The Lento Law Firm Defends Connecticut Nurse Aide Registration
Connecticut's many fine cities and towns, proximity to the nation's finest cultural, arts, and entertainment centers, many educational opportunities, and sophisticated healthcare systems make it an excellent place for a registered nurse aide, certified nursing assistant, or CNA to practice. Bridgeport, Stamford, New Haven, Hartford, Waterbury, and many other locales offer registered nurse aides abundant opportunities to work at hospitals, other healthcare facilities, residential facilities, and in-home care. St. Francis Hospital and Medical Centre, Bridgeport Hospital, St. Vincent's Medical Centre, Danbury Hospital, and the Hospital of Central Connecticut are the largest of the state's many hospitals employing hundreds of nurse aides. And Connecticut offers CNAs ready employment through home health agencies like Hartford Healthcare at Home, Masonicare, VNA Community Healthcare, Connecticut Community Care, and RVNAhealth.
Yet to keep those many opportunities open to you and to retain your current nurse aide employment, you must defend and defeat any disciplinary charges that Connecticut Department of Public Health officials are pursuing against you. Treat seriously any notice you receive from the Health Care Quality and Safety Branch of the Department of Public Health that it is investigating a complaint against you or pursuing formal license disciplinary charges. Disciplinary charges put your valuable Connecticut nurse aide employment and career at risk. Retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team to defend your Connecticut nurse aide registration. Our attorneys are available to defend you in Bridgeport, Stamford, New Haven, Hartford, Waterbury, and any other Connecticut location. Call 888.535.3686 or chat with us now for Connecticut nurse aide disciplinary defense.
Connecticut Nurse Aide Registration
Connecticut's Department of Public Health is the state agency responsible by law for nurse aide registration. Connecticut law, rule, and regulation generally refers to the role as a nurse aide and to registration, but some Connecticut authority also uses the term nursing assistant and refers to certified nurse aidesor CNAs. Connecticut General Statutes Chapter 378a authorizes the Department to establish the state's nurse aide registry. Connecticut General Statute Section 20-102bb provides, "The Department of Public Health shall establish and maintain a registry of nurse's aides." Connecticut General Statute Section 20-102ee authorizes the Department to establish the education, training, and experience requirements for nurse aide registration and to approve training programs. That training must include not only "basic nursing skills, personal care skills, care of cognitively impaired residents, recognition of mental health and social service needs, basic restorative services, and residents' rights" but also "specialized training in understanding and responding to challenging behaviors related to physical, psychiatric, psychosocial, and cognitive disorders." When you gained your Connecticut nurse aide registration, you earned a valuable credential. You must generally maintain your registration to continue your nurse aide work.
Connecticut Nurse Aide Regulatory Authority
The Connecticut Department of Public Health does more than just register nurse aides. It also regulates their practice to ensure the safety and health of patients and residents against incompetent, abusive, or neglectful nurse aide practices. Connecticut General Statute Section 20-102cc requires the Department of Public Health to "receive, investigate, and prosecute" complaints against nurse aides. Typically, those complaints will be against registered nurse aides. But even if you do not hold a Connecticut nurse aide registration, the Department has the authority under Section 20-102cc to investigate and prosecute you for violations of its standards. You work in a closely regulated professional environment when you work in a Connecticut healthcare setting as a registered nurse aide. Respect and value your training, and respond promptly to any disciplinary charges with the help of our Professional License Defense Team.
Connecticut Nurse Aide Disciplinary Authority
Connecticut's Department of Public Health not only regulates nurse aides, including prosecuting complaints against them. The Department also rejects and revokes registrations when finding a nurse aide unfit. Connecticut General Statute Section 20-102dd requires the Department to enter in the nurse aide registry the name of any nurse aide the Department finds to have violated the Department's standards and to include a description of the violation. The same section authorizes the Department to deny registration to anyone so found to have committed a disqualifying violation. You must avoid the Department's discipline to retain your nurse aide or CNA registration and maintain your employment requiring registration. Don't face charges alone and without the skilled and experienced advocacy, you need. Let our attorneys help you defend Connecticut nurse aide disciplinary charges.
