Despite specializing in a profession centered on caring, nurses in New Mexico are as prone as anyone else to acts of domestic violence and receiving protection orders. As if that's not stressful enough, nurses in these situations must also worry that protection orders and domestic violence charges can result in severe sanctions on their licenses.
Luckily, New Mexico's nurses are not alone. The Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team is always happy to step in and defend nurses who become defendants in protection order and domestic violence cases. Find out how they can help you by calling their offices at 888.535.3686 or filling out this contact form.
How the New Mexico Board of Nursing Addresses Protection Orders and Domestic Violence Charges
You might worry that the New Mexico Board of Nursing will automatically receive a notification that someone has filed domestic abuse charges or a protection order against you. However, the board won't know anything about your situation unless one of the following occurs:
- They receive a written complaint explaining the case against you.
- You've applied to obtain a nursing license for the first time or to renew an existing one, and the case comes up during the criminal background check portion (which will only happen in New Mexico if it's been pending for less than seven years or resulted in a conviction within the last seven years).
- You self-report it to the board, which you may do simply to get ahead of any questions or concerns that the New Mexico Board of Nursing might express later.
No matter how the board finds out about your case, they'll almost certainly require that you provide proof of your self-improvement. Perhaps you've recently gone through a rehabilitation program or simply kept out of trouble for the last several years.
To fully assess the seriousness of the charges and verify your claims, the board will likely conduct an investigation into your case as well. This usually means compiling tangible evidence, such as recordings, video footage, schedules, and other relevant documents, in addition to witness, victim, and character statements.
Following the investigation, the board will ask you to attend a disciplinary hearing. That's when you can respond to any other inquiries or concerns that they have, and/or you can advocate for yourself and explain your side of things. It's probably your best opportunity to avoid sanctions against your nursing license.
However, the New Mexico Board of Nursing might decide to impose sanctions anyway. Possible disciplinary actions include:
License Revocation or Denial
It's the most extreme disciplinary measure that the board could take, but don't underestimate the possibility that they would revoke or deny your nursing license. You could no longer legally practice nursing in New Mexico.
Although you could appeal or reapply after one year, the damage might already be done; your nursing career could be permanently stunted. Plus, you would be subject to more scrutiny, higher fees, and stricter requirements than other nurses to gain the board's approval.
License Suspension
Maybe the board will think you still deserve to keep your nursing license, but need a suspension. They'll bar you from practicing nursing in New Mexico anywhere from a few weeks to several years, and/or until you meet predetermined requirements demonstrating your readiness to work again.
It would be a relief to know that you can keep your nursing license. However, the break in your employment—even if temporary—could still hinder your career, as you'd miss out on opportunities to obtain experience and further master your skills.
License Restrictions
Another way that the board could alter your nursing license while letting you keep it is to restrict your practice. You would have to comply with a set of conditions, such as working only in certain places, fields, or shifts, or with certain demographics. Perhaps you'd also have less authority, limiting you to specific tasks.
With fewer options available to you, gaining experience, learning new skills, and organizing your life outside work could all be more difficult. It might also affect your professional relationships with other nurses and supervisors who would have to fill in for the things you couldn't do.
Extra Supervision
You might be lucky enough to keep your nursing license completely intact without any revocations, denials, suspensions, or restrictions. However, the board might instead assign a supervisor to more closely monitor your activities for a while, and they'll have to report any new violations or instances of non-compliance.
Besides the fact that heavier supervision can be frustrating and distracting, it's surely something that other nurses and authority figures would notice. You could have trouble developing a supportive professional network that would help further your career.
Fine or Civil Penalty
Potentially ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars, a fine or civil penalty is meant to punish and deter you by hurting your wallet. Depending on the amount, you could suffer financially and may be forced to put off paying for continuing education courses or other important tools for developing yourself as a nurse.
Public Reprimand or Censure
Though it's basically the written equivalent of a slap on the wrist, a public reprimand or censure could still harm you. It would announce to anyone who knows where to find it that you did something wrong and that the board will be watching to make sure you do better. Employers and patients may be more hesitant to work with you if they see it.
Continuing or Remedial Education Courses
Many nurses seek continuing education courses, whether required or not, simply because it's important to keep up with evolutions in medical care and have specialties that increase their employability.
Nevertheless, you might have less enthusiasm about them when the board decides which ones you must take as part of your punishment. Plus, remedial courses related to domestic violence or protection orders tend not to make a resume more attractive.
Alternative to Discipline Program
There's a wide variety of ways to engage in domestic violence. If your situation has anything to do with mental illness and/or substance abuse, the New Mexico Board of Nursing might offer you a chance to enroll in an alternative to discipline program. You could get treatment for your problem while knowing that you can return to your job once you're finished.
