As we have discussed on our website, Registered Nurses during the pandemic have suffered unprecedented challenges. Even when emergency measures are eased and requirements are relaxed throughout California, hospitals remain ground zero for those suffering from COVID-19, including the highest acuity patients suffering from the most severe reactions to the disease. Nurses in hospitals
Board of Registered Nursing
Registered Nurse License Accusation Dismissed after Board Refused to Offer Public Reprimand
The Board of Registered Nursing accused our client of gross negligence and incompetence in the practice of nursing following alleged failure to obtain or document a specific reading with respect to a patient under her care. To resolve the case, our client was willing to enter into a public letter of reproval, but the Board…
Case Dismissed After Hearing: Accusation Against RN for Out of State Discipline
Our office represented a registered nurse in 2019 who had suffered discipline from a registered nursing state agency outside of California. The allegations were that the nurse had admitted to a substance abuse dependency and was subject to five years of monitoring in the other state due to that admission. The California Board of Registered…
BRN Probation and COVID-19
Editor’s Note: this article was written and posted on March 24, 2020, during the COVID-19 global pandemic. It reflects a state of affairs in California that changes hourly. The information contained may be out of date.
California continues to experience extremely high demand for nurses in critical care settings to response to the COVID-19 outbreak. …
Registered Nurse Given Reprimand for DUI
The Board of Registered Nursing in California pursues discipline in almost every case where a Registered Nurse suffers a conviction for Driving Under the Influence. The Board is authorized to place a nurse on a minimum of three years’ probation for a single DUI, as the Board’s Recommended Guidelines for Disciplinary Orders and Conditions of…
RN Accusation Dismissed
Out-of-state discipline is a common basis for California license discipline, under the applicable statutes that allow the Board of Registered Nursing to seek collateral discipline against a licensee who is disciplined or censured by another state’s licensing entity (even when the licensing entity is not necessarily a nursing board). In this case, our client was…
BRN Petition to Revoke Probation Dismissed
The Board of Registered Nursing sometimes pursues discipline against nurses whose incompetence gravely threatens the health and welfare of the California public. At other times, they pursue discipline against nurses like our client, who was placed on probation in 2016, but failed to realize she was on probation for the first two weeks. Instead of…
RN Investigation Closed with No Discipline After Interview and Section 820 Examination
One of our registered nursing clients suffered a panic attack during an episode of post-partum depression. Her husband phoned the police to help deescalate the conflict, but it unfortunately led to her arrest on suspicion of domestic violence. Although the charges were dropped, our client was questioned by the Board, given employment releases to sign,…
RN Accusation Dismissed Without Hearing
Our registered nurse client was accused of physically assaulting a patient and verbally abusing him while on duty at the client’s hospital. The problem? The only evidence of the so-called “assault” came from the patient, who had a history of psychosis and whose complaint was authored by another RN. No other witnesses had anything negative…
What to Consider if the BRN Offers the Diversion Program
When a Registered Nurse is accused of misconduct, either by law enforcement or through a hospital complaint, the common “first step” from the Board of Registered Nursing is to send the RN a letter offering the chance to participate in the Board’s Intervention Program. Previously referred to as the “Diversion program,” the Board of…