Nurses form the backbone of any healthcare provider, especially those in Grand Rapids or Wyoming, Michigan. Whether you work at Butterworth Hospital, the University of Michigan Health-West, or Trinity Health, you are an essential part of providing effective medical care to patients. However, because of how important your role is, the Michigan Board of Nursing expects you to meet certain standards concerning your skills as a clinician, as well as ethical and professional standards.
If the Board of Nursing believes you have failed to meet or maintain these requirements, you could find your Michigan nursing license in jeopardy. The moment you learn that your professional nursing license could be taken away, contact the Professional License Defense Team from the Lento Law Firm. Our attorneys have years of experience representing nurses facing disciplinary action from all over the country, including the Grand Rapids metropolitan area. Schedule a consultation using our online contact form or by calling 888-535-3686.
An Overview of the Michigan Board of Nursing
The Michigan Board of Nursing (MBON) is part of the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) of Michigan. Most nurses will deal with the MBON, as it's primarily tasked with the nursing licensing process for new and current nurses. This includes the initial licensure application and continuing education requirements. If there's a reason to suspend or revoke a nursing license or otherwise take disciplinary action against a licensed nurse in Michigan, LARA will be the primary government entity involved.
Reasons You Might Face Discipline from LARA
LARA will usually take disciplinary action against a licensed Michigan nurse if the nurse allegedly engaged in one or more of the following:
- Prohibited acts.
- Unethical acts.
- Unprofessional acts.
Michigan law outlines common prohibited acts that a nurse could face punishment for committing. Some of these include:
- Using fraud or deceit to obtain or renew a nursing license.
- Allowing someone else to use the nurse's license.
- Practicing outside the scope of the nurse's license.
- Obtaining, possessing, or distributing a controlled substance without authorization.
- Attempting to obtain, possess, or distribute a controlled substance without authorization.
There's also a section that provides a list of unethical conduct that a nurse could face punishment for engaging in, such as:
- Using false or misleading advertisements.
- Receiving fees for patient referrals.
- Accepting kickbacks for purchasing medical equipment, supplies, or services on behalf of patients.
- Using fraud or deceit to obtain (or attempt to obtain) third-party reimbursement.
A list of unprofessional conduct includes:
- Misleading a consumer or patient to receive third-party reimbursement.
- Revealing professional information obtained in confidence.
- Promoting an unnecessary medical product, drug, or service for personal gain.
In addition to the above conduct, a nurse could face disciplinary action from LARA for other reasons:
- Failure to exercise due care during the course of one's nursing duties.
- Incompetence.
- Substance abuse.
- Physical or mental impairment that adversely affects the ability to practice nursing.
- Certain criminal convictions, such as those resulting in two or more years in prison or involving a controlled substance.
- Showing poor moral character.
- Adverse administrative action be a nursing or relevant agency from a jurisdiction other than Michigan.
The Grand Rapids Nurse License Disciplinary Process
The LARA disciplinary process should be the same no matter what part of Michigan you practice in. Yet the facts giving rise to the disciplinary action against you will relate to your specific place of employment or area of practice within the Grand Rapids metropolitan area.
The disciplinary process often begins when someone files a complaint with LARA through MiPLUS or the Michigan Professional Licensing User System. While many cases may begin this way, LARA isn't restricted to only investigating formal complaints.
Under applicable Michigan regulations, LARA may look into any matter that might catch its attention while investigating the allegations in a complaint. LARA may also open a disciplinary matter after discovering possible misconduct from other sources, including arrest records, media reports, and civil litigation.
After Filing a Complaint
After someone files a complaint, LARA's Complaint Intake Section will review it. This is an initial examination of the allegations primarily to see if they constitute a violation of any disciplinary rules from the Public Health Code (which the MBON adheres to).
If the Complaint Intake Section finds that a violation may have occurred, they will authorize further investigation. If they don't feel a further investigation is warranted, they close the complaint.
In situations where the complaint deals with claims that the accused nurse could be impaired on the job because of a mental health or substance abuse disorder, the case may be referred to the Health Professional Recovery Program. The Complaint Intake Section doesn't do this to get the accused nurse into additional trouble. Rather, the goal of this referral is to get the nurse the help they need while also protecting the general public.
The Investigation
LARA's investigation staff will gather further information from a variety of sources. In most investigations, they will at least interview the person who filed the complaint and the accused nurse. If necessary, they will also interview anyone else with knowledge of the accusations, like a supervisor, patient, or coworker. LARA also has the right to request documents and other forms of evidence during the investigation.
After the investigation, the LARA investigator will reach one of the following three recommendations:
- Close the case, as the investigation did not obtain enough evidence to substantiate the allegation(s) and justify a formal complaint.
