Background Checks for Nursing

Before hiring a nurse, it is critical to conduct thorough pre-employment screening. This is because the nursing profession is among the most sensitive in the healthcare industry. Given their role in patient care, a nurse needs to perfectly suited to carry out their duties exceptionally well. The slightest lapse, mistake or ineptitude can have dire consequences for the patient.

Anyone with experience in the healthcare industry has heard of instances where the wrongful hire of nurses has had catastrophic consequences. There have been cases of nurses administering the wrong medications, sexually assaulting patients, stealing medical supplies, harassing patients, threatening fellow medical staff members, and committing a host of other professional and criminal malpractices.

Such malpractices affect not just the patients. They also affect the patient’s loved ones, fellow medical staff members, and even the health care facility where the nurse works (which can face not just a PR problem, but can also get sanctioned or sued). Essentially hiring the wrong nurse causes problems for everyone.

This is why even the American Nurses Association (ANA) supports the use of criminal background checks as part of the Registered Nurse (RN) licensure process. The ANA considers criminal history background checks as a means of enhancing public safety.

For healthcare organizations, the pre-employment screening for nurses needs to go beyond criminal background checks. They need to extend to other aspects which are necessary for not just enhancing patient and employee safety, but also avoiding fines, penalties, and sanctions.

Generally speaking, healthcare organizations need to ensure that all the nurses they hire are registered, licensed to operate, and haven’t been sanctioned. The penalties for hiring sanctioned individuals, for instance, can range from fines of up to $10,000, to suspension from federal programs like Medicare and Medicaid; and in extreme cases, jail time. And these are just penalties from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). Many states and local authorities have their own penalties as well.

The bottom line is, before hiring any nurse, a healthcare organizations need to conduct a comprehensive background check. This is where we come in. Our mission at Crimcheck is to help healthcare organizations to access every kind of background check necessary to thoroughly screen applicants for nursing positions. This is precisely why we created a special background checks service for nurses.

Nursing Background Checks

The background checks for nursing are specifically targeted at nursing job applicants and employees. They are intended to identify the red flags which make an individual unqualified or unfit to work in the nursing profession. The nursing background checks involve an amalgamation of various kinds of background checks.

For each nursing applicant or employee, we can conduct the following kinds of background checks/searches:

• Medical sanctions checks
• Licensing status checks
• Criminal background checks
• Employment record verification
• Educational verification
• Employment history investigation (focusing on patient abuse, medical malpractice, fraud, theft, etc)

And this is just the beginning. We also conduct a thorough investigation of an individual’s history as regards issues like drug abuse, violent conduct, insubordination, and negligence of duty. Basically, we investigate every aspect of an individual’s past which can negatively impact their capacity to perform as a nurse. This gives recruiters enough information to make an informed decision.

Our background checks for nurses have the following characteristics:

• We conduct background checks going back to 7 years. This is the limit which is normally required for such searches. However, depending on the needs of the clients, we can go even further back.
• We conduct licensing and sanction checks across state lines. We are fully aware that nurses with a history of misconduct often manipulate multi-state licensing programs to continue working across states. Our investigations focus on every state the person has lived and worked in, and investigate whether they have had their licenses revoked in any of them.
• We conduct medical sanctions checks across a broad spectrum of regulatory bodies. We check through the OIG’s List of Excluded Individuals (LEIE); the US General Services Administration’s Excluded Parties List System (EPLS) and other state or local sanctions lists.
• We can conduct custom background checks according to the needs of healthcare providers. For instance, if a client desires searches focused on applicant’s history of conduct when dealing with children (perhaps for screening pediatric nurse applicants), we can conduct the background checks.
• All our background checks are thoroughly vetted. All information unearthed is cross-checked and verified with multiple sources for accuracy. This ensures that any errors are identified and corrected. In the end, all the information in the background checks reports is factually accurate.
• All our background checks are legally compliant. We comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and all other relevant federal, state, and local legislations. This guarantees that no legal violations or issues will arise out of the background checks provide.

Aside from the above benefits, Crimcheck’s clients also benefit from the company’s vast experience in the background checks industry. We have been providing comprehensive background checks since 1991. We have therefore developed a mechanism for conducting thorough background checks within the shortest time possible.

We also provide a number of tools and automations for our clients to access our background check services with ease. These include:

• Automated background check submissions
• Integration of Crimcheck’s system with clients’ ATS and HRMIS
• Flexible payment system
• Remote form submission by applicants
• Customized background check reports

These tools and automations add a measure of convenience to Crimcheck’s clients. For instance, the integration with ATS and HRMIS makes it possible for clients to access background check services from within their internal systems. Basically, they can order, track, and pay for background checks; and receive the reports from within their system. This makes accessing background checks extremely easy.

Crimcheck is the perfect background checks partner for any healthcare organization which needs a comprehensive nursing background checks system. We can not only provide thorough, accurate, and legally compliant background checks, we can make access to them easy and convenient.

Therefore, if you are part of a healthcare organization in search of reliable background checks for nursing applicants and employees, look no further. Crimcheck is here for you. Just contact us and we’ll begin designing a custom background checks process in line with your needs.