Staffing agency nursing is a vital mission and ministry to those in greatest need. Your staffing agency nursing work in the District of Columbia means a tremendous amount to the patients for whom you care and the facilities and residences where you serve. As the nation's capital, the District of Columbia is a diverse, vibrant, and important center of governance, commerce, and life. Your staffing agency nursing helps keep the District of Columbia population healthy, functioning, and free to pursue significant interests and flourishing lives. You draw these personal rewards and other financial and professional rewards from your District of Columbia staffing agency nursing. Don't let the District of Columbia Board of Nursing disciplinary charges damage or destroy your staffing agency nursing practice. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form now to retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team. Our highly qualified attorneys can help you protect and preserve your District of Columbia staffing agency nursing.
District of Columbia Agency Nurse Investment
Every licensed nurse puts a tremendous amount of time, effort, and investment into gaining licensure. Those investments begin with your nursing education, which itself took you years of studies and many thousands of dollars in tuition, board, and foregone earnings through other employment. Studying for and passing the NCLEX and your other nursing exams took additional substantial time, expense, and effort. Gaining your District of Columbia staffing agency employment was another investment, as was earning the confidence and trust of your agency manager, the facility supervisors under whom you work, and the patients for whom you care. Your professional network is also hugely valuable to you. Yet District of Columbia Board of Nursing disciplinary charges threaten all that investment. Losing your license to disciplinary charges ends your expected returns. Let us help you preserve those returns and hold onto your District of Columbia nursing license, which is among your most important and valuable assets.
District of Columbia Staffing Agency Employment
Your District of Columbia staffing agency employment brings to you its own substantial rewards and benefits. District of Columbia nurse staffing agencies like NRI Staffing Resources, Complete Healthcare Staffing, Alliant Staffing, Maxim Healthcare Services, and Medical Staffing Network offer continual, meaningful, and secure employment. You're never out of work as a staffing agency nurse, not in the District of Columbia in this demographic cycle and economic climate. You can earn a good income with good health insurance and other benefits through staffing agency nursing. Your staffing agency nursing also lets you move around, meet new professionals, practice nursing in new facilities, and serve new patient populations, from which you are constantly learning and growing. Staffing agency nursing must match your personality, schedule, commitments, and ambitions for you to have undertaken it as a job and career. Kudos to you for your healthcare ministry and service. Staffing agency nurses are veritable modern heroes. Don't lose those rewards and benefits to District of Columbia disciplinary charges. Get our skilled and strategic defense help.
District of Columbia Agency Nurse Facility Challenges
That's not to say that your District of Columbia staffing agency work is without challenges. To the contrary, the facilities to which staffing agencies assign their nurses can treat their staffing agency nurses as second-class professionals, compared to the nurses and other healthcare workers whom the facilities employ directly. That preferential treatment for permanent employee nurses is, to some degree, understandable. Facilities invest heavily in recruiting, training, and retaining their permanent staff, whereas agency staffing comes at the facility's beck and call, largely without special investment. That convenience is what makes staffing agencies successful. However, that convenience can also mean that the facility to which your staffing agency assigns you won't protect you against false or exaggerated misconduct allegations in the way that it would protect its permanent employee nurses. You may not get access to the facility's grievance procedure, mediation services, or other procedural safeguards in disputes with patients and their family members or with facility supervisors or staff. Let us help you manage your facility issues to avoid or address the District of Columbia Board of Nursing disciplinary charges.
District of Columbia Staffing Agency Challenges
Your District of Columbia staffing agency should be your defender and ally in any dispute over misplaced, false, exaggerated, unfair, or retaliatory misconduct allegations. Your employer should generally be in your corner, protecting your license and employment. However, staffing agencies, like their facility clients, may treat their nurse employees as expendable. Staffing agencies, like their facility clients, may not have invested substantially in recruiting, training, or retaining their nurses. When facing District of Columbia Board of Nursing disciplinary charges, you may find yourself without the help of your own employer staffing agency. Your staffing agency may decline to provide you with managerial support, access to records, and dispute-resolution procedures that would help you protect your agency employment, facility reputation, and nursing license. If you face staffing agency employment issues relating to misconduct allegations and potential or pending District of Columbia Board of Nursing disciplinary charges, get the help of our skilled and experienced attorneys to address those issues.
District of Columbia Board of Nursing Disciplinary Impacts
District of Columbia Board of Nursing disciplinary charges can certainly damage and even destroy your staffing agency nursing practice. If your staffing agency and the facility to which it assigns you blame and scapegoat you for misconduct or errors committed by others or otherwise fail to support you through reasonable procedures to allow you to protect your reputation and license, then the Board of Nursing discipline you may face could end your staffing agency employment. If you lose your District of Columbia nursing license, your agency can no longer assign you to District facilities for nursing practice. You can lose your job, income, benefits, professional network, and reputation. Those losses can affect your ability to pay for your housing, transportation, healthcare or health insurance, and the obligations you owe your family dependents. You also may lose nursing licenses you hold in other states or be unable to get other nursing licenses in the future. The District's Board of Nursing enters its discipline in the National Nursing Database or otherwise makes its discipline available to licensing officials across the country. Don't let your professional career and life come tumbling down like a house of cards just because of misconduct allegations for which you may have a strong defense. Let us help defend you against the District of Columbia Board of Nursing disciplinary charges.
