When you face state nursing board disciplinary charges, your nursing license is on the line. And when you lose your formal disciplinary hearing, you could suffer license suspension or revocation, crippling or destroying your nursing career. Yet fortunately, most state nursing practice acts provide for appeal rights from an adverse decision imposing license sanctions. In those cases, everything is riding on your appeal. But appeals have deadlines that can be jurisdictional. Depending on your state’s law and rules, the appeal deadline can be very short or relatively long, with or without exceptions for delays. In the worst case, though, you could lose your appeal rights for failing to file in a timely manner.
For your timely appeal and best appeal outcome, retain the LLF National Law Firm’s premier Professional License Defense Team. Our attorneys know how to timely prepare, perfect, and pursue state nursing board disciplinary appeals for your best appeal outcome. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form now for the skilled and experienced appellate representation you need. Do not delay, in case your appeal rights run out. And do not retain an unqualified local criminal defense lawyer or civil litigation attorney for your administrative licensing appeal. Get the right help to do the right job, on time, and for the best result.
State Nursing Board Disciplinary Authority
Your state nursing board certainly has the statutory authority to impose its disciplinary decision against you. If you have already suffered the state nursing board’s discipline, then you are right to think in terms of a timely appeal because you may otherwise have to live with that discipline. Your state’s nursing practice act establishes your state nursing board to license and discipline the licenses of nurses, to protect patients and the public against incompetent and unfit nursing. See, for example, the Washington State Nurse Practice Act, establishing the Washington State Board of Nursing to license and discipline nurses. The Washington State Nurse Practice Act expressly authorizes the State Board of Nursing to suspend or revoke the license of a nurse found to have committed one of its many forms of misconduct under the state’s Uniform Disciplinary Act. The Uniform Disciplinary Act authorizes not only license suspension or revocation but also a long list of other potential sanctions. Beware a finding of discipline. Prepare for a timely appeal if that’s your disciplinary hearing result.
State Nursing Board Hearing Decisions
State nursing boards, though, don’t just impose discipline on the spur of the moment, in an arbitrary and capricious manner. They must instead hold a hearing, make findings based on the hearing evidence, and create and preserve a hearing record supporting those findings. Again, see, for example, the Washington State Uniform Disciplinary Act, authorizing discipline only “upon a finding, after a hearing,” referring to the accused nurse’s due process rights. The Washington State Uniform Disciplinary Act, like other uniform acts in other states, expressly adopts the state’s Administrative Procedure Act. The Administrative Procedure Act provides for administrative hearings in contested cases before an administrative law judge. The administrative law judge both makes the findings and creates the record on which the appeal official or panel decides. Your hearing can be critical to the outcome of your appeal because your appeal may need a sound hearing record to prevail. Let us represent you at the hearing. But if you’ve already lost your hearing, let us pursue your appeal.
State Nursing Board Appeal Rights
State nursing board disciplinary procedures routinely provide for some form of appeal review. The appeal routes vary. In some states, like Washington, an administrative law judge makes the preliminary decision, subject to appeal review by the agency, in this instance, the state’s nursing board. Washington then permits a second appeal to the state’s civil courts. In other states, though, like Florida, the nursing board itself or a panel of its members or other appointed officials holds the initial hearing. The appeal then goes to an administrative agency. In Florida’s case, that agency is the Division of Administrative Hearings. Further civil court review may then be available. Your appeal may thus be to your state nursing board, a state administrative agency, a state civil court, or even two of those three bodies. Don’t take a useless appeal to the wrong body. Instead, promptly retain our attorneys to pursue a timely appeal before the correct body.
State Nursing Board Appeal Deadlines
And yes, the time within which you file the appeal can be critical. Many states hold appeal deadlines to be jurisdictional, meaning that the appeal body has no power to hear your appeal if you miss the deadline with a late filing. Some states have relief valves from those deadlines, for good cause or similar extenuating circumstances. But don’t rely on a relief valve. Ensure a timely filing by retaining our attorneys as soon as you learn of an adverse hearing decision. State appeal deadlines can be all over the map. Below are a few examples, although your state’s appeal period may be shorter or longer:
- Washington State requires a filing in the state’s civil courts within thirty days of the agency’s order;
- Florida also requires a filing within thirty days of the Florida Board of Nursing decision imposing discipline;
- California requires an appeal from the California Board of Registered Nursing to the state’s civil courts, typically within thirty days with various exceptions;
- Tennessee requires a filing in the state’s civil courts within sixty days of the final contested case decision in the agency matter; and
- Oregon likewise requires a filing in the state’s appellate court within sixty days of the date of the agency decision in the matter.
