Temp agencies do poor job of verifying nurse credentials
Patient Safety Monitor Alert
December 23, 2009
Temporary nursing agencies that supply the nation’s short-staffed hospitals with nurses often fail to verify credentials, keep important licensure records, and interview applicants before hire, reports The Los Angeles Times.
According to an investigative report by the Times and the non-profit newsroom ProRepublica, temp agencies often hire nurses who have been reprimanded or who jump from job to job in order to avoid suffering any consequences. Patient safety is put at risk when these temp agencies fail to perform adequate interviews and continue to employ nurses who are less than qualified, reported the Times.
Although many larger nurse agencies voluntarily pay for accreditation by The Joint Commission, many other smaller agencies receive no oversight, reports the Times. Staff nurses can be reprimanded or reeducated when they make mistakes; nurses from temp agencies are often swapped out for new temp nurses when they err. What results can be nurses repeatedly falling asleep on the job, stealing drugs, and failing to adequately perform basic nursing skills.
