The Lento Law Firm Defends Kansas LPNs
If you face Kansas Board of Nursing misconduct charges against your Kansas LPN license, then you need skilled and experienced defense representation. The Kansas Board of Nursing's mission is “to assure the citizens of Kansas safe and competent practice by nurses” through licensing and disciplinary actions against LPNs and other nurses. Retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team if you face Kansas Board of Nursing disciplinary charges. We can help you preserve your valuable LPN license and employment by obtaining the best disciplinary outcome for you. Call 888.535.3686 or chat with us now.
Kansas LPN Practice Rewards
You know the rewards you expect from your Kansas LPN practice. Nursing practice anywhere can be both satisfying, personally and professionally rewarding. Those benefits can be especially true in Kansas, with its substantial commitment to the healthcare of its friendly citizens. Your nursing practice in Wichita, Overland Park, Kansas City, Olathe, Topeka, Lawrence, Shawnee, Lenexa, Manhattan, Salina, Hutchinson, Leavenworth, Leawood, Garden City, or another charming Kansas area allows you to reap the rewards of all you have invested in your LPN education, degree, licensure, and employment. Let us help you preserve those rewards by defending your LPN license against Kansas Board of Nursing disciplinary charges.
Nationwide Stakes to Kansas LPN Discipline
Your Kansas Board of Nursing issues can affect your ability to gain or hold an LPN license in other states. You face nationwide stakes in your Kansas Board of Nursing LPN license proceeding. Kansas is one of the many states that offer licensure by endorsement. States like Kansas participating in the Nurse Licensure Compact permit nurses to take their LPN license into another state so that the new state can grant an LPN without having to retake the NCLEX LPN exam or redo their work experience requirement. Licensure by endorsement can save you huge time, expense, and effort. But if you suffer discipline before the Kansas Board of Nursing, your discipline goes into the Nurse Licensure Compact's Nursys online database, where licensing board officials in other states can see your discipline and use it to deny you a license in that state or revoke an LPN license you already hold there. Let us help you defend your Kansas Board of Nursing charges so that you don't lose your ability to practice both in Kansas and elsewhere.
Kansas LPN Licensure
The Kansas legislature passed the state's Nurse Practice Act to give the Kansas Board of Nursing the power to license nurses for practice in the state. Kansas Statutes Section 65-1116 authorizes the Board of Nursing to license (LPNs) who complete the legislature's education, examination, and work experience requirements or show that they have completed equivalent requirements in another state recognizing reciprocity. Kansas Statutes Section 65-1114 makes it unlawful to practice as an LPN in the state or to use the LPN title or abbreviation unless the Kansas Board of Nursing has granted that individual an LPN license. Kansas Statutes Section 65-1122 makes it a Class B misdemeanor to practice as an LPN without a license or on a revoked or suspended license. Kansas punishes a Class B misdemeanor with up to a $1,000 fine and six months in jail. The same statute raises the crime to a Class A misdemeanor for a second or subsequent offense. Kansas punishes Class A misdemeanors with up to a $2,500 fine and one year in jail. You won't practice in Kansas without your LPN license. Let us help you defend it.
Kansas LPN Qualifications
Kansas Statutes Section 65-1116 requires that you earn your LPN degree from an accredited program, pass the NCLEX LPN exam within two years, and complete the other documentation and good character requirements. Kansas Administrative Regulation 60-3-106 further details those requirements. You worked hard, invested a great deal of time and effort, and incurred substantial expenses to complete these requirements. You also surely expect a good return on your investment in your LPN degree and licensure. Don't risk all that investment to Kansas Board of Nursing misconduct charges. Let us help you defend and defeat the charges.
Kansas LPN Disciplinary Authority
The Kansas Board of Nursing has clear authority not only to issue your LPN license but also to investigate, discipline, suspend, and revoke it. Kansas Statutes Section 65-1120 states expressly that the Board of Nursing “may deny, revoke, limit, or suspend any license or authorization to practice nursing ... as a licensed practical nurse....” Under that statutory authority, the Kansas Board of Nursing has further adopted Administrative Regulation 60-3-110, detailing the many different forms of unprofessional conduct that can lead to discipline. The Board of Nursing takes seriously its obligation to protect the public against substandard nursing practice, staffing its office with career professionals to investigate and pursue disciplinary charges. Don't doubt their commitment and authority. Let us help you level the playing field with our strategic and effective defense representation.
Kansas LPN Disciplinary Decisions
The Kansas Board of Nursing maintains an online searchable database for the public to learn about its disciplinary decisions. That database discloses the disciplined LPN's name, case number, grounds for discipline, and penalty, along with a link to a report of the details of the misconduct. You don't want that kind of a public record. Your employer, other licensing boards, professional community, and friends and family members can all find out about your discipline. You may also have a duty to report your discipline to your employer and other licensing boards, which the Kansas Board of Nursing may separately notify in any case. Don't expect to hide your Kansas Board of Nursing discipline. Instead, let us help you defend the charges.
