Practical Tips To Protect Your Nursing License

I am frequently asked by nurses how to protect their nursing licenses. Here are five simple things that a nurse can do, which many nurses told me they did not know, to protect her license.

1. Notify the Board of any change of address.
2. Notify the Board of all disciplinary action on your renewal application.
3. Document on each employment application whether or not you have been terminated from a prior position.
4. Document on each employment application whether or not you resigned from a prior position.
5. Document any refusal to accept a patient assignment.

You are required to keep the Board apprised at all times of your current address, which is simple. It can be done online at www.ai.org/pla, under the tab for Nursing Board. If the Board is not apprised of your current address and there is a complaint filed against your license, it is possible that, if you do not receive Changes from the Board, you could be defaulted for failure to appear in which case your nursing license would be suspended. It is imperative to keep the Board apprised at all time of your current address. Add it to your list of people to notify when you move.

Nurses frequently tell me that they did not know they were supposed to notify the Board of any disciplinary action. On the renewal application, the question specifically states “Have you ever been terminated, reprimanded, disciplined, or demoted in the scope of your practice or as another healthcare professional ” If you have received a verbal warning, that is discipline and the Board must be notified. You can submit an explanation when notifying the Board, but the Board must be notified of any discipline, even a verbal warning. In fact, the Board may consider discipline for attendance to be within the role of your professional capacity and therefore that must be disclosed as well. The Board simply wants to know what discipline has been taken against you so it can make sure you are safe to continue to practice. It is imperative that you notify the Board of any discipline. Failure to notify the Board of any discipline can result in charges against your license for misrepresentation on your renewal application for a license.

Nurses frequently tell me that they have been terminated from a position but do not want to put it on the employment application. You are required to inform potential employers that you have been terminated from a prior position. Failure to notify them may result in charges against your license from the Board for misrepresentation in obtaining a position as a registered or licensed nurse. You can put that you were terminated from a position and would be happy to discuss the facts during an interview. If there is an investigation of a complaint brought against you, the Attorney General’s Office will obtain copies of all your previous employment applications, and records. Each time that you did not disclose a termination from a prior position is a separate count in the Charges against your nursing license.

If you are resigning from a position, make sure you give adequate notice and put it in writing, keeping a copy for yourself. If you resign without putting it in writing, and especially without notice, it can be construed as a termination. If you leave without notice, that is also considered patient abandonment. If it is in your employment file that you were terminated from a position and you have no proof that you resigned from your position with adequate notice and that the facility accepted your resignation, it is possible that Charges could be brought against your license.

Another tip to protect your license is accepting assignments. If you are floated to a unit that you feel uncomfortable working, you cannot leave. That is considered patient abandonment. You are required to accept any assignment that is given to you. If you are given an assignment you do not feel comfortable working and have not been adequately oriented or trained to work that unit, write a note to your supervisor to inform them of that fact and keep a copy for yourself. If a complaint is filed against you at a later date, you have the best evidence showing that you questioned the assignment and did not feel that you had been adequately trained to accept the assignment. This may help protect your license.

I hope you find these tips helpful to protect your license and that you implement them right away. If you have been terminated from a position and did not put it your renewal application, you can write the Board a letter explaining that you were not aware that it should have been reported, you had read this article, and you want to do the right thing. I can’t guarantee that the Board will not take action against your license but it will certainly show good faith on your part that you want to be an ethical, honest nurse and follow the Nurse Practice Act and the rules of your profession. For more information on protecting your license, check out www.empowerednurses.org .