Failure to Verify Background Checks and Nursing Licensure
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to implement its written policies and procedures designed to prohibit and prevent abuse, neglect, and exploitation of residents, as well as misappropriation of resident property, by not determining residency status to perform accurate criminal history background checks prior to hiring. Personnel file reviews for five employees showed that while Pennsylvania State Criminal Background checks were completed, there was no documentation verifying the employees' state residency status to determine if additional or different background checks were required. Staff interviews confirmed that the facility relied on applicants to enter their own address history into a hiring database, but no one at the facility reviewed this information to ensure the correct type of background check was performed. The Human Resources Director stated that only state background checks were completed for all new hires, regardless of residency history. Additionally, the facility failed to validate and verify the licensure status for one nurse. The personnel file for this nurse included a copy of a Florida compact nursing license, but there was no documentation that the license was verified as active and in good standing, nor that it was free from allegations of abuse, neglect, exploitation, or misappropriation of resident property. The Human Resources Director indicated that licensure verification was generally handled by a corporate recruiter, but could not provide documentation that this process was completed for the nurse in question. The Executive Director and Director of Nursing confirmed that no further information was available for the employees involved.