Failure to Complete Pre-Employment Registry and Background Checks
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to implement its abuse prevention policies and procedures regarding the screening of potential employees. Specifically, personnel file reviews revealed that nurse aide registry checks were either not completed prior to employment or were missing entirely for several staff members, including an activity director, an LPN, a maintenance supervisor, a human resource manager, a business office manager, and a CNA. In several cases, the registry checks were only completed months after the staff had already been hired. The human resource manager confirmed that these checks were performed retroactively when documentation was found to be missing during a file review. Additionally, the personnel file for an LPN did not contain evidence of a required background check, as mandated by both facility policy and Ohio law. The facility's abuse prevention policy and hiring policy require that background checks and nurse aide registry verifications be completed prior to employment to ensure that applicants are not excluded from federally funded programs and do not have a history of abuse or neglect. The failure to follow these procedures affected seven out of eleven personnel files reviewed and had the potential to impact all residents in the facility.