When your personal life isn't going as well as you'd like, it sometimes affects your professional life. For nurses, the consequences can be devastating for everyone involved. Hardly anyone is more aware of this than Nevada nurses who become defendants against restraining or protective orders and domestic abuse charges.
As a nurse in Nevada, you must protect your reputation from allegations like these. The most surefire way to do it is to partner with lawyers who take your career as seriously as you do. That's why you should contact the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team by calling 888.535.3686 or filling out this contact form.
What Does the Nevada State Board of Nursing Do with Restraining Orders and Domestic Abuse Charges?
There is no system that will automatically notify the Nevada State Board of Nursing when one of its licensed professionals is facing domestic abuse allegations or received a Please always link to the source you are summarizing (policy, law, handbook, news article) and choose good anchor text.. If the board ever finds out about them, it's usually through other methods. For example, someone who knows about the restraining order or pending allegations might file a complaint to the Nevada State Board of Nursing.
Also, the board requires its licensed professionals to self-report criminal convictions as part of their background check and fingerprinting procedures when screening you for a new or extended license. Even if you fail to self-report, the charge and/or restraining order might be recorded in the background check results, unless the charges were filed more than seven years prior.
Regardless of how the board learns about the charges or restraining order, they're unlikely to rely solely on the court's conclusions to determine whether disciplinary action is necessary. Instead, they'll conduct an independent investigation. After interviewing victims and witnesses and compiling all the relevant evidence, including documents, photographs, recordings, videos, communications, and statements from you, provided that you respond in a timely manner, the investigator will present their findings to the board. Then they'll decide whether and how to sanction your license. Actions may include:
Imposition of Fee or Fine
Investigations, administrative costs, and potential lawsuits from victims are all expensive. Plus, making a person's wallet lighter is often effective for deterring poor or undesirable behavior. For all these reasons, the Nevada State Board of Nursing might impose fees or fines on you.
The steeper the fines or fees, the harder they will be to pay off. You could suffer major financial setbacks. As if that's not stressful enough, dedicating so much money to them would hinder your ability to pay for equipment or continuing education courses. Your career might be stuck until the fees or fines are paid in full.
Public Reprimand
By issuing a public reprimand, the board can declare its condemnation of your actions and its intention to hold you to a higher standard or enact harsher disciplinary measures if you show no improvement. As sanctions go, it's among the easiest to absorb.
Nevertheless, since the reprimands are public, you could have difficulty convincing anyone to hire or promote you. After all, anyone would be able to look up the reprimand, which might dampen whatever positive impression you might have given otherwise.
Probation
With probation, you can usually continue working as a nurse as though nothing had happened—except that you'd be subject to a set of conditions or requirements. Mandatory supervision, monitoring, rehabilitation, counseling, or remedial education are all common examples.
There are certainly worse sanctions than contending with more stipulations than usual while doing your normal work. Still, it can be distracting, time-consuming, and even embarrassing to have extra tasks to do, all with your actions constantly under scrutiny. You would also have to regularly send forms about the progress of your probation to the Nevada State Board of Nursing, which is just another stressor that you probably don't need.
License Suspension
For more egregious cases, the board might obligate you to take time away from work by suspending your nursing license. The upside is that suspensions are temporary, so once you've spent a predetermined amount of time out of the field and/or fulfilled any conditions assigned to you for reinstatement, you can start practicing again.
However, the downside is that you could struggle to support yourself financially until the board lifts the suspension. The forced break could also dull your skills and make you less attractive to employers who would question the gap in your resume.
License Denial or Revocation
If the restraining order or domestic abuse charges are coming against you while you're applying to obtain or renew your nursing license, the board might decide to deny your application. You wouldn't be able to reapply for three years. Should the board deny you again at that point, you'd have to wait another two years.
The possibility of reapplying means that not all hope is lost, but it's a long time to survive on a different income while barred from your field of choice. Even if you do get your nursing license back, your reputation and credibility would be stained, and you would be out of practice; employers may not want to hire you. These denials and delays can permanently derail your career.
Alternative to Discipline Program
Many domestic abuse allegations and restraining orders start with substance abuse or addiction. If that's a factor in your case, the Nevada State Board of Nursing may allow you to retain your license as long as you agree to temporarily surrender it and enroll in an alternative discipline program. You would have six months to successfully complete it.
It's often a relief to have the promise of a job waiting for you upon finishing the program. Unfortunately, as with suspensions and revocations, the time away from work can negatively impact how employers view your skills, experience, and reliability.
More Possibilities Through a Settlement Agreement
These and other sanctions could all be part of a settlement agreement that the board will present to you after reviewing the results of the investigation into your case. You can accept their terms and quickly put the matter behind you as best as you can.
