Can a Nursing Home in Van Zandt, TX Employ a Person if They Have a Criminal History?

When moving a loved one into a nursing home, you want to choose a facility that is clean, well-kept, and most importantly, employs qualified and caring staff to provide assistance to the residents living there. Not only should the staff have met the necessary qualifications to render care to the elderly, but they shouldn’t have any sort of criminal history that could potentially put the residents they are working around at risk of being harmed. Now, if you recently moved a relative into a nursing home in Van Zandt, TX and are wondering whether the staff at this facility and others like it can still get hired despite having a criminal record, read on below as we share information that helps answer this question.

 

Will a criminal record prevent an individual from being hired to work in a nursing home?

 

Just because a staff member might have a criminal history, it doesn’t exactly prohibit them from applying and getting hired to work in a nursing home facility in the state of Texas. However, according to Texas Health and Safety Code 250.003, a facility or employer may not hire someone if he/she has determined that after conducting a criminal history check, the potential applicant “has been convicted of an offense that bars employment or is a contraindication to employment with the facility or to direct contact with the individual using the consumer-related service option.”

Facilities or an employer are also not permitted to hire a person who has applied as a nurse’s aide until they have verified that the applicant is listed in the nurse aide registry and they have also verified that the applicant is not found in the employee misconduct registry for abuse, neglect, or mistreatment.

 

Can a facility still hire someone before their criminal history check comes back?

 

Texas Health and Safety Code 250.003 says that if a facility chooses to employ an individual pending a criminal history check, that person shall have “no direct contact with a consumer until the facility obtains the person’s criminal history record information and verifies the person’s employability. Once the criminal history results come back, if there is a conviction, it will be “reviewed by the facility, the financial management services agency, or the individual employer to determine if the conviction may bar the person from employment in a facility or by the individual employer or if the conviction may be a contraindication to employment.”

Now just because the law states that nursing homes should not be employing individuals who have a history of abuse doesn’t mean the current workers inside these facilities are innocent or won’t engage in behavior that directly harms your elderly relative. The truth is, there are many workers inside nursing homes who at the time of hire, they didn’t have a criminal record, however, began providing substandard care to the residents they were assigned to look after. Sometimes, this results in a resident suffering from neglect and other times, a resident might suffer physical or psychological injuries as a result of how the employee has treated them.

 

Who should I speak to if a nursing home staff member mistreated my relative in Texas?

 

You will want to contact a nursing home abuse attorney in Van Zandt, TX to discuss your options. There are a number of ways you can address this type of situation, but it is recommended that you find out which way is best from a legal expert who handles cases involving abuse and neglect. To get in contact with a TX nursing home abuse lawyer in your area now, simply call Cooper Law Firm at 903-297-0037 if you wish to talk with an attorney who is compassionate about helping his clients and will provide you with the legal advice and assistance you are seeking.

 

Cooper Law Firm is located at:

 

501 N Third St,
Longview, TX 75601

Phone: 903-297-0037

Website: www.cooper-law-firm.com