What a State Nursing Board Appeal Requires
Your appeal from a state nursing board decision imposing license discipline takes more than filing a simple paper. Effective appeals generally require a timely notice of the appeal to the correct appellate body with a copy of the decision from which you appeal. You must also generally obtain the hearing record, which may require ordering a transcript made of an audio or video recording, to provide to the appellate official or panel along with the hearing exhibits. Your appeal should then summarize and analyze the hearing record in an appellate document in the form of a legal brief, with citations to both the record and to the applicable law requiring reversal of the hearing decision.
Your appeal argument also needs to address the appeal review standard, whether de novo (a fresh look), abuse of discretion, or clear legal error. Your appeal may also permit or require an oral argument of the appeal. Some appeals even offer a fresh hearing with witnesses. Our attorneys know these appeal requirements. We also know how to draft a convincing appeal brief and make convincing oral arguments. Our national reputation and relationships precede us, giving the appellate panel or official the trust, respect, and confidence in our arguments on your behalf that you need for reversal.
Some appeals also include an opportunity for a settlement conference. We may be able to arrange a formal settlement conference or even to advocate and negotiate informally for a withdrawal of the adverse decision in favor of alternative remedial measures. Our attorneys know the protective measures that state nursing board officials will often accept to ensure that a reinstated nurse presents no danger to patients or the public. Let us advocate for alternatives to discipline during the course of your appeal, on terms that you approve. We may be able to avoid the delay of an appeal and the risk of not prevailing by negotiating an acceptable resolution.
Request for Reconsideration
While an appeal can be a great last resort, an appeal may not be your first or best route for relief from an adverse decision after a formal hearing. Many state nursing practice acts provide for a process of reconsideration of the initial hearing decision. Reconsideration means that the same decision maker, whether the state nursing board, its appointed panel, an administrative law judge, or another administrative official or body, reviews the decision to reconsider whether the decision was correct. See, for example, the Tennessee Board of Nursing rules, providing for reconsideration of an adverse disciplinary decision. You must, though, request reconsideration and make out a convincing case in your request that the initial decision was incorrect.
Indeed, the standard for reconsideration generally requires much more than a mere rehash of the evidence and arguments that you made in your initial board of nursing hearing that you lost. Our attorneys can help you identify the legal or procedural errors that led to the initial adverse decision, to highlight to your state nursing board how it must correct those errors with a reversal of its decision. Don’t undertake a motion for reconsideration without our skilled analysis and effective advocacy. Don’t waste your opportunity to correct reversible errors and save your nursing license.
What to Do About a Missed Appeal Deadline
Your state nursing board may have other avenues for relief if you have already missed your statutory or rule appeal deadline. A motion for reconsideration, as just shown, may be one of those avenues. Even if you have already lost your motion for reconsideration and missed the appeal deadline, we may be able to show the appeal body that you have grounds for excusing your failure to take a timely appeal. You may also have other grounds for a late-filed appeal, such as newly discovered evidence or another irregularity in the proceeding. Do not give up if you have already missed your appeal deadline. Instead, retain us to exhaust all other avenues for relief until we achieve your best possible disciplinary outcome.
State Nursing Board License Reinstatement
State nursing boards also often have the statutory authority to reinstate a nurse’s license after its suspension or revocation. If you are unable to overturn your discipline because you missed the appeal deadline or your appeal failed to reverse the adverse decision, we may be able to gain reinstatement of your license. See, for example, the Alabama Board of Nursing’s requirements to apply for reinstatement of a revoked or suspended license. License suspensions typically allow for reinstatement either on a convincing application for reinstatement or after waiting a reinstatement period that may be as short as one month or longer, such as six months or one year. Your reinstatement waiting period, if you face one, may already have passed or may pass shortly, just as we file your petition for reinstatement.
Do not, though, simply apply for license reinstatement with a simple letter request. Instead, retain us to make a convincing application. License reinstatement after a disciplinary suspension or revocation generally requires showing that you are fit and competent for nursing practice. Our application on your behalf will include not only a summary of your grounds for reinstatement but also documentation establishing that you have met all terms and conditions for license reinstatement and have the good character and competence for safe nursing. We may, for instance, provide affidavits, statements, or other attestations as to your completing evaluation, treatment, counseling, mentoring, or additional education or training. We may also supply your attestation that you have not practiced nursing without a license and that you have rehabilitated whatever specific condition contributed to your discipline.
Premier Nursing License Defense Available
If you have suffered a nursing license disciplinary sanction that you need to appeal, immediately retain the LLF National Law Firm’s premier Professional License Defense Team to help you timely pursue and perfect that appeal. Our highly qualified attorneys have helped hundreds of nurses and other healthcare professionals favorably appeal or otherwise defend and resolve licensing board disciplinary charges. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form now for the skilled appellate representation you need. Do not delay and, in doing so, miss your appeal deadline.