In the state of Kentucky, only employees of nursing homes and assisted living homes (nurses, etc.) are subject to criminal background checks. These employees are typically the ones who provide direct care to residents. Members of the public are hailing this as a sane, common sense law, while others are lauding it as unfair to those who have undergone criminal rehabilitation.

On Thursday, the legislation was introduced to the 2012 General Assembly. The law states, among other things, that criminal background checks must be conducted for all long-term care employees. This law would extend background checks to janitors, and even dining room workers.

The motive for this law stems from a lawsuit filed in 2010. A Fayette Circuit Court found that a nursing home in Lexington unknowingly hired a registered sex offender as a maintenance worker.

The legislation is very exhaustive, and prohibits employment in nursing facilities or assisted living communities based on a variety of factors. The factors that would exclude employment are as follows: conviction of a felony related to theft, abuse or sale of illegal drugs, neglect, abuse, sexual exploitation of an adult, or any sexual crime.

The legislation was explicitly brought about in light of cases in which nursing home employees took advantage of residents. The exploitation was not only financial, but cases also documented workers taking sexual, emotional, and physical advantage of residents.

Lobbyists worked for nearly five years to draft legislation that would require background checks for all employees. The legislation was unanimously praised by these interest groups. One lobbyist stated "It's important because it affects the quality of the people taking care of our elderly population."

Similar legislation has also been brought about (Senate Bill 44) in the 2011 General Assembly, however, it failed. Lobbyists state that this may be because some lawmakers misunderstood the bill. Currently, no nursing home industry representatives have voices any opposition to the bill.

In June, a $3 Million dollar federal grant was given to Kentucky to conduct criminal background checks, using state of the art fingerprint technology instead of name based checks only. This grant for background checks was primaraly used by those in direct care facilities.

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A recent report filed by CBS indicates a disturbing trend in the healthcare industry. According to a government report from the Department of Health and Human Services, 92% of representative pool of 260 nursing homes across the country had at least one employee with a criminal record on staff in 2009. With the job seeker pool as large as it is and the sensitive nature of the nursing home industry, it seems surprising that nursing homes would continue to hire people with criminal records. It stands to reason that many of these hires were not screened by a pre-employment screening agency. Indeed, they were found out in the government report through the use of a few simple background checks that any pre-employment screening would have utilized.

Additionally, over half of the nursing homes had five or more employees with criminal records currently on staff. The majority of these convictions were for property crimes such as theft, burglary and shoplifting, while several were found to be convicted sex offenders. Both represent liabilities for businesses for a variety of reasons. Hiring someone convicted of theft is a liability in that convicted thieves are more apt to steal business supplies from the workplace or residents of the home’s personal belongings. We shouldn't have to elaborate the dangers of allowing sex offenders to operate in a place where patients are often at their most vulnerable. Lawsuits, disruptions, not to mention the moral implications of such a choice should be obvious.

Most states require nursing homes to conduct basic criminal database checks on new hires in order to be in compliance with regulations, but only seven states require the more extensive FBI background check that checks for convictions in multiple states.

This report, filed by CBS, shocked a lot of viewers and readers. People seeking to put loved ones or themselves in a nursing home will soon be asking the question, "Does your facility do fingerprint background screening on new hires?" If you can answer yes, you're much more likely to get their business.

Furthermore, government officials, shocked by this news, reiterated the necessity of conducting extensive background checks on all new hires in the healthcare industry. Background checks should not be limited to accessing the FBI databases for criminal records, but should include conversations with past employers, education record checks and identity verifications. The average do-it-yourself approach of most nursing homes may not be able to successfully navigate the patchwork nature of many states' criminal databases. For this reason, government officials recommend that health care facilities such as nursing homes and hospitals use professional pre-employment screening agencies to conduct background checks on new hires.

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Extensive and comprehensive background checks and pre employment screening can definitely help businesses maintain a more peaceful and secure working environment for all concerned, including the safety of employees, managers and even bosses.

Possible Dangers in the Workplace

Several main dangers can exists for people in a work environment. The most commonly seen are episodes of verbal abuse, vulgar language, sexual harassment, and workplace violence. This is not to say that these negative occurrences happen in the majority of work environments, but they do indeed happen, and they're often reported.

Physical violence is perhaps the worst of the dangerous workplace experiences that can occur. That's why it's essential that before any company hires any individual they perform a thorough criminal background check on him or her. If there is a history of assaults, thefts, robberies, burglaries that the potential employee has lied about on his or her job application, the criminal background check will catch it. These past patterns of violent and antisocial behavior are an excellent indicator of future behavioral patterns on the workplace as well.

There are many companies that exclusively perform extensive criminal background checks on a business's potential job candidates for a fee. Additional employment screening can include drug testing procedures and information on whether or not the specific job prospect has ever been in jail or prison and convicted of a misdemeanor or felony in any state. This information can greatly help companies who are hiring.