Connecticut Nurse Aide Disciplinary Sanctions
Connecticut's laws regulating nurse aides make the disciplinary sanctions appear as if they are all or nothing: either your name goes into the nurse aide registry as an abuser, or your name does not. Connecticut General Statute Section 20-102dd so provides. And indeed, your disciplinary matter has to do with whether you retain your nurse aide registration and avoid a public listing as an abuser. The sanction of seeing your name in the nurse aide registry as an abuser is a serious sanction, costing you not only your nurse aide employment but also likely costing you your ability to continue your nursing education and career. Yet although the statutes do not expressly state so, disciplinary officials may have other alternatives in determining how to resolve your disciplinary case. Our attorneys may be able to help you show those officials that you can practice as a nurse aide safely and competently with additional training, supervision, support, services, counseling, equipment, or accommodation. We may be able to help you resolve your disciplinary charges early with appropriate measures that reassure disciplinary officials while preserving your nurse aide registration and employment.
Connecticut Nurse Aide Reinstatement by Petition
If you do suffer an adverse decision resulting in your name's entry in the nurse aide registry as an abuser, you may be able to have that entry removed. Connecticut General Statute Section 20-102cc(b) provides that you may petition the Department to remove the abuse finding after one year. You must, in that instance, show that your employment and personal history "does not reflect a pattern of abusive behavior or neglect" and that "the neglect involved in the original finding was a singular occurrence." If you have already suffered an adverse finding of abuse and one year has passed or is about to pass, our attorneys may be able to help you show disciplinary officials that you qualify for removal of the finding. You could potentially regain your nurse aide registration after one year.
Nationwide Stakes of Connecticut Nurse Aide Discipline
Connecticut recognizes nurse aide reciprocity, meaning that your Connecticut nurse aide registration is good by endorsement in certain other states, just as registration in those other states is good by endorsement in Connecticut. Yet if you lose your Connecticut nurse aide registration because of discipline, then you'll lose endorsement in other states. You must fight your Connecticut nurse aide disciplinary charges successfully now if you hope to obtain nurse aide registration in other states. Your Connecticut disciplinary proceeding has nationwide stakes.
Grounds for Connecticut Nurse Aide Discipline
Connecticut disciplinary officials cannot discipline for just any reason. They must instead connect their charges with statutory grounds for discipline. Connecticut General Statute Section 20-102cc states only the following four grounds for nurse aide discipline: "The grounds for complaint shall include resident abuse, resident neglect, misappropriation of resident property, and fraud or deceit in obtaining or attempting to obtain a registration as a nurse's aide." Read your notice of charges carefully to see what grounds the Department alleges against you. See below what conduct may give the Department evidence on which to proceed as to each of those grounds and how our attorneys may be able to help defend you.
Abuse as Grounds for Connecticut Nurse Aide Discipline
Abuse is Connecticut General Statute Section 20-102cc's first ground for discipline. An addendum to Section 20-102cc includes this definition for abuse: "'Resident abuse' requires that resident suffer harm or adverse impact as a result of alleged abuse, and, in making that determination, an objective, rather than subjective, standard should be applied; 'resident abuse' requires an element of willfulness and is satisfied when one voluntarily engages in the act resulting in the abuse; specific intent to harm is not required." Connecticut Administrative Code Section 19-13-D8t regulating nursing homes defines abuse as "a verbal, mental, sexual, or physical attack on a patient that may include the infliction of injury, unreasonable confinement, intimidation, or punishment." To satisfy the willfulness and attack requirements, abuse must generally involve deliberate, knowing, or intentional actions such as striking, biting, kicking, shoving, yelling, berating, or intentional sexual contact.
