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Home care staff requirements in Alaska

Alaska licenses home health agencies; the rules reviewed here cover those agencies, not non-medical home care. Home health aides must be certified nurse aides, have a valid fingerprint-based state background check, get orientation within two weeks, pass a competency evaluation before patient care, and get 12 hours of in-service training each year. Baseline TB screening must happen before the first day of work, and CPR training is required every two years.

Licenses

• Home health agencies are facilities licensed under AS 47.32 and must follow 7 AAC 12.500 to 7 AAC 12.590 (7 AAC 12.600(a), (f)).
• A home health agency is an entity primarily engaged in providing skilled nursing and at least one other listed service (7 AAC 12.590(9)).

Background checks

• Home health aides must have a valid criminal history check under Alaska's background check law and rules, unless a variance is granted (7 AAC 12.519(a)(1)(C)).
• The provider must request a background check, including one set of fingerprints, for each employee or contractor with regular contact with recipients, and it must be completed before hiring unless the state issues a provisional valid check (7 AAC 10.900(b)(3); 7 AAC 10.910(a)(3), (b)(3)).
• The state screens each request against the certified nurse aide registry, the Alaska sex offender registry, the federal OIG List of Excluded Individuals and Entities, and other relevant registries, and reviews state and FBI criminal records (7 AAC 10.915(a)-(b)).
• A provisional valid background check lasts 90 days, and fingerprints must be submitted within 30 days or it is revoked (7 AAC 10.920(a)-(c)).
• Providers must keep monitoring that associated individuals continue to meet background check requirements (7 AAC 10.925(a)).
• Home health aides must not be listed on the nurse aide registry for abuse, neglect or misappropriation of property (7 AAC 12.519(a)(1)(B)).
• Agencies must screen job candidates to avoid hiring anyone convicted of abuse, neglect, mistreatment or misappropriation of patient property (7 AAC 12.541(b)(1)).

Training and competency

• Home health aides must be nurse aides certified by the Alaska Board of Nursing (7 AAC 12.519(a)(1)(A)).
• The agency must give and document aide orientation within two weeks of hire, covering laws and policies, aide duties, roles of other staff, coordination of services, and ethics and confidentiality (7 AAC 12.519(c)).
• Before caring for patients, each aide must be evaluated for competency in the listed basic skills (7 AAC 12.519(f)).
• Each home health aide must receive 12 hours of in-service training each calendar year (7 AAC 12.519(e)).
• All new employees must get orientation, and all staff annual in-service, on policies, job skills, safety hazards, infection control, and ethics and confidentiality (7 AAC 12.565(b)).
• At least every two years, patient care staff must be trained on universal precautions and on HIV, AIDS, hepatitis and tuberculosis (7 AAC 12.566(b)).

Health screening

• The agency's employee health program must provide TB screening and testing following CDC guidance for health care personnel, with baseline screening before a new employee's first day (7 AAC 12.571; 7 AAC 12.650(a)(1)).
• The employee health program rule also requires evidence of hepatitis B immunization; home health agencies are exempted only from the rubella item (7 AAC 12.650(a)(3), (b)).

Also in the personnel file

• Employees who work directly with patients must have CPR training every two years (7 AAC 12.565(c)).
• Agencies must evaluate each employee's performance every year (7 AAC 12.565(d)).
• A registered nurse or therapist must make a supervisory visit at least every two weeks and directly observe each aide's in-home work at least every three months (7 AAC 12.519(d)).

Common questions

Some rules for Alaska weren't confirmed from an official source. Check with the state before relying on this page.

Sources

• 7 AAC 12.500-12.590, Home Health Agencies (Alaska Legislature, official)
• 7 AAC 12.600, Scope (Alaska Legislature, official)
• 7 AAC 12.650, Employee health program (Alaska Legislature, official)
• 7 AAC 10.900-10.990, Barrier crimes and background checks (Alaska Legislature, official)

This page summarizes state licensing rules in plain words, with links to the rules themselves. It is not legal advice, rules change, and your license type decides what applies: check the linked source and your licensing agency. Medicare-certified home health agencies also follow 42 CFR 484.80. Checked October 2026.

More for Alaska

Alaska background check laws · Alaska drug testing laws · Medicare home health aide rules · All states

Nearby states

Washington home care staff requirements