The paper provides information on elder justice law. The complexity in response to elderly abuse led to the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010 to provide a coordinated reaction between law enforcers and care providers ( Lindberg, 2020) . The law emphasizes various service providers and public health approaches that can be utilized to prevent, detect, and treat abuse. Federal regulations outline that long-term care facilities such as nursing homes and inpatient hospices that care for elderly workers must report any reasonable suspicion of abuse committed against the aged.
Target employee and specific care setting
As the nursing home administrator in a long-term care nursing facility, one of the major requirements is to ensure that the nursing staff learns about their individual duty about the different types of abuse subjected to older people. According to Dong & Simon (2011), nurses are in constant touch with the elderly, and such allows them to realize abuse subjected to the older adults, but surprisingly, they do not report the cases due to lack of information about the law requirement. The nurses are expected to review the provisions of the Elderly Justice Act to identify types of abuse, the time frame required to report a case, and the consequences of failure to inform the authorities about the incident ( Dong & Simon, 2011) . The nursing staff can reduce abuse among the elderly by understanding provisions of the law, recognizing elder abuse, and reporting them. Taking the actions can result in the prevention and reduction in abuse cases.
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The alleged abuse must be reported within a specific time frame provided by the law. The failure will result in penalties. For abuses that result in the bruising of an older adult, the case must be reported within two hours, whereas stealing issues should be done within 24 hours.
Critical Aspects of Employee’s roles and responsibilities
Employee specific critical responsibility 1-The nurses must screen and monitor elders for signs of abuse or mistreatment.
Failure to screen the elderly results in public reprimand or censure of the nurse in charge as a violation of law requires that outlines need to screen an older adult for any suspicion of abuse. The nursing facility will be subjected to impositions such as education, monitoring, and remedial tailored to enhance competencies in screening and monitoring the elderly for abuse ( O'Shaughnessy, 2010) . The statutory law recommends that the nurse who was in charge of the older person should be suspended from the practice either through revocation or voluntary surrender of license.
EAPPA, P.L. 115-70 Sections 1070; H.R1783, s. 333; H.R. 2490.
Real Life case example : Martha had been taken to the nursing home by her son, James. In the facility, Martha had her own room that she could lock from inside. She was an introvert and rarely conversed with anyone apart from his son. In her daily routine, the nurse realized that Martha was struggling to walk, and she was very sad. During weekly showers, the nurse realized that Martha's underwear had blood. Despite the warning signs that Martha might have been sexually assaulted, she failed to screen her nor reported the matter to the facility's management. When Martha's son came to visit her, she confided that she was experiencing sexual abuse from the cleaner.
James was furious, and he decided to report the matter to the authorities. Upon investigation, the law enforcers established that the nurse in charge of Martha was aware of the suspicious activity but failed to intervene. By applying the provision of the Elder Justice Act, the law enforcers and the Patient Protection Department suspended the nurse. The hospital was also monitored closely to ensure they educate their staff about the need to screen the elderly to rule out possibilities of abuse in case of any sign. ( www.ncea.aoa.gov/ ).
Employee specific critical responsibility 2- The nurses must address mistreatment or abuse of the elderly.
Failure to address abuse of the elderly leads to the nurse being held liable both in criminal and civil systems for intentionally failing to report their experiences with the abused elder. The law provides that if the nurse violates the law by failing to report abuse against an older person, they should be subjected to a maximum civil penalty of $ 200,000 ( Dong & Simon, 2011) . The penalty is for failure to report a crime involving the bruising of the elderly within 2 hours from the time of realizing the suspicious act.
Elderly Abuse Act 115-70 Sections 86703 (a) through (c) of ACA
Real Life Case Example: A nurse named Jude, who works in one of California nursing homes, observed serious bruises on an elderly resident in the mid-morning. After some time, she developed the conviction that an abusive activity caused the bruises. The nurse was aware that she has only two hours to report the suspicion, but she failed to adhere to the federal law. Upon realizing Jude’s incompetence after six hours, the nursing home administrator reported the violation to the authorities. The nurse was instructed to pay a maximum civil penalty of $200,000 ( https://ncel.gov/ ).
C) Employee‘s Specific Critical Responsibility 3: Supporting the elderly who has experienced abuse by contacting emergency service for immediate risk assessment and recording abuse details.
Breaching the duty of care makes the employee liable for the failure to meet the expected standards of attending to the elderly. In case harm occurs to the older adult, the nurse will be legally liable for damages. Lindberg (2020) argues that or ganizations that retaliate against the nurses who report crime suspicions by demoting, firing, or harassing are subjected to a maximum penalty of $200,000, exclusion from being funded by the federal government, or both.
P.L 111-148 Section 6703 (a) of ACA (42 U.S.C, 1397), and Justice Act Section 2933.
Real Life Case Example: Smith is a nurse who has been working for Hills nursing facility. As he was bathing Mr. Rodrigo, a terminally ill man above 90 years, he realized that he had a deep cut on his head and had a broken arm. The man's health was quite feeble, and it required immediate referral for treatment in a hospital. Smith engaged the family immediately and the hospital emergency unit for immediate risk assessment. After initiating all the required procedures for care and reporting the matter to the authorities, the nursing facility fired him. Smith felt that his rights were violated, and he decided to conduct the attorney in the Department of State Professional Compliance Office after a week of being dismissed from the nursing facility. Upon reflection of the case, the doctor's report from where Mr. Rodrigo was treated, and his family statement, the nursing facility was found liable for retaliation. They were fined $200,000 for the vengeful dismal of Smith ( https://ncel.gov/ ).
Conclusion
The nurses in nursing homes play an important role in ensuring that any abuse against older adults is prevented by continually engaging in assessments and reporting. Nurses are encouraged to consider reviewing information about their roles and responsibilities concerning reporting abuse against the elderly as stipulated by the Elderly Justice Act. The law covers the nurses' responsibilities and the consequences of failure to adhere to the provided rules and regulations governing elder abuse reporting management. Nurses in charge can be fined, dismissed, or their licenses revoking their license for failure to adhere to their responsibilities, such as supporting abused elders or addressing the mistreatment. For further information, one can visit; https://ncea.acl.gov/What-We-Do/Policy/Federal-Laws.aspx .
References
Dong, X., & Simon, M. A. (2011). Enhancing national policy and programs to address elder abuse. JAMA , 305 (23), 2460-2461. https://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2011.835
Lindberg, B. (2020). Policy Series: The Elder Justice Act, Nursing Home Reform, and Funding Legislation. Innovation in Aging , 4 (Suppl 1), 720. https://dx.doi.org/10.1093%2Fgeroni%2Figaa057.2546
O'Shaughnessy, C. (2010). The elder justice act: addressing elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. http://www.nhpf.org/library/the-basics/Basics_ElderJustice_11-30-10.pdf
National Centre on Elderly Abuse, NCEA (n.d). Current Federal Elder Justice Laws. https://ncea.acl.gov/What-We-Do/Policy/Federal-Laws.aspx