Positive Results of A Safe Work Environment

Once all of the bad prospects have been screened and weeded out, the workplace can become a very safe and secure environment. Such an environment can increase worker morale and also help with employee productivity. This positive atmosphere also tends to make employees more dedicated to their jobs and much more ambitious to strive to achieve more in the company.

It also makes them want to keep their jobs as long as they can, especially if they're earning a fair wage and some excellent benefits as compensation for being employed at the company. All workers want a positive and safe environment to spend their days in.

Once a safe workplace has been provided, most of the apprehension, worry, anxiety and stress of getting involved with that harmful person is eliminated, and workers will only focus on being happily surrounded by quality, decent and emotionally stable coworkers, which will make their jobs so much more enjoyable and satisfying.

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Synthetic cannabinoids were first created in a lab based on the structure of herbal cannabinoids in 1941 as part of a research group led by Roger Adams. Cannabinoids are the ingredients found in the marijuana plant. The purpose of creating man-made cannabinoids is for research purposes.

Unfortunately, these synthetic cannabinoids are turning up in a number of drug busts and are used to create illegal substances. As a result of this, the Department of Justice's Drug Enforcement Administration has added five synthetic cannabinoids as part of the Controlled Substances Act. Two of these synthetic substances were originally produced in labs in the early '80s for medicinal purposes. Since then, they have become a staple of the illegal drug trade.

Despite its negative aspects, elements of marijuana are known to have effective medicinal elements. The idea of creating cannabinoids in a laboratory is to try to harness the positive medicinal elements from these compounds. In fact, a number of medicines use synthetic cannabinoids. Some of these include Dronabinol (an appetite stimulant), Sativex (an oral spray used to relieve pain) and Rimonabant (an anti-obesity drug).

Eighteen states have banned Synthetic cannabinoids, with others considering legislation to ban them. Several countries and all branches of the U.S military also ban these compounds. The DEA has discovered that the five synthetic cannabinoids now officially banned are typically sprayed on marijuana plants and smoked. They are also used in water pipes and sprayed on paper used to roll traditional marijuana. The concern is that these artificially created compounds can be dangerous in high amounts. This is not something casual users of these compounds take into consideration.

In 2010, the American Association of Poison Control Centers reported at least 112 calls related to one or more of these five compounds. They have also turned up in herbal incense products, often sold on the internet. The fear is that those purchasing such items will think they are getting a "safe buzz." Others may be using such products for medicinal purposes without realizing that they are being exposed to potentially dangerous compounds. In some cases, users turn to synthetic cannabinoids thinking it will not show up in drug testing, but such compounds often yield a positive result.

Health departments in several states have already issued warnings about a number of cannabinoids. In concentrated amounts these compounds, including the five now banned, can cause health issues such as anxiety, rapid heart rate and tremors, seizures, elevated blood pressure and hallucinations. In extreme cases those exposed to some cannabinoids may experience paranoid behavior and become non-responsive. At this point the DEA asserts that any medical benefit of some cannabinoids is not worth the risk due to the potential for abuse.

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Employers make use of drug and alcohol screening to ensure that its employees and workplace remain safe and free of drugs. By drug testing, an organization can ensure that they do not hire people who abuse drugs. This also makes existing employees think twice about using illegal substances. In addition, testing is done to meet the terms of state and federal laws. This proves to consumers and the general public that employees are working in a safe environment.

Urinalysis is one of the most widely-used methods of testing. This test will detect and measure drug residues that are leftover in the body. The job applicant or employee submits a urine sample that is sent to a lab to be tested. The sample is handled and tested under strict guidelines. Tests are used to check for drugs such as amphetamines, THC, cocaine, opiates and phencyclidine. Employers can also test for additional substances including barbiturates, methadone and hallucinogens.

Besides urinalysis, screening is conducted in a variety of other ways. A breath-alcohol test is used to measure the amount of alcohol that is present in the blood. The employee blows into the testing device, and a number is given that represents the person’s blood alcohol concentration. If the reading is high enough, the employee may be suspended from his or her job duties. Blood tests are very accurate and will reveal the exact amount of substances in a person’s blood. A hair analysis is used to obtain a person’s history of drug use. If a person has abused an illegal substance within the past 90 days, this test will identify the substance. Oral fluids can also be collected and used for testing. This type of test is generally used to determine if an employee is currently impaired. The skin patch test, which is typically used for parolees and those on probation, measures the amount of drugs in a person’s sweat.

Any of these tests may be issued for different reasons. Pre-employment testing is the most common. If an applicant fails the test, he or she will not be hired in most cases. If a company’s supervisor has reasonable suspicion that an employee is working while under the influence of drugs, a test can be issued. Likewise, if an accident occurs where property is damaged or a person is injured, a test will determine whether or not drugs were to blame. Random testing is done when a computer selects a person from a pool of employees. These tests are done without advance notice. In addition, scheduled or periodic testing is very common, and an employee is usually tested when he or she returns to work after a leave of absence.

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