New Jersey’s existing “Safe Cam” hidden camera monitoring of private home healthcare givers is being expanded for use in nursing homes and other institutional care facilities, the state’s Attorney General’s Office has announced. Previously, New Jersey’s “hidden-camera loan program” was only available to persons wishing to use the micro-surveillance equipment in private homes to keep an eye on the treatment given to their loved ones by visiting staff. Originally launched in December 2016, the program allows members of the public to borrow the mini-cameras-valued at $300 each-and then surreptitiously install the equipment to monitor healthcare staff.
The Attorney General’s office has declined to disclose the number of cameras already given out, citing “investigatory” concerns. There are also no figures available on prosecutions or civil actions resulting from the program, but in 2016, the State Board of Nursing revoked, suspended, or otherwise disciplined 307 Certified Homemaker-Home Health Aides (CHHAs) for alleged criminal activities on or off the job. Those crimes include criminal sexual contact, assault, theft, and stolen identity. Those statistics represent a significant increase from 2015, when 207 CHHAs were disciplined, and from 2014, when nearly 140 were disciplined. While not all of the alleged crimes were committed against patients, they indicate a rise in dangerous behaviors that could put patients at risk.
Currently, under New Jersey law, a nursing home is free to establish policies regarding the placement of video surveillance cameras in resident rooms by the resident and/or their legal representative. Unlike other states such as Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Washington and Illinois who haven enacted legislation permitting video cameras to be installed in nursing home residents’ rooms, New Jersey does not have such a law although one has been proposed and is being considered. Thus, in the absence of federal and state legislation, a nursing home may create its own policy regarding video cameras. Most nursing homes have policies requiring the resident and/or legal representative to obtain prior permission from the nursing home and authorization from the roommate(s) of the resident. Additionally, acceptable policy is to require that the resident/designated legal representative post a notice outside the door of the room alerting all who enter that they may be videotaped. It should be noted that notice of video surveillance does not provide staff with the opportunity to deny requisite care.
* In addition to the expanded CCTV program, the New Jersey State Division of Consumer Affairs is also eliminating rules that allowed new CHHA workers to start working inside the homes of patients pending the results of their criminal history background checks. CHHAs must now be fully vetted and certified by the Board before caring for patients.
