The practice of nursing in New Hampshire has to be among the most rewarding of possible healthcare practices, with the state’s sound economy, fine towns, stable population, and sophisticated healthcare system. You put a tremendous amount into completing your nursing education, passing your examination, and gaining your New Hampshire nursing license. Don’t let the New Hampshire Board of Nursing suspend or revoke your license over your criminal arrest, charge, or conviction, costing you everything for which you’ve worked. Whether you practice in Manchester, Nashua, Concord, Derry, Dover, Rochester, Salem, Merrimack, Londonderry, Hudson, Bedford, Keene, Portsmouth, or any other New Hampshire city or town, the LLF National Law Firm’s premier Professional License Defense Team is committed and available to defend your nursing license against Board of Nursing disciplinary charges over your criminal issues. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form now for the help you need to preserve and protect your New Hampshire nursing practice and employment.
New Hampshire Nurse Criminal Arrests
New Hampshire has relatively low crime rates, on the order of one half the property and violent crimes rates for the U.S. as a whole. Yet New Hampshire residents still committed over 15,000 criminal offenses in each of the last several years for which statistics are available. That’s a lot of arrests, charges, and convictions. Unfortunately, you, as a New Hampshire nurse, are not immune from criminal prosecution. Indeed, the New Hampshire Board of Nursing disciplines dozens of nurses every year for all kinds of offenses including criminal convictions. You can see the Board of Nursing’s disciplinary actions online, sharing the name, misconduct, and penalty against each disciplined nurse. New Hampshire is not unusual in that respect. The Journal of Nursing Regulation shows that criminal offenses are the cause for one out of every ten nursing board disciplinary actions nationwide. That’s thousands of nurses suffering discipline every year because of crimes their board learns they committed. While male and licensed practical nurses commit more offenses than female and registered nurses, all nurses face discipline over criminal convictions. And while drug possession, drunk driving, and shoplifting or other forms of theft are common crimes for which nurses suffer license discipline, patient abuse, insurance fraud, domestic violence, and other crimes also bring discipline. If you face New Hampshire Board of Nursing disciplinary charges over criminal issues, let us help you defend and defeat those charges.
New Hampshire Nurse Licensure Authority
You must deal with the New Hampshire Board of Nursing to retain your license and practice in the state. New Hampshire’s Nurse Practice Act authorizes the Board of Nursing to license and regulate nurses who intend to practice in the state. Section 326-B:3 creates the New Hampshire Board of Nursing, while Section 326-B:4 prescribes the Board of Nursing’s powers and duties, including licensing and other regulations. Section 326-B:41 makes it unlawful to practice nursing without a license. The next Section 326-B:41a makes it a Class A misdemeanor to practice without a license. New Hampshire punishes Class A misdemeanors with a fine up to $2,000 and one year in jail. You will also lose your nursing practice and employment if you lose your license. Don’t risk those losses with unqualified counsel. Instead, retain us to defend and defeat your New Hampshire Board of Nursing disciplinary charges over your criminal issues.
New Hampshire Nurse Licensure Requirements
The New Hampshire Nurse Practice Act Section 326-B:16 states the general qualifications for nurses seeking any of the several types of Board of Nursing licenses available. Those general qualifications include not only the nursing education and examination specified in other sections but also that you prove that you have committed no act for which the Board of Nursing could discipline you and that you report any pending criminal charges or completed convictions. Section 326-B:37 lists the grounds on which the Board may deny, suspend, or revoke nursing licenses. New Hampshire Board of Nursing Administrative Rule 402.04 authorizes other penalties, including license conditions, restrictions, probation, training, and monitoring. Your criminal conviction could result in the Board of Nursing suspending, revoking, or refusing to renew your license. Don’t ignore your obligation under Section 326-B:16 to report your criminal issues to the Board of Nursing or your risk of disciplinary charges. Let us help you handle all license disciplinary obligations and charges.
New Hampshire Nurse License Discipline for Crimes
The grounds on which New Hampshire Nurse Practice Act Section 326-B:37 authorizes the Board of Nursing to discipline your license include “[c]onvictions by a court or any plea to a crime in any jurisdiction that relates adversely to the practice of nursing or to the ability to practice nursing.” Section 326-B:37 separately lists several other disciplinary grounds that could involve criminal misconduct. Those grounds include nursing practices that endanger patient life, health, or safety, falsifying reports and other healthcare documents and records, diversion of drugs or other controlled substances, and misuse of controlled substances. Don’t doubt the statutory authority of the New Hampshire Board of Nursing to discipline your license related to your criminal issues. Instead, promptly retain our skilled and experienced attorneys to help you defend and defeat your disciplinary charges.
Examples of New Hampshire Nurse Discipline Crimes
You can see from New Hampshire Nurse Practice Act Section 326-B:37 that committing any crime relating adversely to nursing practicecould result in New Hampshire Board of Nursing discipline against your license. You’ve also seen that Section 326-B:37 authorizes discipline for related drug, records, and safety crimes. Our attorneys are ready to defend your Board of Nursing disciplinary charges involving any of these categories of crimes, examples of which follow.
New Hampshire Nurse Discipline for Practice-Related Crimes
Under Section 326-B:37, the New Hampshire Board of Nursing may pursue disciplinary charges for crimes relating adversely to your practice of nursing. Practice-related crimes may include patient abuse or neglect, insurance fraud, and falsification of records, among others. The Board of Nursing must address these crimes to carry out its duty to protect patients and the public against unfit, dangerous, or incompetent nursing.
