Failure to Complete Pre-Employment Nurse Aide Registry Checks
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure that Nurse Aide Registry Checks were completed prior to hire for four out of five sampled staff members, as required by facility policy and state regulations. Specifically, the employee files for a nurse aide, a medication aide, an LPN, and a hospitality aide either contained registry checks completed months after their hire dates or lacked documentation of the checks entirely. In each case, the staff members had already begun working and had completed initial orientation training before the registry checks were performed or documented. Interviews with the Facility Administrator confirmed that the expectation was for these checks to be completed before employment began, and acknowledged that this requirement was not met for the identified staff. Observations showed these staff members actively providing care or assistance to residents during the survey period. For example, the nurse aide was observed exiting a resident's room, the medication aide was assisting a resident at the medication cart, and the hospitality aide was helping residents access the courtyard. The lack of timely registry checks meant that the facility could not verify whether these staff had any findings of abuse, neglect, or misappropriation of property prior to their employment, contrary to the facility's written policies and procedures.