Ohio Nursing Facilities Must Check Nurse Aide Registry for All Employees

Last month, we issued a reminder in News Bites that the "Nurse Aide" Registry is not Just for Nurse Aides. We published that tip to make sure that all our Ohio nursing homes were aware that they must check the Nurse Aide Registry when performing background checks for all employees, both licensed and unlicensed (e.g., nurses, therapists, dietary, housekeeping, etc.) and not just STNAs.

Recent survey activity by ODH has really driven home the importance of this point and compels us to publish this special update urging Ohio nursing homes to ensure that they have documentation showing that all existing employees have been checked against the Nurse Aide Registry. OHCA legal counsel Rolf Goffman Martin Lang LLP reports that the failure to check the nurse aide registry for all employees has resulted in substandard quality of care findings by ODH.

If you have any questions please contact Rob Pivonka (216-682-2019) or Michele Conroy (216-682-2131) at Rolf.