The government is moving in the right direction with this proposed legislation.

The Senate Finance Committee this week passed the Patient Safety and Abuse Prevention Act (S. 1577), which would establish a nationwide system of background checks for potential long-term care employees, by a unanimous vote.

If passed by the Senate, the bill would allow nursing homes to weed out potentially abusive caregivers from the hiring pool. Bill sponsors Sens. Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Pete Domenici (R-NM) in a statement called the bill an important step toward protecting seniors from mistreatment by those who care for them. Earlier this year, the Senate Special Committee on Aging, which Kohl chairs, announced that a three-year, seven-state background check pilot program had prevented thousands of potentially abusive candidates from gaining employment in the long-term care field (McKnight’s, 8/11). Congress returned to session this week.
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