ng screenings is a criminal background check. Each prospective applicant should be asked about any criminal convictions in the applicant's history. Criminal activity speaks to the applicant's character and suitability for the position. The employer must be able to trust its employees to protect the patients, despite that fact that patients are often in extreme positions of vulnerability. But the health care organization should not rely solely on the word of a prospective employee in an employment application. The employer should conduct a background check on each applicant and contact personal and professional references about the applicant's past performance. These background investigations are necessary because the health care organization can be held liable for negligent hiring if it knew or should have known that the employee posed a foreseeable risk of harm or danger to others.
In addition to the risk of harm to its patients, the employer must also consider potential liability for wrongful terminations and discharges. A human
...