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Bad hiring in nursing homes has been a widespread problem for over a decade. The nursing home attorneys at Pitman, Kalkhoff, Sicula & Dentice are now investigating claims of abuse or neglect due to poor or insufficient screening of employees in caretaker roles.
Was your loved one harmed because of the hiring practices in place at their nursing home? We believe that when you choose a facility to care for your aging relative, they deserve to be kept healthy and safe.
If you suspect a lack of background checks or other deficiencies impacted the care of your loved one, you could have a claim. Get the justice you deserve by contacting our lawyers today.
According to a 1999 report from the Department of Health and Human Services, staffing crises were imminent for the past 15 years.1
Evidence from the same report points conclusively to poor hiring practices (such as a lack of nursing home background checks) as a major source of quality of care problems. Additionally, the report found there are inherent problems with certification processes that are limiting the effectiveness of federal industry standards.
In short, even though a nursing home may follow the rules, those rules still may not be strict enough to prevent problems on a national scale.
One such problem is hiring staff members or caretakers that have questionable histories. While conducting background checks could eliminate any applicants with past instances of abuse or negligence on their record, background checks are not required on a federal level. This means that each state determines whether to conduct background checks during the hiring process.
Mr. Pitman is a member of the Nursing Home Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice, the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, the Iowa Association for Justice and the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association. Mr. Pitman was President of the Wisconsin Association for Justice in 2013 and is a current member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA). He lectures extensively on nursing home abuse and neglect and has authored numerous articles in the area of personal injury litigation.
When a nursing home facility does not take adequate precautions to protect its residents from caretakers with criminal backgrounds, the injured parties have the right to sue for damages.
Once abuse is reported an investigation will follow. If it is uncovered that the nursing home behaved negligently during the hiring process, they could be liable for the trauma and suffering that was caused as a result of their actions.
A 2007 study published by the National Institute of Health (NIH) examined the correlation between quality of care in nursing homes and certain staffing characteristics (such as staffing levels, turnover, worker stability, agency staff.)2
The study concluded that these characteristics do have a huge impact on patient wellbeing, and that all characteristics should be addressed simultaneously to provide maximum improvements.
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If you are suspicious that your loved ones nursing home failed to conduct background checks or monitor staff adequately to keep patients safe, contact a nursing home abuse attorney today.
As the largest nursing home abuse law firm in Wisconsin, Pitman, Kalkhoff, Sicula & Dentice believes that every patient has the right to safety and security in their residence. If your loved one has been abused, mistreated, or neglected, contact our firm for a FREE consultation of your claim today.
Our team helps clients and their families obtain financial restitution for their pain, suffering, financial loss and medical expenses. We provide each client with extensive resources, aggressive representation, personalized attention and compassionate legal care.
Sources: 1. Quality of Care in Nursing Homes, https://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-02-99-00060.pdf, Department of Health and Human Services, Mar. 1999 2. The Influence of Staffing Characteristics on Quality of Care in Nursing Homes, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2254574/, Nicholas G. Castle and John Engberg, Oct. 2007.
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This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by attorney Jeffery A. Pitman, who has more than 28 years of legal experience and handled thousands of personal injury cases while obtaining millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and New Mexico.
