New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 8 - SOCIAL SERVICES
Chapter 11 - ADULT PROTECTIVE SERVICES
Part 6 - EMPLOYEE ABUSE REGISTRY
Section 8.11.6.7 - DEFINITIONS

A. "Abuse" means:

B. "Adjudicated" means with respect to a substantiated registry-referred complaint, a final determination by the secretary following a hearing, or by a court, that the employee committed abuse, neglect, or exploitation requiring the listing of the employee on the registry.

C. "APS" means the adult protective services division of the aging and long-term services department.

D. "Behavioral change" means an observable manifestation of psychological, emotional or mental harm, injury, suffering or damage, and includes, but is not limited to, crying, hysterical speech, or disruptions to sleeping, working, eating, speech, nonverbal communications, socially interacting, or other activities which were performed routinely before the harm, injury, suffering, or damage.

E. "Complaint" means a report of adult abuse, neglect or exploitation received by APS that falls within APS's mandate to investigate.

F. "Custodian" means the person assigned by the secretary of the department of health to maintain the registry in accordance with the Employee Abuse Registry Act.

G. "Department" means the aging and long-term services department.

H. "Direct care" means face-to-face services provided or routine and unsupervised physical or financial access to a recipient of care or services.

I. "Employee" means a person employed by or on contract with a provider, either directly or through a third party arrangement to provide direct care. "Employee" does not include a New Mexico licensed health care professional practicing within the scope of the professional's license or a certified nurse aide practicing as a certified nurse aide.

J. "Exploitation" means an unjust or improper use of a person's money or property for another person's profit or advantage, pecuniary or otherwise.

K. "Investigation" means a systematic fact finding process that has as its goal the gathering of all information relevant to making a determination whether an incident of abuse, neglect or exploitation occurred.

L. "Licensed health care professional" means a person who is required to be licensed, and is licensed, by a New Mexico health care professional licensing board or authority, and the issuance of whose professional license is conditioned upon the successful completion of a post secondary academic course of study resulting in a degree or diploma, including physicians and physician assistants, audiologists, acupuncture practitioners, dentists, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, chiropractors, pharmacists, podiatrists, certified nurse-midwife, nurse practitioners, occupational therapists, optometrists, respiratory therapists, speech language pathologists, pharmacists, physical therapists, psychologists and psychologist associates, dietitians, nutritionists and social workers.

M. "Manager" means the person designated by the secretary of the department of health to manage the employee abuse registry program pursuant to the Employee Abuse Registry Act.

N. "Mental anguish" means a relatively high degree of mental pain and distress that is more than mere disappointment, anger, resentment or embarrassment, although it may include all of these and includes a mental sensation of extreme or excruciating pain.

O. "Neglect" means, subject to a person's right to refuse treatment and subject to a provider's right to exercise sound medical discretion, the failure of an employee to provide basic needs such as clothing, food, shelter, supervision, protection and care for the physical and mental health of a person or failure by a person that may cause physical or psychological harm. Neglect includes the knowing and intentional failure of an employee to reasonably protect a recipient of care or services from nonconsensual, inappropriate or harmful sexual contact, including such contact with another recipient of care or services.

P. "Provider" means an intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded; a rehabilitation facility; a home health agency; a homemaker agency; a home for the aged or disabled; a group home; an adult foster care home; a case management entity that provides services to elderly people or people with developmental disabilities; a corporate guardian; a private residence that provides personal care, adult residential care or natural and surrogate family services provided to persons with developmental disabilities; an adult daycare center; a boarding home; an adult residential care home; a residential service or habilitation service authorized to be reimbursed by medicaid; any licensed or medicaid-certified entity or any program funded by the aging and long-term services department that provides respite, companion or personal care services; programs funded by the children, youth and families department that provide homemaker or adult daycare services; and any other individual, agency or organization that provides respite care or delivers home- and community-based services to adults or children with developmental disabilities or physical disabilities or to the elderly, but excluding a managed care organization unless the employees of the managed care organization provide respite care, deliver home- and community-based services to adults or children with developmental disabilities or physical disabilities or to the elderly.

Q. "Registry" means the Employee Abuse Registry, an electronic database operated by the department of health that maintains current information on substantiated registry-referred employee abuse, neglect or exploitation, including the names and identifying information of all employees who, during employment with a provider, engaged in a substantiated registry-referred or an adjudicated incident of abuse, neglect or exploitation involving a recipient of care or services from a provider as established by department of health rule 7.1.12 NMAC.

R. "Reporter" means a person who or an entity that reports possible abuse, neglect or exploitation to APS.

S. "Secretary" means the secretary of the department.

T. "Sexual abuse" means the inappropriate touching of a recipient of care or services by an employee for sexual purpose or in a sexual manner, and includes kissing, touching the genitals, buttocks, or breasts, causing the recipient of care or services to touch the employee for sexual purpose, or promoting or observing for sexual purpose any activity or performance involving play, photography, filming or depiction of acts considered pornographic.

U. "Substantiated" means the verification of a complaint based upon a preponderance of reliable evidence obtained from an appropriate investigation of a complaint of abuse, neglect, or exploitation.

V. "Substantiated registry-referred" means a substantiated complaint that satisfies the severity standard for referral of the employee to the registry.

W. "Unsubstantiated" means that that the complaint's alleged abuse, neglect or exploitation did not or could not have occurred, or there is not a preponderance of reliable evidence to substantiate the complaint, or that there is conflicting evidence that is inconclusive.

X. "Verbal abuse" means profane, threatening, derogatory, or demeaning language, spoken or conveyed by an employee with the intent to cause pain, distress or injury, and which does cause pain, distress or injury as objectively manifested by the recipient of care or services.