California surveyors substantiated a complaint for a California senior living center where a caregiver was videoed hitting an elderly resident who was diagnosed with dementia. Another caregiver at the facility had been determined to be ineligible to work as a caregiver by the California Department of Social Services (DSS) in March 2020.
According to a Sacramento news release, the resident was only at the facility for four days when family members noticed bruising on her thigh. She had been an evacuee from her home and was displaced due to extensive wild fires in the area. The resident’s granddaughter hid a camera inside a DVD player in her grandmother’s room after seeing the bruise.
When the granddaughter played the video, she saw a caregiver striking her grandmother and pulling her hair. She called the facility and asked who was taking care of her grandmother on the evening the video was made.
On September 30, 2021, California surveyors visited the senior living center to substantiate the allegations of abuse, which were seen on the video. The surveyors fined the senior living center for the resident sustaining a serious bodily injury while in their care.
A second worker who was also in the video was not seen abusing the resident, but that caregiver failed to report the alleged abuse to supervisors. Additionally, a review by surveyors of the facility’s employee roster uncovered that one caregiver was not cleared to work at the senior living facility and had been denied an exemption to work as a caregiver by the Department of Social Services (DSS) in March 2020. The report from the investigation states, “Based on the information, the facility allowed an individual to be employed and work with residents at the facility without being criminally record cleared.”
In a statement on September 24, 2021, the facility spokesperson stated, “Our company has thorough employment standards in place, including background checks, and ongoing training of employees in compliance with state rules and regulations.”
Issue:
Healthcare facility employment necessitates extensive background checks on all employees. The background checks should be comprehensive to ensure that each potential employee is qualified and permitted work in a healthcare facility. Before an employee is officially hired into a position, a criminal and sex offender status search must be completed, with the individual cleared in the databases. Additionally, an identification verification check, drug screening, past employment, education verification, and federal exclusion list must be completed according to facility policy for all employment candidates. Positions that necessitate current certifications or licenses require verification of that status. After hire, it is essential that the data bases are repeatedly monitored to ensure that no current employee has recently been placed on an exclusion list. Routine monitoring will ensure that employees are legally permitted to practice in your healthcare facility.
Discussion Points:
- Review your policies and procedures on preemployment and repeated monitoring of employee checks. Update your policies as needed.
- Train appropriate staff on your policy and procedures for employee checks. Document that the trainings occurred and file the signed document in each employee’s individual education file
- Periodically audit to ensure that all preemployment and continued employment checks have been completed and that monitoring is ongoing.
