Category: License Protection

Most nurses do not walk into a shift thinking, One day I may have to defend my license. They worry about patients. They worry about staffing. They worry about whether they charted enough, moved fast enough, caught enough, documented enough, and gave enough. They worry about being a good nurse. And that is exactly why a board matter hits so […]

Most nurses do not wake up in the morning thinking about the Board of Nursing. They think about their patients. Their charting. Their coworkers. Their family. Their next shift. Their next cup of coffee that will probably be cold before they get to finish it. And that is exactly why stories like this matter. Because while nurses are busy taking […]

When most people think about the leading causes of death in the United States, they think of heart disease, cancer, and accidents. What they usually do not think about is medical error. That is part of the problem. A widely cited 2016 BMJ analysis estimated that medical error may account for more than 250,000 deaths annually in the United States, […]

  A performance review is one of the few documents your employer creates that formally evaluates your competence, behavior, and overall practice as a nurse. And yet, most nurses sign it, maybe skim it, and never think about it again. That’s a mistake. You should always keep a copy of your performance review—because it can protect you, support you, and, […]

There is a moment on night shift that almost every nurse recognizes. The hallway lights are dimmed, the call lights are quiet, and the steady hum of monitors fills the silence. The rest of the world is asleep, and the hospital feels like it has slowed its pulse. Somewhere around three in the morning, the body feels it. Eyelids grow […]

In the intensive care unit, we measure pressures, saturations, reflexes, and responses. Outside the hospital walls, we measure trust, influence, reputation, and the sacred bond between nurse and community. When one of our own—like Lexi Lawler—becomes wrapped up in polarizing, harmful speech online, it’s not primarily a First Amendment issue. It’s a professionalism and ethics issue. Lexi Lawler, a former […]

If you’ve ever worked a shift so short-staffed that you skipped water, skipped the bathroom, skipped your own humanity—while being told, “There’s just no money right now”—this one’s for you. Because here’s the uncomfortable diagnosis healthcare doesn’t want to chart: The problem isn’t a lack of money. It’s a failure of distribution. This isn’t a revenue issue. It’s an ethical […]

  For many nurses, student loan debt shapes career decisions long after graduation. It influences where you work, whether you pursue an advanced degree, and if teaching or serving in an underserved area is even financially possible. Washington State has taken steps to address this reality through loan repayment initiatives designed specifically to support nurses while strengthening the healthcare workforce. […]

Most nurses think about malpractice insurance the way we think about crash carts — important, but something we hope we never have to use. License protection? That’s more like oxygen. You don’t notice it… until suddenly, you can’t breathe. The 2025 NSO/CNA Nurse Professional Liability Claim Report (5th Edition) offers a sobering but empowering look at what actually happens when […]

Most nurses who cross a scope-of-practice line don’t do it out of arrogance, recklessness, or a desire to overstep. They do it because they’re trying to help. They do it because a patient needs something now, the unit is short, and someone says, “Can you just…?” And in that moment, it doesn’t feel like crossing a line. It feels like being […]