Safety in nursing homes

I have an internship with the Florida Health Care Association and we are the state’s largest association for nursing homes. Something that people don’t generally think of when the picture nursing homes are criminals. I am not talking about the caretakers, but this is also a problem. I think people have always been concerned about the caretakers though. I am talking about criminal patients.

There needs to be a state regulation to address this problem. At least one state has done this, Illinois. They have run into problems though with having to place a big sign in the front of their facility saying that they accept people with criminal backgrounds, who would bring their loved ones into that environment? In Florida every city can pass their own ordinance for what they feel to be best. I have been focusing on sexual predators and offenders in nursing homes. Florida currently has around 80 sexual predators or offenders living in nursing homes. I have not been able to find one city that will notify patients or families when an offender moves into a nursing home. Lots of times the staff is not even aware. The law enforcement does however notify people when a predator moves in.

I like to say everyone should be treated equal but I do not think we should have to treat sexual criminals in the same way we treat our elders. There is not an easy fix to this problem. I just read an article from the Chicago Tribune that told a story about an 65 year old women who was raped by a sexual predator who was also a patient of the home. Occurrence is still very low but that is why not much has been done to fix this problem yet. I would just advise anyone looking for a nursing home ask about their policies on accepting criminals.

I agree with my coworkers that there needs to be a separate facility to house these individuals. It is a shame that nursing homes are forced to accept these people. They have nowhere else to go and if they are coming from a hospital they have to be discharged somewhere. Many elders are not able to research this information so we need to make sure as a community we are taking care of them in the best possible way.