Staff sexual abuse of nursing home residents

Cases of staff sexual abuse of nursing home patients are uncommon, but when they occur lives are destroyed, facilities’ reputations are tarnished and costly lawsuits are brought, according to Nursing Homes magazine.

Preventing sexual abuse starts with criminal background checks of prospective employees. Once a prospective hire passes the background check, a thorough interview should follow, in which the candidate is asked to respond to different scenarios to gauge how he or she would handle stressful situations. Once they’ve been hired, new employees should be taught how to handle abuse and report it anonymously.

The federal government requires nursing homes to report all allegations of abuse to state survey agencies. Beyond the notifications, nursing homes should:

* safeguard the resident and provide the medical and psychological care needed
* separate the alleged perpetrator from residents during the investigation
* immediately notify the family in a face-to-face meeting
* notify police
* consider bringing in outside counsel to help conduct the investigation