District of Columbia Board of Nursing Authority
The District of Columbia Board of Nursing has Congress' authority not only to license nurses for practice in the District but also, under Section 3–1202.04 of the District of Columbia Nurse Practice Act, to regulate, discipline, and revoke those licenses. Section 3–1205.14 of the Nurse Practice Act expressly authorizes the Board of Nursing to deny, revoke, or suspend a nursing license on the authorized grounds for discipline. Related District of Columbia Municipal Regulations for Health Occupations set forth the Board of Nursing's procedures for pursuing discipline. Section 3-1210.01 of the Nurse Practice Act prohibits practicing nursing without a license, while Section 3-1210.07 imposes criminal fines up to $10,000 and up to a year in jail for violations. You simply cannot practice nursing in the District of Columbia without your current valid license, without facing these and other risks of punishment. Practice without a valid license is another ground for discipline and could bar you long term from regaining a suspended or limited license. Get our help to defend the District of Columbia Board of Nursing disciplinary charges. You need your nursing license.
District of Columbia Nursing Board Disciplinary Sanctions
The District of Columbia Board of Nursing can do more or less than suspend and revoke your nursing license. Disciplinary officials have surprising discretion in the discipline they actually impose, giving our attorneys the opportunity to advocate for remedial relief that preserves your license. Section 3-1205.14 of the District's Nurse Practice Act clearly authorizes license suspension or revocation. But it also authorizes, in addition or alternative to license revocation, civil fines, reprimand, reexamination, retraining, continuing education, treatment or therapy, or probation. The Board of Nursing may impose other terms, conditions, or limits on your license while under probation. The Board should direct its sanctions to the mission that Congress gave it, which is to protect the District of Columbia's patients and the public against incompetent, impaired, and dangerous nurses. The Board's considerable discretion in pursuing that goal gives our attorneys the opportunity to propose terms that you are ready, able, and willing to perform, or may already have completed, in place of discipline, so that you keep a clean record and retain your District of Columbia staffing agency employment.
District of Columbia Nursing Board Disciplinary Reports
The District of Columbia Board of Nursing posts online the disciplinary actions that it takes in readily accessible reports. Each report includes the disciplined nurse's name, license number, misconduct circumstances and details, and form of discipline. A brief review of those dozens or even hundreds of reports shows the breadth of disciplinary grounds, from substance abuse to continuing education failures, neglect of duties, patient abuse, and the like. The District of Columbia's Board of Nursing clearly takes its regulatory responsibility most seriously. The Board staffs and otherwise provides for prompt and thorough investigation of complaints about District of Columbia nurses. Don't expect the Board's disciplinary officials to let complaints about your nursing slip by without investigation. Let us help you address the Board's concerns during the investigation stage or, if you already face formal charges, then through the Board's disciplinary proceedings.
Disclosure of District of Columbia Nursing Board Discipline
Because the District of Columbia's Board of Nursing publishes its orders of discipline online, you won't generally be able to conceal your discipline if you suffer it. Your staffing agency employer may receive direct notice from the Board of your discipline. Your agency may also locate your discipline with an easy online search. You may also have the regulatory duty to report your discipline to your staffing agency employer and to the facility to which it assigns you. Licensing boards in states in which you hold a license may also learn of your discipline, revoking or suspending your other nursing licenses. Boards of other professions or fields in which you hold a certificate or license may do likewise. Your school program, if you are continuing education, may suspend your enrollment when learning of your discipline, which you may have to self-report. Even your patients, their family members, and your own friends and family members may readily learn of your discipline. Don't expect to conceal discipline. Instead, get our help to avoid it.
Grounds for District of Columbia Agency Nurse Discipline
Section 3-1205.14 of the District of Columbia's Nurse Practice Act lists no fewer than fifty-two grounds for discipline. Those grounds are so many and so broad that the Board of Nursing's disciplinary officials may find justification for discipline out of virtually any departure from customary nursing practices and standards. Following are some of the more common grounds for discipline, along with how we may be able to help you defend those grounds.
Credential Fraud as Grounds for District of Columbia Agency Nurse Discipline
Section 3-1205.14 of the District of Columbia's Nurse Practice Act authorizes the District of Columbia Board of Nursing to impose discipline if a nurse has “fraudulently or deceptively obtains or attempts to obtain a license, registration, or certification for himself, herself, or another person.” Examples include misrepresenting your education, experience, or criminal history on your license application or renewal form, or cheating on the NCLEX or in your nursing education program. We may be able to help defend these charges by showing that your application and renewal forms were accurate or that any misstatements or omissions were mistaken and immaterial.
