior to the end of the PHE complete a state-approved NATCEP/CEP. Nurse aides hired after the end of the PHE will have up to four months from their date of hire to complete a state-approved NATCEP/CEP.

Refer to PL 2023-05 (PDF) and PL 2021-19 (PDF) for additional information.