All long-term care facilities must occasionally deal with a hostile resident. Solving this problem is particularly difficult when that hostility is directed at employees with protected characteristics, such as gender or race. Most long-term care residents were born before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and may have been raised with a different set of values or ideas of what behavior is socially acceptable. In addition, residents may have conditions that affect their mental capacity or ability to control impulsive behavior. When a resident’s behavior interferes with an employee’s performance or creates an offensive atmosphere in the workplace, it creates a hostile work environment.

To read the full article which appears in the August 2010 Healthcare Provider’s Legal Resource, click here to take you to the August newsletter, then click on “Nursing Homes” in the left column to take you directly to the article.

By Rebecca M. Fowler, rfowler@dsda.com