Agency nursing in Alabama can be an excellent profession. You know the state's charms. You also know the size, stability, and attraction of Alabama's large population centers in Huntsville, Montgomery, Birmingham, Mobile, Tuscaloosa, Hoover, Auburn, Dothan, Madison, Decatur, Florence, Prattville, and other Alabama locations, and its fine nurse staffing agencies like BamaMed Staffing, ATC Healthcare Services, Express Employment Professionals, Snelling Medical Professionals, All Medical Personnel, and Travel Nurse RN. Alabama's cities and staffing agencies offer you lots of good professional opportunities. But you must avoid, defend, and defeat misconduct allegations if you are to enjoy those opportunities. Alabama nursing license discipline can end your agency nursing. Let the Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team help. Retaining its skilled and experienced agency nurse defense is your best move. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form now.
Advantages to Alabama Staffing Agency Nurse Employment
Your agency nursing in Alabama provides you with substantial professional advantages. While most nurses seek so-called permanent positions in direct employment at a single healthcare facility, your agency nursing gives you a chance to evaluate facilities, fields, and cities for your best professional environment. If you don't like an assignment, are tired of it, don't find the work to be challenging or rewarding, or aren't attracted to the city, you may request another assignment. You continually form new relationships, learn new routines, acquire new mentors, and learn new skills. Agency nursing can be an especially good gig, even better than direct employment at a healthcare facility. Whether you chose it or it chose you, don't lose your staffing agency employment to disciplinary charges. Let us help you address misconduct allegations before they lead to charges as soon as you hear of them. And let us defend the charges or appeal the results if you have already been through a proceeding.
Challenges to Alabama Staffing Agency Nursing Assignments
Working through a staffing agency can be rewarding, but it also has its challenges. The instability of temporary assignments can leave you less valued, less respected, and less protected at your assigned healthcare facility. When trouble arises, your healthcare facility may make you the first to go. Your facility doesn't have the investment in your hiring, compensation, continuing education, and training that it has in its permanent staff nurses whom it directly employs. Your facility's nursing supervisors and personnel managers hired a temp for a reason. They don't want to manage your issues. They instead want others to do so. You are temporary for a reason. You may have already noticed how they treat you differently.
Those differences can become acute when you face misconduct allegations. A healthcare facility may stand up and defend misconduct allegations from a patient, resident, or other source, when the allegations are against one of its permanent nursing staff. The facility wants to protect its personnel and investment, preserving staff morale. But the facility may treat you differently, as an outsider in whom it hasn't invested, if you, a temporary employee, face the same misconduct allegations. Your healthcare facility may even have a hearing procedure for its employees who face issues, one to which it may refuse you access because of your employment through your staffing agency. Let us help you advocate with your healthcare facility for your retention and against the misconduct allegations.
Challenges to Alabama Staffing Agency Nurse Employment
You'd hope, expect, and think that your staffing agency would treat you better when you face allegations of misconduct. You'd hope that their investment in you and the trust and loyalty you've earned would cause them to help you defend the allegations through some form of an internal employment grievance procedure. Our attorneys can help you identify and deploy your staffing agency's procedures for defending misconduct allegations and preserving your staffing agency employment. Recognize, though, that your staffing agency may treat you much like the facility, as a temporary employee whom it may regard as expendable. Your staffing agency may hesitate to reassign you to another facility lest it offend another one of its valuable healthcare clients. We are here to advocate for you, not only with your healthcare facility but also with your staffing agency.
Alabama Board of Nursing Disciplinary Charges
Your bigger issue when facing misconduct allegations maybe with your nursing license. If the allegations reach the Alabama Board of Nursing, its disciplinary officials may pursue charges against your license. The Alabama Board of Nursing licenses nearly 100,000 registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) while also approving advanced practice nurses (APNs). The Alabama Nurse Practice Act establishes the Board of Nursing to set standards for nursing practice and enforce those standards through disciplinary proceedings. The Board of Nursing has the personnel, resources, authority, and commitment to investigate and act on complaints of nursing misconduct. We're here to help you level the playing field with the defense services of our skilled and experienced attorneys.
Alabama Board of Nursing Disciplinary Impacts
When you face the Alabama Board of Nursing disciplinary charges, you need to know the potential impact of those charges so that you can take steps to avoid those impacts. Losing your nursing license to suspension or revocation, or the Board's refusal to renew it, means losing your staffing agency employment, income, and benefits. Your staffing agency won't be able to place you on assignment. Your nursing education and professional network won't be able to help you. Losing your job and income can have wide-ranging collateral consequences, as you can well imagine, affecting your housing, health, family relationships, and even your immigration status. Let us help you defend license disciplinary charges. You need your best possible outcome to those charges.