If you face Connecticut Department of Public Health abuse charges, our attorneys may be able to help you show that your actions were not willful, deliberate, or intentional and that any contact or harm was instead due to self-defense, defense of others, or efforts to protect the resident against self-harm, or due to accident, inadvertence, error, or mistake. We may also be able to help you show that your actions did not result in harm or adverse impact or that the resident alleging your abuse is mistaken or deluded. Abuse charges can be difficult to defend because of their strong implication of serious wrongdoing. But disciplinary officials generally appreciate the challenging environment in which nurse aides work and will assess evidence thoughtfully, especially when our attorneys advocate on your behalf.
Neglect as Grounds for Connecticut Nurse Aide Discipline
Neglect is Connecticut General Statute Section 20-102cc's next ground for discipline. The statute and administrative code do not define neglect in the nurse aide context. Neglect, though, generally does not mean willful conduct like that involved in abuse. Instead, neglect generally involves the failure to act when action is necessary to avoid substantial physical harm or mental distress, and the nurse aide has the ability, responsibility, and means to act to prevent the harm. Neglect does not generally refer to single errors in judgment or careless omissions resulting in no harm or only minor annoyance. Neglect generally involves allegations that the nurse aide left the patient in such a poorly attended condition for such a duration as to produce obvious harm or distress. Examples could include failing to turn a resident in bed resulting in untreated bed sores, failing to provide food or drink, resulting in significant malnourishment or dehydration, or failing to assist to the bathroom, leaving the patient with soiled bedding and accompanying physical and mental decline.
If you face Connecticut Department of Public Health neglect charges, our attorneys may be able to help you show disciplinary officials that you were not responsible for the resident, that to the extent you were responsible you fulfilled all duties, that others were responsible for any neglect, or that you lacked the services, equipment, supplies, supervision, or support to avoid neglect such that the harm was beyond your control. We may also be able to help you show that no harm or adverse impact resulted and that any deterioration in the resident's condition was due to the natural progress of disease. Neglect charges, like abuse charges, can be daunting. But you may have a valid defense. Sometimes, the easiest thing for regulators to do is to blame an individual nurse aide when the facility and its systems, supervisors, scheduling, and administration are instead to blame. Don't take the fall for others.
Misappropriation as Grounds for Connecticut Nurse Aide Discipline
Misappropriation of resident property is Connecticut General Statute Section 20-102cc's next ground for discipline. The statutes, rules, and regulations relating to nurse aides do not further define misappropriation. But misappropriation generally involves a deliberate or intentional taking of the resident's personal property or funds. If, for instance, you inadvertently throw away, give away, or carry away a resident's property stored or hidden from your view or that you believe belonged to you or to others, then you have likely not committed misappropriation. Misappropriation, though, doesn't have to involve secret theft. It can involve coercion, duress, or other forms of undue influence over a resident, such as when a nurse aide pressures a resident to give the aide cash, check, jewelry, or other things of value on the threat of withholding aid. Misappropriation is thus generally misconduct involving bad character rather than merely carelessness or lack of training.
If you face Connecticut Department of Public Health misappropriation charges, our attorneys may be able to show that you did not take the complaining resident's property and that the resident is instead deluded, mistaken, or maliciously making such a complaint. We may be able to help you show that any property you carried away was on the resident's instruction for the resident's benefit rather than for your benefit. We may alternatively be able to show that you moved and stored property for the safety of the resident or security of the property or on your supervisor's directions according to the facility's policies. You may have other grounds on which to defend misappropriation charges, especially if our attorneys can help you show that you had no personal gain relating to the complaint.
Credentials Fraud as Grounds for Connecticut Nurse Aide Discipline
Fraud or deceit in obtaining or attempting to obtain nurse aide registration is Connecticut General Statute Section 20-102cc's final express ground for discipline. Fraud or deceit are generally intentional rather than careless wrongs. If you simply made a mistake on your application or renewal form, you likely did not commit credentials fraud. Credentials fraud can instead involve misconduct like deliberately falsifying your training record, misrepresenting your education or work experience on your application, cheating on the competency evaluation, or concealing criminal conviction or other disqualifying grounds on your renewal application. If you face Connecticut Department of Health credentials fraud charges, our attorneys may be able to help you identify, obtain, and present documentation of your training hours and work experience and otherwise show that you did not misrepresent your qualifications. If your application or renewal form contained any inaccuracies or omissions, we may be able to help you show that they were inadvertent rather than intentional and that you remain qualified for nurse aide registration even under the accurate and complete information.
