I'm a CNA and student. I can't apply to nursing school until April 2006 so I'd thought I'd take PCA(pt. care assistants) classes while I wait. Plus, I'd be ahead in clinicals. I received an application to fill out from a very reputable hospital. It listed requirements, type of testing, etc. I was stunned when I got to background checking. I understand that they check references and prior employers. This hospital was doing checks with the following: former employers, schools, financial institutions, landlords, public agencies, personal interviews with associates, friends, acquaintances, neighbors, or other people who have knowledge about me. Also they check: credit background, work habits, salary history, education, criminal background, motor vehicle history, workers' comp history, civil records, use of illegal substances and alcohol usage, personal characteristics, mode of living, and general reputation. Some of this I see as reasonable but what business is it of theirs who I live with and my credit history. I understand that they want to hire responsible people. I don't understand acquaitances. They're not friends so they don't know me well. Besides, half my acquaintances I don't even have a phone number for!! Don't you think this is going a little too far? I'm not too sure I want to work for these type of people, no matter how reputable they are. I don't have anything to hide but still I don't feel they have a right to delve that deep. They can interview my landlords--I still live at home. You would think I was trying to be a secret agent for the CIA or something.
Has anyone come across something like this? I know lately, the applications I've filled out state they do a credit check, which I don't see why but at least it's not this long list! Is this the new thing? Am I going to have to just suck it up?
You might be very surprised how many CNAs / PCPS are hired with criminal histories.
PCP and CNA are jobs that are very common for ciminals and those with criminal intent to seek out. For several reasons. 1. THey will be working with vulnerable people,2. it is a job that requires relatively little training (150 hours for CNA, and even less for PCP) and yet pays better than unskilled jobs.
Your post makes a lot of sense, and I never thought of it that way. No wonder skilled nursing facilities have such stigma attached and so many people are hesitant to be placed in them. I personally would like to think that any person caring for my self or loved ones would go through the most thorough background checks available. And I would look for a facility that had a higher ratio of real nurses (lpn's and rn's as opposed to CNA's)
Medical debt is considered for credit. The only marks I have ever had on my credit were from hospital bills. There was a time when I had 30,000 outstanding and had to pay it off and wait for it to fall off my credit before I could get any loans. The sad thing is that only about 1/2 of it was really owed by me the other half was due to the hospital mis-billing the insurance for things that should have been covered.
It really doesn't matter what you owe for or if you honestly owe it. All that matters is what the credit bureau says and they don't distinguish between medical debt or between things that are contested. I went to court once to fight against paying a bill that should have been covered by my insurance. The judge told me he saw my point but that the law is not set up to protect me but to protect the people who are owed money. He also told me he didn't care about what I was supposed to pay all he cared about was what the company said I owed and that I needed to pay it weather or not it was due to a mistake of theirs.
Sadly a very large percentage of personal bankruptcies are a result of medical bills.
Sadly too hospitals tend to double bill. I had this happen to me. I went to the ER for a worker comp injury. That was the policy of the nursing home that if you were injured after hours you went to the local ER.
Don't you know I got a bill from the hospital for that. I NEW the insurance had already paid it. I ignored the bill. This was almost 10 years ago. Nothing ever happened. I learned that this hospital does that all the time. I was told they HOPE the customer does not know better and pays the bill.
It is pretty craIIy that our hospitals do this but I was told it was a common practice at most hospitals these days.
The one where I currently work was the only one in the region that made a profit last year. So you know what they did this year? They cut corners even tighter and made life hell for staff by not providing enough budget. Sad Huh?
gr8rnpjt, RN
738 Posts