Alabama Agency Nurse Disciplinary Sanctions
Disciplinary sanctions, though, don't have to be an all-or-nothing thing. Section 34-21-25 of the Alabama Nurse Practice Act authorizes the Alabama Board of Nursing not only to deny, suspend, or revoke your nursing license but also to “otherwise discipline a licensee….” Neither the Nurse Practice Act nor the administrative rules the Board of Nursing has adopted to carry out its statutory authority define what other forms of discipline the Board may impose. But common forms of lesser discipline include a private or public reprimand, license probation, remedial education or training, limits on your license to certain types of facilities or services, and conditions on your license that you submit to substance abuse or mental or physical health assessments. These alternative forms of discipline give our attorneys an opportunity to advocate on your behalf to save your license from suspension or revocation. Beware the potential negative impact of any discipline. But let us help you evaluate options and advocate effectively for your best outcome.
Alabama Board of Nursing Disciplinary Actions
Disciplinary actions can obviously have dire effects on your nursing job and career. They are also embarrassing and can have wide-ranging collateral impacts when they reach your family members, friends, acquaintances, professional network, and personal network. If you suffer discipline, you would much prefer that it remain confidential, even if it does impact your staffing agency employment and healthcare facility placement. Unfortunately, the Alabama Board of Nursing publishes disciplinary actions in a searchable database for the world to see. Its publication lists your name, license number, date of discipline, and type of discipline. The details of your misconduct may also be available on request for further information. You may also have to report professional discipline to others with whom you have professional, volunteer, or community relationships. It is far better to fight disciplinary charges with our help than to run from them or expect to hide disciplinary action results.
Special Agency Nurse Impacts from Disciplinary Sanctions
Unfortunately, the impact of discipline on you, an agency nurse, may be greater than the impact of the same discipline on a permanent nurse employed directly at a healthcare facility. Because your facility regards you as temporary and doesn't have the same investment in your recruitment, compensation, continuing education, and training as it has in its permanent employees, it may quickly terminate your placement. Once your staffing agency has a valuable healthcare facility client terminate your assignment, your staffing agency may be reluctant to risk offending another client with your placement at another facility. You may quickly find yourself to be damaged goods that your staffing agency may decide to no longer employ. Our attorneys can help you fight both the disciplinary charges and retain your staffing agency employment. Get the help you need for your best disciplinary outcome. Your agency nurse status may make disciplinary impacts more severe than you'd think.
Grounds for Alabama Agency Nurse Discipline
Section 34-21-25 of Alabama's Nurse Practice Act states the grounds on which the Board of Nursing may discipline you. Disciplinary officials are not supposed to make up reasons for discipline. They must articulate grounds within their statutory and regulatory authority. But the grounds for discipline are broad and many. Indeed, Alabama Board of Nursing administrative rules articulate the above statutory grounds into long lists of violations. Your defense depends on the grounds disciplinary officials assert for your discipline. Here are the main grounds the Alabama Nurse Practice Act articulates for disciplinary action and how our attorneys may help you defend those allegations.
Credentials Fraud as a Ground for Alabama Agency Nurse Discipline
Credentials fraud, defined as when a nurse “[i]s guilty of fraud or deceit in procuring or attempting to procure a license,” is the first ground for agency nurse discipline under Section 34-21-25 of Alabama's Nurse Practice Act. As the Alabama Board of Nursing's administrative rules articulate, credentials fraud can mean cheating on the national licensing exam, misrepresenting your education or experience, concealing discipline in another state, or concealing criminal convictions or other disqualifying conditions. Agency nurses may be especially vulnerable to these charges because of their more complex work history and relationships, leading to more errors in describing the nursing experience. Our attorneys may be able to help defend these charges by showing that you did not cheat on exams, your application was accurate in all material respects, or you did not deliberately misstate or conceal a material fact with the intent to defraud licensing officials.
Criminal Conviction as a Ground for Alabama Agency Nurse Discipline
Felony conviction or conviction for a crime of moral turpitude or gross immorality is the next ground for agency nurse discipline under Section 34-21-25 of Alabama's Nurse Practice Act. Felonies may include crimes of violence like assault or sexual assault. The Alabama Board of Nursing's administrative rules define crimes of moral turpitude or gross immorality to include drugs, theft, lewdness or other sexual crime, abuse, violence, fraud, and “[a]ny other conduct detrimental to the public's health, safety or welfare.” Our attorneys may be able to help defend these charges by showing that you suffered no such conviction, that the court threw out or expunged your conviction, that the governor pardoned your conviction, or that the conviction does not fall within one of the above categories.
Substance Abuse as a Ground for Alabama Agency Nurse Discipline
Substance abuse, defined as being “unfit or incompetent due to the use of alcohol, or is addicted to the use of habit-forming drugs to such an extent as to render him or her unsafe or unreliable as a licensee,” is another ground for agency nurse discipline under Section 34-21-25 of Alabama's Nurse Practice Act. The Alabama Board of Nursing's administrative rules include testing positive for drugs, misappropriating drugs, obtaining unauthorized prescriptions, intoxication while on duty, refusal to take a drug test, submitting an altered drug test specimen, and admitting to addiction as evidence of a substance abuse violation. Agency nurses may be especially vulnerable to these charges when facility personnel unfamiliar with the agency nurse's demeanor, character, or mental or medical condition may incorrectly assume intoxication and substance abuse issues. Our attorneys may be able to help defend these charges by showing that you were not intoxicated, that any appearance of intoxication was due to medication changes or other innocent circumstances, that you have no addiction issue, or that you have already addressed any issue without the likelihood of a repeat.
