When families need to put a loved one in a nursing home, their first concern is often the quality of medical care they will receive. Will staff give medications on time? Will they prevent falls and watch for infections? But there is another danger that is often overlooked: other residents. Some nursing home residents suffer from violent tendencies, untreated mental illness, or criminal histories. These people can put other residents at serious risk of injury or even death.
This raises an important question: Do nursing homes do background checks on residents before admitting them? The answer is complicated. Unlike employees, who must pass certain checks before being hired, there are far fewer rules when it comes to screening residents. For families with loved ones in Illinois nursing homes, this can create dangerous situations when facilities do not take precautions.
At Nursing Home Injury Center, our Peoria, Illinois nursing home injury lawyers focus exclusively on protecting victims of abuse, neglect, and unsafe environments. As a small division of a large firm, we combine personal attention with the resources to fight for the results families deserve. We offer free consultations and handle cases on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay nothing unless we win your case.
Are There Background Checks for Nursing Home Employees?
To understand how the system works, it helps to start with employees. Illinois law requires nursing homes to conduct thorough background checks before hiring staff. Under the Health Care Worker Background Check Act (225 ILCS 46), nursing homes must review applicants for criminal convictions. In particular, they must look for a history of violent crimes, sex offenses, and financial crimes. Certain offenses can permanently keep someone from working in a nursing home.
This law was passed to protect vulnerable residents from staff members who might exploit or harm them. For example, a nurse’s aide with a history of assault or theft could not be hired legally without first going through a review and potential waiver process. Facilities that ignore this law can face fines and legal liability if a resident is harmed.
What About Residents? Are They Background Checked?
When it comes to residents themselves, the law is far less strict. In Illinois, there is no law requiring nursing homes to conduct criminal background checks on residents. Facilities may ask questions on intake forms about medical history, past behavior, or criminal history, but in many cases they just rely on families to share that information.
Some facilities do screen potential residents, especially those with a history of psychiatric disorders. If a resident is known to be aggressive or has been in jail, nursing homes may ask for details. Others do not, however, especially if they are under financial pressure to keep beds full. This creates uneven practices across the state and increases risks for peaceful residents who share living spaces with individuals who may act violently.
Why Are Dangerous Residents Allowed Into Nursing Homes?
There are several reasons why unsafe residents end up in Illinois nursing homes:
- Hospitals transferring patients: A hospital may discharge a patient with behavioral issues to a nursing home simply because they need long-term care.
- Lack of alternative facilities: Illinois has limited secure psychiatric and behavioral care centers. Nursing homes sometimes take residents they cannot manage.
- Pressure to admit: Nursing homes may depend on Medicaid or Medicare reimbursements. This can push administrators to admit residents without asking too many questions.
- No laws: Because there is no legal requirement to check resident criminal records, some facilities skip it entirely.
Aggressive Nursing Home Residents Are a Risk to Other Residents
When a resident with violent tendencies is let into a nursing home, the consequences can be severe. Other residents, often frail and unable to defend themselves, may be pushed, shoved, or otherwise physically assaulted. They may be stolen from, especially if they have dementia. They may also be sexually assaulted.
Even verbal abuse can have devastating effects. Families who trusted the nursing home to provide their loved one with a safe environment often learn only after tragedy strikes that the facility ignored warning signs.
Nursing Home Duties Under Illinois Law
Even though Illinois does not require background checks on residents, nursing homes still have a legal duty to keep residents safe. Under the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act (210 ILCS 45), facilities must give residents adequate supervision and protection from abuse and neglect.
If a nursing home admits a resident who is known to be dangerous, it has a responsibility to house that resident separately, if necessary. Likewise, the nursing home should increase staff supervision of the resident and develop a behavior management plan. At the very least, it needs to protect other residents from foreseeable harm.
When Can Nursing Homes Be Liable for Resident-on-Resident Injuries?
Courts in Illinois have recognized that nursing homes must anticipate risks when they admit residents with violent tendencies. Examples of situations where liability may apply include:
- Keeping dangerous residents with other people: A resident with a history of aggression is placed in a shared room, and the roommate is injured.
- Ignoring warning signs: Staff see a resident threatening others but do not intervene until an assault happens.
- Understaffing: The facility admits residents needing high levels of supervision but does not have enough staff to watch them.
- Failure to disclose: Families are not told about a dangerous resident housed near their loved one.
In these situations, families may pursue claims for negligence or wrongful death under Illinois law.
What to Do if You Are Worried Another Nursing Home Resident Could Hurt Your Loved One
If you are considering nursing home care for a family member but you are worried about other residents, here is what to do:
- Ask directly about policies. Does the facility screen residents for criminal backgrounds or violent histories? How do they handle aggressive behavior?
- Ask for inspection reports. The Illinois Department of Public Health publishes reports of violations, including resident-on-resident assaults.
- Tour the facility. Observe staffing levels, security measures, and how staff interact with residents.
- Look for specialized units. Some facilities have secure wings for residents with dementia or behavioral issues.
By asking tough questions up front, families can help protect their loved ones from preventable harm.
Contact a Peoria County, IL Nursing Home Injury Lawyer
If your loved one was injured by another resident in a nursing home, you deserve answers. At Nursing Home Injury Center, our experienced Peoria, IL nursing home abuse attorneys know how to hold facilities accountable when they put residents in harm’s way.
We offer free consultations to discuss your case. Call us today at 309-524-6900 to speak directly with a nursing home injury lawyer and learn how we can help.