- Refer the case for additional review by a subject matter expert to decide if the allegations fall below the minimum standards of care for professional nurses. This referral might occur if the complaint includes allegations of nursing malpractice.
- Transfer the case for the preparation of a formal administrative complaint against the accused nurse.
The Administrative Complaint
LARA serves a copy of the formal administrative complaint on the accused nurse. This document outlines the alleged violations and provides 30 days for the accused nurse to give a written response. If the nurse doesn't provide a response, automatic sanctions may result.
Allegations that relate to an imminent threat to the public may result in a summary suspension that coincides with the serving of the formal complaint.
The Compliance Conference
After the nurse provides their response, a compliance conference is scheduled. This is an informational meeting where the nurse and MBON try to negotiate a settlement. If one is reached, the disciplinary subcommittee must approve it. If no settlement is reached, there will be an administrative hearing.
The Administrative Hearing
This is a formal hearing that parallels a criminal or civil trial, with the major difference being that there's no jury. Instead, the administrative law judge overseeing the hearing will also decide the case (instead of a jury).
Representing the State of Michigan will be an assistant attorney general. The accused nurse may represent themselves or hire an attorney to represent them during the hearing, where each side will present evidence. This can consist of witnesses being called to testify and evidence presented to the administrative law judge. Any witness called to testify may be subject to cross-examination by the other side.
Because this is a formal hearing that's subject to administrative review, an official record of the proceeding will be made. After the hearing is over, the administrative law judge will issue a Proposal for Decision. This will provide not just a ruling on whether there was a violation of the Public Health Code but also a list of the findings of facts and conclusions of the law on which the administrative law judge relied for their decision.
The Disciplinary Subcommittee Reviews the Proposal for Decision
Before the Proposal for Decision can become finalized, it goes to the disciplinary subcommittee for review. After review, the disciplinary subcommittee may accept the administrative law judge's decision, dismiss or overturn the administrative law judge's decision, or reach their own findings of fact and conclusions of law. In other words, the disciplinary subcommittee has the authority to ignore the administrative law judge's decisions and findings (although this doesn't always happen).
Possible Sanctions Following a Disciplinary Proceeding
If you've found by the disciplinary subcommittee to have violated one or more provisions of the Public Health Code, you could face any number of sanctions, such as:
- A reprimand.
- A monetary fine.
- Probation for a set period of time.
- One or more practice restrictions are placed on your nursing license.
- One or more conditional license requirements, such as completing additional training or community service before reinstatement of nursing license.
- Nursing license suspension.
- Nursing license revocation.
This last sanction is the most severe and usually reserved for the most severe violations of the Public Health Code.
The Importance of Getting Help for Grand Rapids Nurse License Defense
The above is just a brief overview of the steps you can expect if the Michigan Board of Nursing and LARA decide to follow up on a complaint filed against you. Even if you did nothing wrong, there are several places during the disciplinary process where you could find your nursing license at risk if you make just one misstep.
For example, the Compliance Conference is an opportunity to resolve the complaint with minimal to no negative repercussions on your future nursing career. It's also the perfect opportunity for the State of Michigan to take advantage of your lack of legal expertise and persuade you to accept an unfair settlement that could harm or limit your ability to practice as a nurse.
Imagine you agree to settle the matter with no license suspension or revocation on the condition that you meet multiple conditions. These conditions may seem reasonable and easy to meet, given how the alternative could be losing your nursing license. But they might be more difficult to meet than you originally expected.
As a result of this underestimation, you fail to meet just one of these conditions. And because of this, your nursing license gets suspended. Even if you meet all the conditions placed on you and your nursing license, you might end up agreeing to extra conditions. This could end up costing you unnecessary time and money.
It can be easy to make these mistakes if you try to handle everything yourself instead of having an experienced professional license attorney from the Lento Law Firm accompany you during the conference.
This isn't to say the MBON or LARA is deliberately trying to ruin your career. But they're not necessarily going to help you either, especially given how their purpose is to protect the citizens of Michigan, not nurses and their professional licenses.
There's also the fact that even though the disciplinary process is similar to a criminal proceeding, the State of Michigan has a lower burden to meet before imposing sanctions on you. Instead of the reasonable doubt standard from a criminal matter, the State of Michigan only has to prove the charges by a preponderance of the evidence.
The Lento Law Firm Is Ready to Help With Your Grand Rapids Nurse License Defense
Your livelihood depends on your nursing license. Don't let the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs or Board of Nursing take it away from you without a fight. No matter what stage you're at in the disciplinary process or what you've been accused of, the Professional License Defense Team at the Lento Law Firm is here for you. Our attorneys have represented hundreds of licensed professionals, including nurses. To learn more, schedule a consultation by calling 888-535-3686 or completing our online contact form.