However, you also have the option to reject the agreement and request a formal administrative hearing. If the board honors your request, they'll schedule it and invite you to advocate for yourself. It's a chance to share your own information and perspectives, cross-examine witnesses, and offer evidence supporting your actions or position. Depending on how well the hearing goes, the board may either adhere to the original settlement agreement, change the sanctions, or dismiss the case altogether.
Why the Nevada State Board of Nursing Might Discipline You for Restraining Orders and Domestic Abuse Charges
Considering all the stress that you may be experiencing, it's natural to question why the Nevada State Board of Nursing would care about your personal matters in the first place. In fact, the board frowns so deeply upon domestic abuse that a conviction could disqualify you from working in a variety of nursing settings, namely home health visits and facilities for intermediate, skilled, or residential care.
From the board's perspective, there are several reasons to worry about nurses who might be guilty of domestic abuse or anything else that would warrant a restraining order. These problems are especially relevant:
Unethical or Unprofessional Conduct
The Nevada State Board of Nursing requires all its licensed professionals to adhere to a code of ethics of professional conduct. One of the most vital provisions is to treat co-workers, superiors, subordinates, and patients (and with their families) with respect.
Many of the behaviors typical of domestic abuse, such as harassment, stalking, bullying, intimidation, and violence, would break this code in the workplace. The board is wary of taking a risk on nurses who may already exhibit such behaviors, as evidenced in the restraining order criminal charges filed against them. In the eyes of the board, sanctioning the offender's license would prevent disruptions and legal issues.
Long Absences from Work
It's not uncommon for Nevada courts to sentence those convicted of domestic abuse to serve prison time and/or probation with community service. If that happens to a nurse, they would need to spend considerable stretches away from work. At best, their availability would be severely limited. Rather than dealing with this, the board might try to simplify things for themselves by imposing license sanctions.
Issues with Sentence or RO Violations
Even if the court's sentence doesn't interfere with the nurse's ability to work, violating the sentence or restraining order could cause additional problems. For example, there may be times when the nurse comes too close to the retraining order's petitioner, or they fail to comply with a condition of probation. Whether done on purpose or by accident, these violations can provoke harsher penalties from the court, which would then affect the nurse's presence at work.
Problems with Mental or Emotional Health
Mental illness and emotional disorders are common and significant contributors to domestic abuse. If they factor into a nurse's criminal actions at home, then they are probably affecting said nurse's work performance as well.
Examples include poor concentration, low motivation, and simple disrespect toward patients and colleagues. It's even worse if the nurse self-medicates with drugs or alcohol. The board would often rather sanction a license than risk serious problems stemming from the nurse's mental or emotional health.
Options for Protecting Your Nursing License in Nevada
Your battle with a restraining order and domestic abuse charges begins in court, but it may not end there. Even if the court dismisses your case or assigns you minimal penalties, the Nevada State Board of Nursing may treat you harshly. Here are some ideas for preventing that.
Appeal Their Decision
If the board has already adjudicated your case, consider appealing. They'll revisit the complaint against you if they see a valid reason, and you'll have another chance to convince them not to sanction you, or at least to select lighter sanctions. Let the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team help you this time around.
Take a Course in Domestic Violence Education
The board is more likely to have confidence in your employability if you take the initiative to receive help for the issues that led to the domestic abuse charges. Luckily, the state of Nevada offers several programs for treating perpetrators of domestic abuse. One example is a Nevada-focused domestic violence class that addresses root issues to educate and rehabilitate offenders.
Make a Deal
With advice from the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team, go to your hearing with a proposal that would benefit both you and the board. For instance, you could offer to switch to more suitable roles or complete programs relevant to your crimes, and in return, the board might be lenient toward you.
Why Hire the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team?
You may already know that you need a lawyer to help you fight the restraining order and domestic abuse charges in civil and criminal courts. However, you need assistance specifically for protecting your nursing license, too; after all, the board's decisions don't have to match those of the courts. The Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team is prepared to address this aspect of the case against you.
In fact, the team enjoys nationwide renown for its ability to craft powerful and personalized defenses for nurses whose licenses are threatened. By humanizing you to the board, examining your case from every perspective possible, and ensuring your fair treatment under the law, they'll save your license and guarantee that your career will last for as long as you'd like.
Save Your Nevada Nursing Career
Although domestic abuse charges and restraining orders are serious matters, they don't have to ruin all the hard work you've put into nursing. As long as you take the necessary steps to protect your nursing license, you can retain the job you love and continue building a dignified life for yourself. To learn more, contact the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team at 888.535.3686 or fill out this contact form.
