The Office of Inspector General found that many long-term care administrators are not compliant with federal regulations when it comes to hiring potential nurse aides.
Some findings: More than half (55%) of long-term care administrators check only their state’s nurse aide registries. Federal requirements call for long-term care facilities to check other state registries that might include information on a potential nurse aide.
Also, 17% of long-term care facilities employed nurse aides without required registrations. Facilities should wait no more than four months after hiring aides to register them, according to the OIG.
The OIG recommended that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services communicate the federal rules regarding hiring of nurse aides to long-term care facilities.
See the report at: http://www.oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-07-04-00140.pdf