Tips to ensure a nurse assistant’s compliance while hiring

Nursing assistants are healthcare professionals who have completed the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program. They work under the supervision of registered nurses (RNs) or licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and assist patients with day-to-day activities such as feeding, grooming, toileting, and medication administration. They also monitor patients’ health status and report any changes to nurses. Nursing assistants work in various healthcare settings, such as nursing homes, hospitals, and home care agencies. Some facilities may hire them directly, while others utilize a nursing assistant staffing agency.

In the USA, the norms of each state regulate the certification, scope of work, and practice of nurse assistants. Since each state has stringent regulations related to nurse assistant hiring, facilities should have a proper compliance check and credentialing to ensure safety standards while recruiting these providers. This is crucial to avoid any compliance or regulatory issues in the future, which can hinder the operations of the facility. In this blog, we will discuss the compliance issues faced while hiring nurse assistants, tips to mitigate them, and how MedSquirrels’ platform is an optimal solution for hiring nurse assistants on contract.

Common compliance issues associated with nurse assistant hiring

Let us delve deeper to some of the compliance related issues faced by many facilities during nurse assistant staffing. These issues may arise when the facilities are facing staffing shortages. Failing to address them can lead to hefty fines on your facility, license suspension, and even harm to patients.

• Licensing and certification issues since the requirement varies from state to state
• Hiring nurse assistants with criminal backgrounds can cause threats to patient safety and breach regulatory policies
• Inappropriate health screenings can lead to the risk of spreading communicable diseases
• Substance abuse-related issues due to unsuccessful drug screening
• Limited knowledge of the hospital protocols and policies
• Insufficient understanding of the ethical and legal responsibilities of the nursing assistant role

If your facility is also facing one more of the above compliance issues, these tips will certainly help!

10 tips to ensure compliance and safety during nurse assistant hiring

1. Background verification: A comprehensive background inspection can be done to confirm that the Nursing assistant hired has no illegal records of sexual and drug abuse. Failing to have a proper background check may create a significant hazard to the patients as well as the co-workers they are dealing with.
2. Detailed credentialing: There are different practice policies set by the state in which your facility is residing, and this enlists the standards to become a licensed Nursing Assistant. These criteria differ from state to state, and it is essential to review these criteria and conduct careful credentialing to ensure that the qualification attained by the candidate is from an accredited institution.
3. Drug screening:  During the nurse assistant hiring, a formal strategy needs to be established to screen potential candidates based on their drug usage. Strictly adhere to the local government policies when drug screening is performed, and ensure you obtain written consent from the candidate for drug screening. 
4. Health screenings and Immunizations: Health screening should be a mandatory aspect of the recruitment process to ensure that the candidate you are hiring is both physically and mentally fit for the job. Immunization records need to be submitted by the candidate and can include proof of vaccinations against major communicable diseases. 
5. Orientation programs: For the newly hired Nursing Assistants at your facility, provide detailed training on their responsibilities, scope of practice, patient care prerequisites, and your facility’s values. This not only helps in smooth onboarding but can also prevent future compliance cases. 
6. Consistent performance review: After hiring nurse assistants for your facility, provide a sufficient learning period under the oversight of another experienced staff. There should also be a well-structured performance evaluation approach to assess how the new hire is coping with their daily duties. After performance examinations at regular intervals, constructive feedback can be provided on areas of improvement. 
7. Clear policies and procedures: It is important to ensure that all the staff working at your facility are fully aware of the policies concerning safety measures and treatment protocols. These policies can include ethical considerations while handling a patient, treatment guidelines, checklists for patient care, etc.
8. Adhering to legal compliance: Each US state oversees the legal policies and regulations regarding the practice of healthcare staff, and these guidelines are subject to continuous amendments. So, it is required to stay informed about the government norms to ensure that all the mandated protocols are being followed in your facility. It is also essential to keep a check on the license renewal of your Nursing assistants as well. 
9. Execute safety protocols within the facility: Adherence to safety protocols is crucial for healthcare providers. Even though they might be familiar with the standard safety protocols, strict safety measures should be enforced and trained on all the staff in your facility. This can foster a safe work environment for the staff as well as the patients. 
10. Documentation and record keeping: Always maintain a log of all the tasks performed by the staff, including review of the patient’s condition, drugs administered to the patients, any critical symptoms, duty staff details, etc, to avoid any compliance issues in the future.

Let MedSquirrels handle the nurse assistant hiring process for your facility

As nursing assistants are the immediate care providers in any healthcare facility, a well-organized practice needs to be followed to navigate the compliance issues with nurse assistant hiring.  Healthcare facilities can mitigate most of the risks and meet regulatory requirements by proactively handling potential compliance scenarios at the recruitment stage itself. A quick solution to streamline all these factors at once is to collaborate with a nursing assistant staffing agency. However, the agency will charge huge markups that could considerably reduce your capacity to pay top dollar to healthcare providers. Certainly, a better nurse assistant hiring solution is the need of the hour.

MedSquirrels is one of the leading healthcare staffing platforms that leverages cutting-edge technology to streamline the end-to-end recruitment process for facilities. Our platform will handle your nurse assistant staffing needs, from pre-screening profiles, interviewing, credentialing, onboarding, and payrolling. The best part is the platform charges only a payroll cost and a flat license fee. This way, you can skip paying heavy markup fees charged by most staffing agencies for nurse assistants. With MedSquirrels making it easier to source from the global talent pool and ensuring a 100% transparent recruitment process, nurse assistant staffing will no longer be a hurdle. Book a demo today to learn how our platform is a better solution to help you hire nurse assistants!