Impaired Practice as a Ground for Alabama Agency Nurse Discipline
Impaired practice, defined as being “unable to practice nursing with reasonable skill and safety to patients by reason of … any mental or physical condition,” is another ground for agency nurse discipline under Section 34-21-25 of Alabama's Nurse Practice Act. Many mental health conditions, like schizophrenia, dementia, and severe depression, and physical health conditions, like severe arthritis and degenerative nerve diseases, can impair nursing practice. Agency nurses may be especially vulnerable to these charges when facility personnel who don't know them or their nursing abilities mistake manageable conditions for impairments. Our attorneys may be able to help defend these charges by showing that you have no impairment, that any impairment does not make your nursing unsafe, or that the staffing agency employer and healthcare facility had a legal duty to accommodate your disability.
Drug Crime as a Ground for Alabama Agency Nurse Discipline
Drug crime, defined as having “been convicted of any violation of a federal or state law relating to controlled substances,” is another ground for agency nurse discipline under Section 34-21-25 of Alabama's Nurse Practice Act. Drug crimes are special concerns because of a nurse's access to controlled substances and the safety concerns of nursing practice under the influence of drugs. Our attorneys may be able to help defend these charges by showing that you did not suffer any such conviction, that the court overturned your conviction, or that your conviction was not for a disqualifying drug crime.
Unprofessional Conduct as a Ground for Alabama Agency Nurse Discipline
Unprofessional conduct, defined as being “guilty of unprofessional conduct of a character likely to deceive, defraud, or injure the public in matters pertaining to health,” is another ground for agency nurse discipline under Section 34-21-25 of Alabama's Nurse Practice Act. The Alabama Board of Nursing's administrative rules give a lengthy definition to unprofessional conduct, including such things as practicing outside nursing standards, practicing outside the scope of nursing, failing to assess patient vitals, failing to implement care plans, falsifying or altering patient or facility records, patient abandonment, abuse, or neglect, failing to maintain professional boundaries, patient privacy violations, disruptive workplace conduct, false advertising, billing fraud, or misappropriating patient property. Agency nurses may be especially vulnerable to these charges because of unfamiliarity with the healthcare facility's customs, conventions, and practices and the lack of trust and confidence of permanent staff in temporary workers. Our attorneys may be able to help defend these charges by showing that you did not commit the alleged conduct, that others committed the conduct, or that you acted under the reasonable instructions of supervisors.
Procedures for Alabama Agency Nurse Discipline
Fortunately, you have the right to defend yourself against disciplinary charges with our help. The Alabama Board of Nursing may not deprive you of your liberty and property interest in your nursing license without first providing you with due process of law. Due process means that the Board must fairly inform you of the details of the charges against you and then give you a fair hearing before an impartial administrative law judge (ALJ). Section 34-21-25 of the Alabama Nurse Practice Act carries out these due process guarantees by detailing your procedural rights. The Alabama Board of Nursing's administrative rules further incorporate the state's Administrative Procedure Act provisions for contested agency matters, giving you additional procedural protections. Those protections, which our attorneys have substantial skill and experience in strategically invoking on your behalf, include:
- preliminary investigation of any complaint against you to ensure that it states a violation and has supporting evidence;
- notice to you of a hearing in Montgomery no sooner than twenty days after transmission of the notice;
- that all witnesses at the hearing must be placed under oath subject to cross-examination;
- that you may obtain subpoenas to compel the attendance of your witnesses or production of your documentary evidence;
- that you may retain an attorney to assist you at the hearing in the presentation of your evidence and challenge of the Board's evidence;
- that the decision must be in writing articulating its grounds and provided to you and your attorney for review; and
- that you may appeal the decision to the state's civil courts for review on the grounds the state's Administrative Procedure Act provides.
Alabama Board of Nursing Alternative Discipline Program
In certain cases involving substance abuse and addiction or mental or physical impairments, you may be able to accept a referral to the Alabama Board of Nursing's Voluntary Disciplinary Alternative Program (VDAP) in lieu of disciplinary proceedings and sanctions. The Board of Nursing's VDAP program may require your assessment and submission to the regimen of counseling, care, or treatment the assessment results recommend. While referral in lieu of discipline may sound attractive to avoid your license's suspension or revocation, you may have to give up your license or limit your practice as a program condition. You may also find that you are unable to complete rigorous program requirements or satisfy strict program conditions, resulting in the loss of your license. Beware of offers of alternative discipline program referral. Let us help you evaluate those offers and negotiate appropriate terms that protect your license.
Alabama Agency Nurse Misconduct Defense
If you are an agency nurse facing misconduct allegations in Huntsville, Montgomery, Birmingham, Mobile, Tuscaloosa, Hoover, Auburn, Dothan, Madison, Decatur, Florence, Prattville, or any other Alabama location, the Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team is available for your best defense. We have helped hundreds of nurses and other professionals successfully defend and defeat disciplinary charges. You know the substantial value of your nursing license and staffing agency employment. Don't risk that investment and asset on unqualified local attorney representation. Get the skills and experience you need for your best disciplinary outcome. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form now.
