California Board of Registered Nursing Takes Action

ProPublica reports that, in response to the recent story about the failure of the California Board of Registered Nursing to investigate nurses with multiple criminal convictions, the Board has signaled that it will begin requiring nurses to disclose criminal convictions in the reapplication process. In addition, fingerprinting of nurses who were licensed before the fingerprinting requirement took effect will be required prior to re-licensure.

Enforcement Record of Board of Registered Nursing Questioned

Former L.A. Times health reporters Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber report on the erratic record of disciplinary enforcement by the California Board of Registered Nursing. Based on the L.A. Times investigation, the Board failed to investigate or act in over 115 recent cases involving registered nurse convictions of serious crimes.

The investigation highlighted the role of fingerprinting in triggering notification of the licensing board by criminal law enforcement agencies (and, specifically, the lack of fingerprinting of nurses originally licensed before 1990). In addition, the enforcement gap is attributed to the lack of a requirement of self-disclosure in the registered nurse license reapplication process.

Recommended Action: The erratic nature of investigations and enforcement by the various California healthcare licensing boards (all of which are subsumed within the Department of Consumer Affairs) should come as no surprise to anyone who has dealt with the boards on a regular basis. The issue is not merely one of insufficient resources. While this investigation highlighted an enforcement “gap,” there are many examples of enforcement activity that most outside observers would regard as needless and inefficient allocation of board resources. The boards, for example, often choose to initiate and prosecute full-blown disciplinary actions even when dealing long after-the-fact with problems that have already been “fixed” and issues that have already been remediated. In light of the increased public pressure that may ensue from this latest and prior reports on licensing enforcement, healthcare providers in California need to assess their potential exposure to licensing investigation and enforcement and take steps to limit risk as much as possible.

Harry Nelson is a partner in Fenton & Nelson, LLP. Fenton & Nelson counsels and defends nurses, physicians, and other healthcare providers on investigations, disciplinary enforcement actions, and other matters related to the relevant licensing boards. For additional information, please contact him at harry@fentonnelson.com

©Harry Nelson 2008