Hiring nurses in the Gulf with weak screening can present three big risks to your healthcare organization. Use these steps to completely remove those risks.
Medical facilities and healthcare foundations operating in the Gulf States encounter problems and risks while considering applications and hiring nurses, owing essentially to labor shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as more and more people aging and requiring specialized care. A report analyzing nursing home employment revealed that in spite of the risks presented, a whopping 92% of nursing homes in the country employ at least one individual with a criminal conviction on their record.
In order to prevent any accidents, protect your patients and minimize brand damage, you should employ a service provider to screen applicants prior to as well as during the employment phase.
There are a few potential risks that you can mitigate by using a background screening service to protect you and those who have been entrusted to your care.
The Three Hiring Risks You Can Face:
There are three major risks that can occur to you due to inadequate background checks:
Risk to Safety and Reputation:
A major risk that is caused by hiring a person with a criminal background is the risk that a criminal occurrence may happen again. If such an incident occurs, which thus involves a worker and representative of the healthcare facility, it will significantly damage the reputation of the facility as a dangerous place; one that is unable to protect and provide responsible care to its patients.
Compliance Risks:
Some states have already started to push new laws into legislation that demand stronger protection of patients in nursing homes by way of creating a stringent demand for applicant screening. The exact demands of these laws are different in each state, however, and thus understanding which laws and regulations affect you and your healthcare facility become important, lest a lack of compliance results in legal action and fines by the state.
Legal Risks:
Failure to comply with state regulations presents legal risks to the healthcare organization. For example, one of the bases for legal action against the healthcare organization is a “negligent hiring” claim, wherein the organization is accused of wilful negligence when hiring an employee that presents a risk due to their prior criminal offenses. Litigation is expensive, and merely trying to defend against the accusation in court may cause enough financial damage to force a healthcare organization to close.
However, there are a few simple ways to make sure you don’t fall through these cracks.
Four Ways To Close the Gap:
Fortunately, it’s not at all impossible to prevent these risks. Rather, by following and complying with a few internal policies you can significantly reduce the chance of any of the above risks affecting your organization.
Partner With A Screening Provider:
To prevent any negligence in screening processes as well as reduce the logistics burden of processing background checks for every applicant in-house, it is advisable to pass the duty to a trusted expert in the field, such as AMS Inform. An employee screening service provider can take into account your organization and its needs, and help develop a screening pipeline that can efficiently process applicants as well as employees. Checks like PSV and health license verification are a must-have:
Primary Source Verification or PSV is a must-have to confirm that the candidate being hired has a valid license and certificate to practise medicine. Additionally, a health license verification for nurses & midwives is equally necessary. These validations fall under the organization’s purview.
Establish A Policy:
As mentioned before, it is important to consider how the regulations and legislation of your state affect your organization. Come up with a plan for how to best comply with it. Work with your legal assistance, as well as the experience of your screening provider, to develop and implement an adequate policy to address compliance and follow the best practices in the field.
Involve Vendors:
Once you’ve established your compliance policy, put it into action internally as well as externally. Contact your supply and service vendors and inform them of your background screening policy, so that every worker that is employed with the healthcare organization is screened and proven to be trustworthy.
Conduct Regular Ongoing Screenings and Internal Audits:
Conduct regular screenings and audits every few months to ensure that you have a clear picture of all your applicants and employees. This will also ensure that they work and act to ensure compliance with your guidelines.
Hiring nurses for your healthcare organization in the Gulf is a difficult logistics program that requires delicate attention to detail and proposes steep punishments for failures in compliance. To address those risks, however, there are a few things you can do, which include using a service provider such as AMS Inform to conduct background screening for all your applicants and audits for your employees, as well as create a policy that ensures compliance with your region and your state.