This might be the most compassionate sanction the board offers. However, as with suspensions and revocations, the time away from work usually creates a questionable gap in your resume and could dull your skills.
Why the New Mexico Board of Nursing Gets Involved
If you can technically still do your job as a nurse, why should the New Mexico Board of Nursing discipline you for private matters that didn't happen on the clock anyway?
When the crimes of which you are accused include domestic violence and warrant protection orders, the board becomes concerned that the same problems or traits that led to those charges, as well as the charges themselves, could influence your performance at work as well. More specifically, they worry about the following:
Extended Absences
A court judge might sentence you to prison or community service for a domestic violence conviction. There's a good chance that an employer would be unwilling to avoid filling your job before you're released, and the New Mexico Board of Nursing might not force them. Sanctioning your nursing license gives them more options for dealing with long or frequent absences.
Problems Caused by Violations
If you violate a protection order or probation terms—even by honest mistake—the police could arrest you at work, disrupting the environment. After that, they could file a new criminal charge against you, which might result in additional jail time or community service, in addition to triggering another investigation from the New Mexico Board of Nursing. It creates more stress for everyone involved, so the board may decide that sanctioning your license would be simpler.
Ethical or Professional Misconduct
According to New Mexico law and regulations established by the board, nurses are held to high standards of integrity and quality of services. They're expected to treat patients and colleagues alike with attentiveness, compassion, and respect. If a nurse is suspected or guilty of committing domestic violence, they're more likely to assault, harass, bully, threaten, or intimidate everyone with whom they work.
Not only do such actions create a hostile work environment, but they're often grounds for lawsuits. The New Mexico Board of Nursing might try to maintain morale and prevent legal problems by sanctioning you.
Mental or Emotional Health Issues
Many people who struggle with mental or emotional health problems end up lashing out recklessly or turning to substance abuse, which could explain the domestic violence charges against some nurses. This often makes them unreliable and even dangerous within the workplace. Criminal allegations can further worsen the nurse's mental state and therefore increase the potential for trouble.
Nurses must also have the focus and motivation necessary to work diligently, swiftly, and accurately, and without harming anyone. The board might not trust that a nurse under investigation for violence or protection orders is capable of such a performance, so sanctions allow them to stop problems before they can start.
Options for Protecting Your Nursing License in New Mexico
The outcome of your criminal domestic violence case or protection order might not cost you a job or nursing license. However, it also won't do you any favors in convincing the New Mexico Board of Nursing to approve you or dismiss any complaints against you. To maximize the likelihood that you'll get to continue practicing, consider taking the following actions:
Complete a Specialized Program or Course
Show initiative for your own self-improvement by successfully completing an educational or rehabilitative course for New Mexico's domestic violence offenders. You could also enroll in one of the state's substance abuse programs if drugs or alcohol have anything to do with your criminal actions.
Negotiate a More Favorable Outcome
Are some sanctions easier for you to handle than others? Do you have any valuable knowledge or skills that the New Mexico Board of Nursing would accept in exchange for less severe sanctions? Work with your lawyer to devise a negotiation strategy that could please the board and salvage your career.
Appeal the Board's Decision
Maybe the New Mexico Board of Nursing will rule against you and impose harsh penalties on your license despite your best efforts. Fortunately, there's always the option to appeal. Let your lawyer walk you through the process and defend you to the board with renewed vigor and fresh strategies.
Why Hire the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team?
Criminal and civil courts handle protection orders and domestic violence cases. Nevertheless, you mustn't underestimate the impact they could have on your job as a nurse, even if you're not convicted, so you need lawyers focused on protecting your professional license.
Contacting the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team should be your next step after learning about the protection order and/or charges against you. These are the reasons why:
Legal Guidance
Have you felt confused by the legal language of protection orders and domestic violence charges? The Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team can help you understand them so that you don't do anything to make the New Mexico Board of Nursing think that sanctions are their best option in handling your case.
Thorough Defense Strategies
The Lento Law Firm doesn't accept face value. They dig deep to fully understand every aspect of your case. With the information they find, they'll do everything in their power to craft a strategy that anticipates and counters any concerns or arguments that the board might have about allowing you to keep your license or minimize sanctions.
Personalized Service
On a similar note, the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team believes that people deserve chances for change and redemption, and they apply that belief to their work. They'll analyze your character and situation from every possible angle to ensure that the board sees the growing human being behind the charges. The board is more likely to show leniency when they sympathize with you.
Don't Give Up Nursing in New Mexico
Protection orders and domestic violence charges don't have to spell the end of your nursing career in New Mexico. With the assistance of the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team, this case can become nothing more than a temporary setback. To schedule a consultation, call the Lento Law Firm today at 888.535.3686 or fill out this contact form.
