Hospital Hires Temporary Nurse With Criminal Record

ByJoseph O'Neill

Updated on

Hospital Hires Temporary Nurse With Criminal Record

Case Overview

This case takes place in Kansas and involves a registered nurse who had been placed in multiple jobs through a temporary staffing agency despite a record of negligent and dangerous conduct. The nurse had worked for a number of hospitals and outpatient medical facilities over the course of several years, during which time the staffing agency received multiple complaints about her behavior. During her time with the staffing agency, the nurse was employed at a major university medical center, which fired her after discovering that she had stolen oxycodone and syringes of another opioid pain killer. While the staffing agency was made aware of this incident, it continued to work with the nurse, and placed her in a new position with the Defendant facility. It was during her employment at this facility that the nurse tested positive for a bloodborne viral disease. While she was employed by the Defendant facility, the nurse’s drug-seeking behavior, combined with her positive status for a viral infection, led to several patients becoming infected by the same disease due to the patient’s negligent handling of needles. It is alleged that the Defendant facility was aware of the nurse’s history of drug abuse and negligence but continued to employ her, directly leading to the infection of multiple patients.

Questions to the Hospital Administration expert and their responses

Q1

Do you or have you outsourced your staff recruiting to an agency?

I have managed multiple human service and health care facilities where nursing staffing requirements were met through the use of a staffing agency.

Q2

Does a hospital have the responsibility to make sure that the hires are qualified with no criminal background?

The facility retains the responsibility for the quality of care provided to patients by facility employees and agency nurses. Additionally, the facility must confirm that each temporary employee has valid and appropriate licensing, positive references, a lack of professional sanctions, and a clean criminal background check.

About the expert

This highly qualified expert earned his BSE and MSE from Arkansas State University. He went on to earn his PhD in Psychology and Special Education from St. Louis University and is a current member of the American Association in Intellectual & Developmental Health. Throughout his career he has served as director of numerous mental health inpatient facilities and hospitals, and has taught Special Education at the university level.

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About the author

Joseph O'Neill

Joseph O'Neill

Joe has extensive experience in online journalism and technical writing across a range of legal topics, including personal injury, meidcal malpractice, mass torts, consumer litigation, commercial litigation, and more. Joe spent close to six years working at Expert Institute, finishing up his role here as Director of Marketing. He has considerable knowledge across an array of legal topics pertaining to expert witnesses. Currently, Joe servces as Owner and Demand Generation Consultant at LightSail Consulting.

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