90-171.55. Nurses Aides Registry.

(a) The Board of Nursing, established pursuant to G.S. 90-171.21, shall establish a Nurses Aides Registry for persons functioning as nurses aides regardless of title. The Board shall consider those Level I nurses aides employed in State licensed or Medicare/Medicaid certified nursing facilities who meet applicable State and federal registry requirements as adopted by the North Carolina Medical Care Commission as having fulfilled the training and registry requirements of the Board. The Board may not charge an annual fee to a nurse aide I registry applicant. The Board may charge an annual fee of twelve dollars ($12.00) for each nurse aide II registry applicant. The Board shall adopt rules to ensure that whenever possible, the fee is collected through the employer or prospective employer of the registry applicant. Fees collected may be used by the Board in administering the registry. The Board's authority granted by this Article shall not conflict with the authority of the Medical Care Commission.

(b) (1) Each nurses aide training program, except for those operated by (i) institutions under the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina, (ii) institutions of the North Carolina Community College System, (iii) public high schools, and (iv) hospital authorities acting pursuant to G.S. 131E-23(31), shall provide a guaranty bond unless the program has already provided a bond or an alternative to a bond under G.S. 115D-95. The Board of Nursing may revoke the approval of a program that fails to maintain a bond or an alternative to a bond pursuant to this subsection or G.S. 115D-95.

(2) When application is made for approval or renewal of approval, the applicant shall file a guaranty bond with the clerk of the superior court of the county in which the program will be located. The bond shall be in favor of the students. The bond shall be executed by the applicant as principal and by a bonding company authorized to do business in this State. The bond shall be conditioned to provide indemnification to any student, or his parent or guardian, who has suffered a loss of tuition or any fees by reason of the failure of the program to offer or complete student instruction, academic services, or other goods and services related to course enrollment for any reason, including the suspension, revocation, or nonrenewal of a program's approval, bankruptcy, foreclosure, or the program ceasing to operate.

The bond shall be in an amount determined by the Board to be adequate to provide indemnification to any student, or his parent or guardian, under the terms of the bond. The bond amount for a program shall be at least equal to the maximum amount of prepaid tuition held at any time during the last fiscal year by the program. The bond amount shall also be at least ten thousand dollars ($10,000).

Each application for a license shall include a letter signed by an authorized representative of the program showing in detail the calculations made and the method of computing the amount of the bond pursuant to this subdivision and the rules of the Board. If the Board finds that the calculations made and the method of computing the amount of the bond are inaccurate or that the amount of the bond is otherwise inadequate to provide indemnification under the terms of the bond, the Board may require the applicant to provide an additional bond.

The bond shall remain in force and effect until cancelled by the guarantor. The guarantor may cancel the bond upon 30 days notice to the Board. Cancellation of the bond shall not affect any liability incurred or accrued prior to the termination of the notice period.

(3) An applicant that is unable to secure a bond may seek a waiver of the guaranty bond from the Board and approval of one of the guaranty bond alternatives set forth in this subdivision. With the approval of the Board, an applicant may file with the clerk of the superior court of the county in which the program will be located, in lieu of a bond:

a. An assignment of a savings account in an amount equal to the bond required (i) that is in a form acceptable to the Board; (ii) that is executed by the applicant; (iii) that is executed by a federally insured depository institution or a trust institution authorized to do business in this State; and (iv) for which access to the account in favor of the State of North Carolina is subject to the same conditions as for a bond in subdivision (2) of this subsection.

b. A certificate of deposit (i) that is executed by a federally insured depository institution or a trust institution authorized to do business in this State (ii) that is either payable to the State of North Carolina, unrestrictively endorsed to the Board; in the case of a negotiable certificate of deposit, is unrestrictively endorsed to the Board; or in the case of a nonnegotiable certificate of deposit, is assigned to the Board in a form satisfactory to the Board; and (iii) for which access to the certificate of deposit in favor of the State of North Carolina is subject to the same conditions as for a bond in subdivision (2) of this subsection.