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H 7938Healthcare: Licensing & Accreditation

Health and Safety - Registration of Nursing Assistants - Qualifying Language

This bill requires the state to offer the nursing assistant qualifying examination in Spanish as well as English.

Introduced70 Yea0 Nay5 Not voting
Population
Affected
15
Email Legislator
Introduced Feb 27, 2026Committee House Health & Human Services

Plain-English Summary

This legislation amends the state requirements regarding the qualifying examination for nursing assistants. Specifically, it mandates that the Department of Health must offer and administer the required competency examination in both English and Spanish. Previously, the law did not explicitly require a Spanish language option for this test. The bill maintains existing provisions regarding exemptions from the exam for certain individuals, such as those with prior experience or specific federal exemptions, as well as the fee structures for employed and unemployed applicants.

For younger readers

To become a nursing assistant, which is a job helping nurses take care of sick people, a person has to pass a big test. Right now, that test is usually just in English. This new law says that the people in charge of the test must also let people take it in Spanish if they want to. This helps people who speak Spanish show that they know how to do the job safely, even if English isn't their first language.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Nursing assistantsSpanish-speaking residentsNursing homes and healthcare facilitiesDepartment of HealthPatients
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
Amount unknown

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Promotes economic equity by removing language barriers for Spanish-speaking immigrants and residents, allowing them better access to employment and upward mobility in the healthcare sector.
  • Improves healthcare outcomes for minority communities by increasing the number of bilingual nursing assistants, thereby enhancing communication and cultural competence in patient care.
  • Addresses systemic exclusion in professional licensing by recognizing that job competency and manual skills can be demonstrated independently of English fluency.
  • Fails to include other significant non-English speaking populations in Rhode Island, such as Portuguese or Cape Verdean Creole speakers, creating a hierarchy of language access rather than universal inclusivity.
  • Does not address the potential exploitation of non-English speaking workers who may still face lower wages or poor working conditions despite obtaining certification.
  • May inadvertently reduce the pressure on employers to provide paid English as a Second Language (ESL) training, which is crucial for broader societal integration and worker empowerment beyond the exam.
For Conservatives
  • Increases the labor supply for nursing homes and healthcare facilities by tapping into a wider pool of qualified workers, potentially stabilizing the private healthcare market.
  • Encourages self-reliance and work over welfare by assisting legal immigrants and residents in obtaining gainful employment and becoming taxpaying citizens.
  • Maintains merit-based standards by ensuring that applicants must still pass the rigorous qualifying examination and demonstrate skills, rather than lowering the actual standards of care.
  • Disincentivizes the learning of English, potentially hindering full assimilation into American culture and society by accommodating non-English speakers in professional settings.
  • Creates potential safety risks in emergency medical situations if nursing staff cannot effectively communicate with doctors, other staff, or patients who only speak English.
  • Increases administrative burdens and costs for the state to translate, update, and administer examinations in multiple languages.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 3 additions

SECTION 1. Section 23-17.9-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-17.9 entitled "Registration of Nursing Assistants" is hereby amended to read as follows: 23-17.9-5. Qualifying examination. Nursing assistants as defined in § 23-17.9-2 who are employed or have had experience as a nursing assistant prior to the enactment of this chapter, and the effective date of the regulations promulgated in relation to this chapter, shall pass the appropriate level of examination administered by the department approved by the director in lieu of the training program. The examination shall be offered and administered in both English and Spanish. Exempt from the qualifying examination are home health aides/homemakers who have successfully passed the qualifying examination and/or successfully completed an approved home health aide/homemaker program under the provisions of chapter 17.7 of this title and the regulations promulgated in relation to that chapter. Also exempt from the qualifying examination are classes of individuals, regardless of employment setting, who are exempted from examination by federal statute or regulations and these exemptions shall be defined according to rules and regulations promulgated by the department of health. Successful completion of the qualifying examination and the provisions of this section shall be deemed satisfactory for employment as a nursing assistant. Unless exempted by rules and regulations promulgated by the department of health, each application must be submitted with a processing fee as set forth in § 23-1-54 to be paid by the employing facility or agency if the applicant has been continuously employed by the facility for six (6) months prior to the application or by another responsible party as defined in rules and regulations promulgated by the department of health consistent with federal statutory and/or regulatory requirements; but, if the applicant is unemployed, to be submitted by the applicant. If the applicant shall be continuously employed by the same facility for six (6) months after the application, then the fee shall be directly refunded to the applicant by the facility or agency. If federal statutory or regulatory requirements mandate that the certifying agency conduct an examination of manual skills proficiency as a component of the examination process to meet minimal federal compliance, a manual skills proficiency examination may be required by rules and regulations promulgated by the department of health for all applicants not otherwise exempted from the examination requirements. If a manual skills proficiency examination is required to be conducted by the certifying agency as a component of the certifying examination, each application shall be accompanied by a fee as set forth in § 23-1-54 to be paid by the employing facility or agency if the applicant has been continuously employed by the facility for six (6) months prior to the application or by another responsible party as defined in rules and regulations promulgated by the department of health consistent with federal statutory and/or regulatory requirements; but, if the applicant is unemployed, to be submitted by the applicant. If the applicant shall be continuously employed by the same facility for six (6) months after the application, then the fee shall be directly refunded on a pro rata basis between months six (6) and twelve (12) to the applicant by the facility or agency.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.