Elder Law

Temp Firms have become a Magnet for Unfit Nurses

By Levin & Perconti

Firms that supply temporary nurses to the nation?s hospitals are taking perilous shortcuts in their screening and supervision, which is putting seriously ill patients in the hands of incompetent caregivers. There is a chronic nursing shortage which makes nursing homes look towards temp agencies for help. However, these agencies have become havens for nurses who hopscotch from place to place to avoid the consequences of their misconduct. The agencies have skimped on background checks or ignored warnings from hospitals about sub-par nurses on their payrolls. Fill-in nurses have histories of falling asleep on the job, failed to perform critical texts and stolen drugs from the nursing home. Sometimes the nurses lie on their application. Studies have found that nursing homes with high staff turnover are more likely to have nursing home negligence. To read more about the temp nursing agencies, please click the link.

Full post as published by Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog on December 09, 2009 (boomark / email).