New Hampshire Nurse Discipline for Practice-Ability Crimes
Under Section 326-B:37, the New Hampshire Board of Nursing may also pursue disciplinary charges for crimes relating adversely to your ability to practice nursing. Crimes relating to your ability to practice nursing could include violent crimes like homicides, assaults, sexual assaults, and theft crimes, even those occurring outside the nursing facility. The Board of Nursing may believe that your violent crime subjects patients and colleagues to danger, while your crimes of dishonesty subject patients, colleagues, and the nursing facility to theft, falsification, and fraud.
New Hampshire Nurse Discipline for Drug and Alcohol Crimes
Under Section 326-B:37, the New Hampshire Board of Nursing may also pursue disciplinary charges for crimes relating to the misuse of controlled substances. Those crimes may include unlawful drug possession, delivery, or manufacture outside the workplace, or drug diversion in the nursing facility. Those crimes may also include drunk driving or drunk and disorderly conduct suggesting that you have a substance abuse or dependency issue that may impair your nursing practice. The Board of Nursing must regulate nurse licensing so as to discourage and prohibit nurses from misusing their access to prescription medications and other controlled substances for unlawful diversion. The Board of Nursing must also discourage and prevent nursing services by nurses impaired by alcohol or drugs.
Defending New Hampshire Nurse Discipline for Crimes
When receiving New Hampshire Board of Nursing disciplinary charges, do not panic, do not ignore the charges, and do not assume that you must suffer discipline, even if you do have serious criminal issues. New Hampshire Nurse Practice Act Section 326-B:37 only gives the Board of Nursing discretion to impose discipline, without requiring that it do so. Section 326-B:37 states that the Board of Nursing “may discipline” a nurse, not that it must discipline, for the above criminal convictions and other violations. Our highly qualified attorneys may be able to show that you did not suffer conviction, your conviction was not among those convictions for which the Nurse Practice Act authorizes discipline, or the court overturned, set aside, or expunged your conviction. You may alternatively have received the governor’s pardon, or your conviction may simply have been long enough ago that you have rehabilitated your good character. We may be able to present character witnesses on your behalf, show that you have no other criminal or disciplinary record, and prove your strong academic and work record. Above all, we may be able to show that you present no risk to any patient, colleague, or other person in the nursing facility and instead offer the profession valuable nursing services.
Differences Among Arrest, Charge, and Conviction
When evaluating your criminal issues, recognize the significant differences between arrest, charge, and conviction. The New Hampshire Board of Nursing should not pursue discipline against you simply because of your arrest. Officers make an arrest on probable cause, which stops short of reliable evidence of a crime. The same is largely true for your criminal charge; the Board of Nursing should not hold the charge against you. Prosecutors charge based on the belief in available evidence, when sometimes witnesses recant or the evidence is simply absent or unreliable. Prosecutors abandon charges and courts dismiss charges for lack of evidence. Even if your criminal case proceeded to a conviction, we may be able to defend your disciplinary charges on another of the above grounds, such as that you had the conviction set aside or expunged, or you have rehabilitated your character and have a strong work record.
Differences Among Specific Crime Charges
Perhaps the biggest factor in the outcome of your disciplinary charges related to criminal issues may be the specific circumstances of your crime. The New Hampshire Board of Nursing may, for instance, take into account that your crime occurred outside of the nursing facility, unrelated to nursing practice. If, on the other hand, your crime occurred in the nursing facility, it may still have been unrelated to your nursing services, skill, and competence. If, on the other hand, your crime occurred in the course of your nursing practice, even against a patient or colleague, the circumstances may have been so unusual and extraordinary as to largely excuse your actions, after appropriate rehabilitation and assurances. You may, for instance, have been acting in the heat of passion after a substantial surprise or offense, or have been acting under an unexpected medication reaction or other mental stress or event of your own, which you have since then cleared up with diagnosis and treatment. If your criminal issue involved your drunk driving or other alcohol or drug use, you may already have completed evaluation and rehabilitative counseling and care, and we may be able to show that you have no substance abuse issue.
New Hampshire Nurse Duty to Report Criminal Issues
You’ve seen above that New Hampshire Nurse Practice Act Section 326-B:16 requires that you “[r]eport any pending criminal charges, criminal convictions, or plea arrangement in lieu of convictions” when applying for a license. New Hampshire Statutes Section 151:6-b further requires your nursing facility to report any disciplinary or adverse action against you. Don’t expect to conceal your criminal issues from the Board of Nursing. When you apply to renew your license, the renewal application form will likely require you to disclose at least any convictions and perhaps any charges or other proceedings. Let us advise you as to your duty to report. Your failure or refusal to report when disclosure is due, or your deceptive responses and misleading omissions, may constitute credential fraud for which you could lose your license.
New Hampshire Nurse Licensing Procedures
You have a right to constitutional due process in any New Hampshire Board of Nursing proceeding against your nursing license. New Hampshire’s Administrative Procedure Act has protective procedures for contested cases that we can invoke on your behalf for a formal hearing at which to defend your disciplinary charges. The Act also has administrative appeal procedures and limited court review that we can pursue if you have already lost your hearing.
Premier New Hampshire Nursing License Defense
If you face New Hampshire Board of Nursing disciplinary charges over your criminal issues, you can do not better than to retain the LLF National Law Firm’s premier Professional License Defense Team for your best disciplinary outcome. Our attorneys have helped hundreds of nurses and other healthcare professionals in New Hampshire and nationwide with license disciplinary defense. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form now for our highly qualified representation.