Building a Case Against a Staffing Agency for Nursing Home Abuse

Key Takeaways: 

Many care facilities rely heavily on temporary staffing agencies to fill nursing and aide positions. Consequently, those agencies can share legal responsibility when their workers cause harm. Theories of liability include negligent hiring, inadequate supervision, failure to verify credentials, and supplying unqualified staff under contract. Naming the staffing agency in addition to the facility often expands the available insurance and changes the math on a settlement.

Family members rarely realize that the nurse who missed a critical medication, the aide who handled a resident roughly, or the LPN who never showed up to start the next shift might not actually work for the nursing home at all. They may work for a third-party staffing agency under a contract that the facility uses to keep its census—and its costs—in line. When that arrangement contributes to harm, the staffing agency can be on the hook alongside the facility.

At Gray & White Law, our Kentucky nursing home abuse lawyers routinely look beyond the facility’s name on the door to identify every entity that played a role in your loved one’s injury.

How Do Staffing Agencies Fit Into Nursing Home Operations?

They place registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and certified nursing assistants on contract—sometimes for a few shifts, sometimes for months. Staffing shortages remain a challenge for nursing homes since the COVID-19 pandemic, leading many facilities to rely on agency and contract workers to fill open positions. According to a 2025 analysis by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the use of contract nursing staff increased sharply during the pandemic and remains higher than pre-pandemic levels. Agency workers are often brought in to cover shifts that facilities can’t fill with permanent employees, helping nursing homes maintain day-to-day operations.

The arrangement is legal, but it changes accountability. The agency is responsible for vetting, credentialing, and in some cases supervising its workers. The facility is responsible for orienting, directing, and maintaining safe staffing levels overall. Both obligations have to be met for a resident to receive safe care.

When Is the Agency Legally Responsible For Nursing Home Neglect?

Third-party staffing companies aren’t automatically liable when your loved one suffers harm. However, an agency may be held legally responsible if its own actions—or failures—contributed to the neglect. The skilled team of Kentucky nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys at Gray & White Law help determine liability by examining the agency’s role in hiring, screening, training, supervising, and placing the worker involved in the incident. Here are some crucial factors in proving responsibility.

Negligent Hiring and Credential Verification

A staffing agency must verify that the nurse or aide it sends out is actually licensed, in good standing, and qualified for the role. When agencies cut corners—such as skipping background checks, missing license suspensions in other states, or failing to confirm CNA certification—and that worker harms a resident, the agency can be liable.

Negligent Supervision and Training

Even when a worker is properly credentialed, the agency can be responsible for supervising assignments and providing job-specific training. If an agency repeatedly sends a worker who has been the subject of complaints to new facilities without intervention, or fails to provide training required by its own policies, that conduct can support a negligent supervision claim.

Negligent Retention

Agencies sometimes know through complaints, prior incidents, or facility feedback that a particular worker has issues with rough handling, falsified documentation, or substance use. However, if the agency keeps that worker on its rolls and assigns them to vulnerable residents anyway, retention itself becomes a basis for liability.

Contributing to Understaffing

This one cuts in both directions. A facility may be the one signing the contract, but if an agency promises staff it can’t deliver, sends unqualified replacements, or pulls workers off shift mid-day, it can contribute to the understaffing conditions that lead to wrongful neglect. Our legal professionals closely review agency contracts and shift records to determine whether the facility’s staffing crisis was partly the agency’s own doing.

Vicarious Liability: Who Was the Worker’s “Employer” That Day?

Kentucky courts apply a "right of control" analysis when determining whether a worker is acting on behalf of a particular employer, focusing on which entity had the authority to direct and control the details of the worker's duties at the time of the alleged negligence. 

Even if a nurse or caregiver was employed by a staffing agency, the nursing home may be legally responsible if it directed the worker's activities, supervised their performance, and controlled how resident care was provided. 

Why Should a Staffing Agency Be Included in a Nursing Home Neglect Lawsuit?

When your loved one suffered serious injuries or wrongful death due to insufficient staffing, the goal is clear: to uphold their rights and your family’s ability to pursue full accountability and compensation. In many cases, the agency may have its own liability insurance coverage, creating additional financial resources in your case.

Just as importantly, a claim against the agency opens the door to evidence the nursing home might not possess. It’s our mission at Gray & White Law to reveal critical proof of abuse and neglect through: 

• Personnel files.
• Training records.
• Complaint histories.
• Staffing communications.
• Contracts and other documents that may reveal negligent hiring practices.
• A pattern of placing unqualified workers in resident care positions.

Taking action quickly is critical. We send preservation demands, subpoena agency records, review insurance coverage, and compare the worker's qualifications against the position's requirements. When both the nursing home and staffing agency are investigated, it becomes harder for either party to shift blame to the other. Instead, the focus remains on uncovering the facts, identifying every responsible party, and building the strongest possible case on behalf of your family.