Covid-19 Update

Dear Members,  
The state has implemented a job matching portal designed to connect assisted living residences and skilled nursing facilities with COVID-19 Response Trained nursing students. These students can provide direct care as well as serve as a valuable onsite resource for infection prevention and control. The portal is also set up to address other staffing concerns.
Please see the full update below:
April 9 th , 2020   Dear Nursing Home Administrators and Assisted Living Residence Executive Directors,   The Commonwealth has developed a job matching portal through which you can employ nursing students currently in the third or fourth year of a BSN program, final semester Associates Degree RN or in the final semester of an LPN program to assist in COVID-19 response.   We have attached a sample job description, with the recommended title Patient/Resident Care Technician, should you wish to employ nursing students. A portal has been developed to match students to your staffing request https://covid19ltc.umassmed.edu/ .
Students referred to you will have gone through a COVID Response Prep course, which is a 4-hour training program that covers COVID-19 disease course, mechanisms of transmission, infection prevention and control, proper donning, doffing, and conservation of PPE. In addition to providing direct care, Patient Care Technicians will be trained with skills to serve as an onsite resource for infection prevention and control. This portal also serves as a location for you to make other staffing requests, such as licensed nurses, physical or occupational therapists, social workers, and activity therapists. We will rely on you, as the employer, to complete other state or federal pre-employment requirements.  
We are grateful to a workgroup comprised of nurse educators at UMass Boston, physicians and nurse administrators from hospital systems, nursing home operators, logistics experts and engineers at Northeastern University, and state administrators and staff representing the Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Health Professions Licensure as well as staff from the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, Executive Office of Health and Human Services, and the Health Care Collaborative. This group has worked exceedingly hard over the course of the past 10 days to enable this pathway to support the Commonwealth’s COVID-19 response.    
Sincerely,  
Elizabeth C. Chen, PhD, MBA, MPH Secretary    
Please contact us if you have any questions at,
 MassALA@mass-ala.org    

*The information provided in this COVID 19 update is solely for general informational purposes to assist in understanding the evolving guidance regarding the current COVID 19 public health threat. It is not intended to be a primary public health or medical resource, but is provided as a clearinghouse for or compilation of various guidance issued by official and related sources.