Governor Gregoire Signs Career Pathway Bill

Wednesday, March 24

Governor Chris Gregoire signed legislation yesterday - SB 6582 - creating a career pathway for home care workers, making it easier for them to move into other high-demand healthcare fields.

According to the language in the bill, “Certified Home Care Aides and medical assistants are a valuable potential source of nursing assistants who will be needed to meet the care needs of the state’s growing aging population.”

The legislation recognizes prior training in home care if a home care worker wants to become a Certified Nursing Assistant. Currently home care workers have to start over with training when trying to become a CNA – despite the fact that home care workers do similar work. Under the new law, if a caregiver has gone through the new 75-hour home care worker training and passed the certification test (which goes into effect in 2011), they would only need another 24 hours of training to also become a CNA.

Although long-term care is facing significant budget cuts, home care workers still have reason to be optimistic about their future in long-term care.

Click below to watch the video of the bill signing and comments from caregivers.

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