Resident abuse

Everyone knows about the laws that protect residents in long term care facilities from abuse. But LTC employees are protected by laws, too, from abuse by residents.

When an employee at an Iowa LTC facility sued for damages after losing her job for slapping a resident who had sexually abused her, awareness grew about employee rights.

Nursing Homes magazine suggests facilities take these actions to protect their employees from resident abuse:

* Create a policy prohibiting hostile environment in the workplace by residents – sexual harassment policies already on the books should be rewritten to apply to residents, with multiple avenues for complaint procedures employees can pursue
* Provide training on handling resident abuse – train employees to handle sexual harassment by residents and train managers to respond to employee harassment complaints
* Readjust supervisor attitudes toward resident abuse – managers must not believe that resident abuse is “part of the job” -- they must understand that resident behavior can constitute sexual harassment and be actionable under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other laws