Criminal Conviction as Grounds for Connecticut Nurse Aide Discipline
Even though Connecticut General Statute Section 20-102cc does not expressly refer to criminal convictions, Department of Public Health disciplinary officials will also likely recognize felony convictions and misdemeanor convictions involving moral turpitude as grounds for discipline and non-renewal of your registration. Typical disqualifying crimes include violent crimes like domestic violence, assault, aggravated assault, and sexual assault that show a risk to residents. Crimes of dishonesty, like criminal fraud, insurance fraud, retail fraud, or even theft and burglary, can also be disqualifying in that they show a risk of misrepresenting services and work hours, affecting Medicare and insurance billing. Crimes of property damage, such as arson and criminal trespass, can show a risk to the facility, and drug crimes can show a risk of medication theft. If you face the Connecticut Department of Public Health discipline based on a criminal conviction, let our attorneys help you show that you did not suffer such a conviction or that any conviction does not present a risk to patients because of your rehabilitation.
Impaired Practice as Grounds for Connecticut Nurse Aide Discipline
Your abuse, neglect, or other disciplinary charges may involve Connecticut Department of Public Health allegations of your impaired practice under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Disciplinary officials know that nurse aides and other healthcare professionals face unusual stresses and have unusual access to prescription medication for unlawful self-medication. Connecticut thus authorizes the Health Assistance interVention Education Network (HAVEN) as a diversion and recovery program for healthcare professionals to avoid discipline and retain or regain their professional license for practice. Do not accept an offer of program enrollment, though, without consulting our attorneys. Disciplinary diversion agreements often require the nurse aide or other healthcare professional to relinquish the license, certification, or registration while participating in the program, meaning a loss of employment and challenges getting the credential back.
Other Grounds for Connecticut Nurse Aide Discipline
You may face Connecticut Department of Public Health disciplinary charges on other grounds not specified in Connecticut General Statute Section 20-102cc but commonly addressed by disciplinary officials. Those other grounds can include unprofessional conduct toward supervisors and colleagues, such as rudeness, disrespect, and disobeying orders and instructions; confidentiality breaches sharing private medical information with others who have no need or right to know; and mental or physical disabilities affecting your ability to complete your nurse aide duties safely and competently. Our attorneys may be able to help you show that you did not commit any of these acts or suffer any disabling condition or that you have corrected any such wrongs and recovered from any disability. We may also be able to show that your employer should reasonably accommodate your disability according to federal disability rights laws.
Connecticut Nurse Aide Disciplinary Procedures
Procedures can be just as important as the substance of the allegations against you. Our attorneys can help you invoke the Connecticut Department of Public Health's protective procedures that the Connecticut legislature has designed to ensure that you get to tell your side of the story. Connecticut General Statute Section 20-102cc requires that the Department notify you in writing of the charges against you. That notice must come by certified mail. The notice should tell you what the Department believes you have done wrong that would require the Department to enter your name in the nurse aide registry as having committed abuse or another violation. The notice must inform you of your right to request a hearing on the charges.
If you timely request that hearing, you will have the opportunity to have our attorneys present your witnesses and documentary evidence on your behalf and to cross-examine the Department's witnesses against you. Section 20-102cc provides that the Department must conduct your hearing according to the Connecticut Uniform Administrative Procedure Act so that you have all the rights and protections of a fair hearing and independent decision, reviewable on limited grounds in the state courts.
Premier Connecticut Nurse Aide Defense Available
The Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team is available in Bridgeport, Stamford, New Haven, Hartford, Waterbury, and any other Connecticut location to defend your nurse aide registration against disciplinary charges. Hundreds of professionals nationwide have trusted the Lento Law Firm for their best outcome to disciplinary charges. Call 888.535.3686 or chat with us now.