Conviction as Grounds for District of Columbia Agency Nurse Discipline
Section 3-1205.14 of the District of Columbia's Nurse Practice Act authorizes the District of Columbia Board of Nursing to impose discipline if a nurse has “been convicted of an offense that is related to” the practice of nursing. Examples include conviction for crimes of dishonesty like embezzlement, crimes of moral turpitude like indecent exposure, or violent crimes like assault with a deadly weapon. We may be able to help defend these charges by showing that an appellate court reversed your conviction, your conviction was not related to nursing, or you did not suffer the alleged conviction.
Incompetence as Grounds for District of Columbia Agency Nurse Discipline
Section 3-1205.14 of the District of Columbia's Nurse Practice Act authorizes the District of Columbia Board of Nursing to impose discipline if a nurse is “professionally or mentally incompetent or physically incapable.” Examples include dementia interfering with nursing knowledge and skill, an orthopedic injury or condition interfering with lifting and moving patients, or a general or specific lack of nursing knowledge and skill, exposing patients to harm. We may be able to help defend these charges by showing that your nursing was at all times within the customary care and that any incompetence or incapability was temporary and did not affect your nursing.
Substance Abuse as Grounds for District of Columbia Agency Nurse Discipline
Section 3-1205.14 of the District of Columbia's Nurse Practice Act authorizes the District of Columbia Board of Nursing to impose discipline if a nurse is “addicted to, or habitually abuses, any narcotic or controlled substance.” The statute also prohibits practice under the influence of alcohol. We may be able to help defend these charges by showing that you have no addiction, did not abuse any substances, or have recovered from any temporary use or abuse that did not affect your nursing.
Sexual Misconduct as Grounds for District of Columbia Agency Nurse Discipline
Section 3-1205.14 of the District of Columbia's Nurse Practice Act authorizes the District of Columbia Board of Nursing to impose discipline if a nurse engages in sexual harassment of a patient or sexual contact with a patient. We may be able to help defend these charges by showing that the complainant misidentified you or manufactured the allegation to retaliate against you, or that the patient was deluded about your customary nursing care and lawful conduct.
Patient Neglect as Grounds for District of Columbia Agency Nurse Discipline
Section 3-1205.14 of the District of Columbia's Nurse Practice Act authorizes the District of Columbia Board of Nursing to impose discipline if a nurse “demonstrates a willful or careless disregard for the health, welfare, or safety of a patient.” Examples include patient abuse or neglect, dereliction of duties, and failure to show up for assignments without notice to supervisors. We may be able to help defend these charges by showing that you were not responsible for the wrongs, or that others committed the wrongs or were on duty to provide the omitted care.
District of Columbia Nursing Board Disciplinary Procedures
Section 3-1205.19 of the District of Columbia's Nurse Practice Act provides for specific hearing procedures before the Board of Nursing suspends, revokes, or otherwise disciplines a license other than summary action for emergency protection of patients and the public. These mandated hearing procedures satisfy the Board of Nursing's constitutional obligation to respect your due process rights before depriving you of the liberty and property interest you hold in your nursing license. We can help you invoke these protective procedures to ensure that you have the best possible outcome for your disciplinary charges. The procedures require the Board of Nursing to give adequate notice of the charges and of the upcoming hearing, at which the Board must present in person any witnesses against you for your retained counsel to cross-examine. We can also present our own exonerating evidence and mitigating circumstances at the hearing. The Board of Nursing may, though, proceed without your participation if you fail to respond to the charges. Don't ignore disciplinary charges. Let us help present your best defense case.
District of Columbia Agency Nurse Appeal Procedures
If you have already lost your District of Columbia Board of Nursing hearing, we may still be able to help you avoid discipline. Section 3-1205.19 of the District of Columbia's Nurse Practice Act provides for an appeal from a final decision of the Board of Nursing, to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Your appeal, though, must be timely, in the proper form, filed with the proper court clerk, and contain a convincing demonstration of the Board of Nursing's errors in disciplining you. Let our highly qualified attorneys research, draft, submit, and argue your appeal. We may alternatively be able to negotiate remedial relief directly with the Board of Nursing's disciplinary officials.
District of Columbia Board of Nursing Alternative Program
You may have yet another option if your disciplinary issues have to do with a substance addiction or abuse issue. The District of Columbia's Board of Nursing maintains a Committee on Impaired Nursing (COIN) as an alternative-to-discipline program for nurses who have not committed dangerous, disciplinable wrongs and whose substance abuse treatment and recovery may preserve their license and career without risk of endangering patients. Beware of entering the COIN program under a referral from the Board of Nursing under a consent agreement. The program may require you to give up your license until you demonstrate recovery, which, on the program's terms, may take years. The program may also impose such frequent drug testing and such arduous and unnecessary evaluation, counseling, treatment, monitoring, and reporting that your failure or inability to comply may create new grounds for discipline. Don't enter the program without first getting our review and advice. It may be better to follow your own program while we use your efforts to convince the Board of Nursing to dismiss the disciplinary charges.
District of Columbia Agency Nurse Defense
The Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team is available in the District of Columbia to defend the Board of Nursing disciplinary charges. Hundreds of nurses and other professionals have trusted our attorneys' skilled and strategic services to retain their licenses. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form now.
