Police arrested a Pennsylvania nursing home employee who now faces charges of reckless endangerment and nursing home neglect. The former employee, a certified nurses aide, is alleged to have covered up a 96 year-old woman’s fall at a nursing home. The CNA was supposed to be caring for the elderly woman when the patient fell. Police stated that the employee discovered what happened then covered it up, even pretending that she was fainting to get out of the nursing home. They also noted that the employee smelled of alcohol.
This nursing home abuse and neglect incident again stresses the importance of criminal background checks on nursing home employees. During this employee’s arraignment, detectives revealed that she had an extensive criminal background with a RAP sheet of 30 pages. Read the news report here.
Better ask the Administrator and Director of Nursing at your facility if they have completed a criminal background check on all employees.