Kansas LPN Disciplinary Sanctions
You've seen just above that Kansas Statutes Section 65-1120 authorizes the Board of Nursing to “deny, revoke, limit, or suspend” your LPN license. If the Board of Nursing revokes or suspends your LPN license, you won't practice nursing in the state and will likely lose your nursing employment. The Board's authority to limit your license means that it may restrict the location where you can practice, the nursing services you may provide, or the supervision under which you may practice. Those restrictions can likewise cause you to lose your nursing employment and income. The same statute goes on to provide that the Board of Nursing may alternatively require you to “attend a specific number of hours of continuing education” or “publicly or privately censure” you on the grounds the statute lists. This Board of Nursing's discretion to impose private reprimands or conditions on your license gives our attorneys the opportunity to advocate for remedial relief that preserves your nursing practice and employment rather than punitive sanctions.
Kansas LPN License Reinstatement
We may be able to help you even if you have already lost your LPN license to Kansas Board of Nursing misconduct charges. Kansas Statutes Section 65-1120a authorizes the Board of Nursing to reinstate your LPN license after its suspension, revocation, voluntary surrender, or other lapse. You must make a convincing written application, provide reliable documentation supporting the factual basis for your argument for reinstatement, and appear at a Board of Nursing hearing to convince officials to exercise their discretion to reinstate your LPN license. We can help you make that showing.
Grounds for Kansas LPN Discipline
You've seen above that Kansas Statutes Section 65-1120 authorizes the Board of Nursing to suspend, revoke, or otherwise discipline your LPN license. The same statute lists the grounds on which the Board of Nursing may do so. The Board of Nursing's Administrative Regulation 60-3-110 further articulates the unprofessional conduct that may lead to discipline. Between the statute and regulation, Board of Nursing officials have many grounds on which to pursue your discipline. Here are some of the more common grounds and how we may be able to defend you.
Credential Fraud as Ground for Kansas LPN Discipline
Kansas Statutes Section 65-1120 includes “to be guilty of fraud or deceit ... in procuring or attempting to procure a license” as a first ground for discipline. Credential fraud examples include concealing a disqualifying criminal conviction from your renewal application or original application, misrepresenting your education or other qualifications on those applications, or even cheating on the NCLEX LPN exam. We may be able to show in defense that you did not conceal any information, that any information you omitted wasn't disqualifying information, and that you did not cheat on the licensing exam.
Criminal Conviction as Ground for Kansas LPN Discipline
Kansas Statutes Section 65-1120 includes criminal conviction of a felony, a drug offense, or an offense related to the practice of nursing as a ground for discipline. Examples of disqualifying crimes can include crimes of violence like assault and battery, crimes of dishonesty like criminal fraud or embezzlement, or crimes of moral turpitude like indecent exposure. We may be able to show in defense that a court overturned your conviction, your conviction did not fall within the statute's list of disqualifying crimes, or you simply did not suffer the alleged conviction.
Incompetence as Ground for Kansas LPN Discipline
Kansas Statutes Section 65-1120 includes “professional incompetency” as a ground for discipline, defining that phrase to include “failure to adhere to the applicable standard of care to a degree which constitutes gross negligence,” repeated instances of such failures constituting ordinary negligence, or a pattern or practice of incompetence. Examples could include ignoring or disobeying physician orders or using the wrong methods of moving or medicating patients, resulting in harm or endangerment. We may be able to show in defense that your actions met the standard of care or that you acted reasonably under the instructions of supervisors.
Substance Abuse as Ground for Kansas LPN Discipline
Kansas Statutes Section 65-1120 includes “to be unable to practice with skill and safety due to current abuse of drugs or alcohol” as a ground for discipline. We may be able to show in defense that the complainant misconstrued your demeanor as indicating intoxication, that you had a prescription medication reaction, or that a confused or deluded patient misidentified you. Consult us first if the Board of Nursing offers you enrollment in a drug diversion program. We can help you evaluate whether the program is unreasonably burdensome, unnecessary, and creates a greater risk of discipline for non-compliance. You may be better off simply facing the disciplinary charges with our strategic defense.
Unprofessional Conduct as Ground for Kansas LPN Discipline
Kansas Statutes Section 65-1120 includes “unprofessional conduct,” as the Board of Nursing defines as a ground for discipline. The Board of Nursing's Administrative Regulation 60-3-110 includes as unprofessional conduct such acts as patient abuse or abandonment, unnecessary use of physical restraint or isolation, threats or intimidation, or sexual abuse of or relations with a patient, among many other examples. We may be able to show in defense that you did not commit the alleged acts or that the complainant misidentified you or made the false allegations in retaliation.
Kansas LPN Disciplinary Procedures
Kansas Statutes Section 65-1120 expressly incorporates Kansas Administrative Procedures Act protections whenever the Board of Nursing pursues disciplinary charges that may result in the suspension or revocation of your LPN license. The Board of Nursing must give you constitutional due process, including fair notice of the charges and a fair hearing before an impartial decision maker. We can help you invoke these protective procedures, which are not self-executing. If you have already lost your hearing, we can take the available administrative appeal or even pursue court review and reversal of your discipline.
Premier Kansas LPN Defense Services
The Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team is available across Kansas, including in Wichita, Overland Park, Kansas City, Olathe, Topeka, Lawrence, Shawnee, Lenexa, Manhattan, Salina, Hutchinson, Leavenworth, Leawood, Garden City, and other cities and towns, to defend your LPN license against Kansas Board of Nursing misconduct charges. We have successfully represented hundreds of nurses and other professionals in license defense proceedings in Kansas and across the nation. Call 888.535.3686 or chat with us now.
