The District of Columbia unfortunately does not participate in the Nurse Licensure Compact. If the District of Columbia participated in the Nurse Licensure Compact, then your multistate licensure or licensure by endorsement under the Compact would be frankly easier, nearly assured. Instead, you can face formidable issues obtaining a District of Columbia license by endorsement or a license by endorsement in a state based on your District of Columbia license. If you face such issues, your best move is to retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team. Our highly qualified attorneys can help you address and favorably resolve your licensure by endorsement issues so that you can move your nursing practice to the location you need or prefer. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form now for our strategic and effective representation.
Nurse Licensure Compact Advantages
The Nurse Licensure Compact has the one overriding purpose of making state to state nurse licensure easier for nurses who wish or need to move their nursing practice. Everyone, including patients, the public, employers, and nurses themselves, benefits when nurses can move their nursing practice from one location to another. Skilled and compassionate nursing services are in high demand, often going unfilled. Mobility of nurses helps to fill unmet needs while also serving the nurses. The Nurse Licensure Compact standardizes licensure requirements for participating jurisdictions, such as to ensure uniform examination requirements under the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX). The District of Columbia not participating in the Nurse Licensure Compact means that the District's nursing laws and rules do not necessarily meet Compact standards. If you cannot be licensed by endorsement in the District of Columbia or in a state based on your District of Columbia license because of differences in the licensing standards, you'll lose the employment, career, and other advantages you sought through multistate licensure. Let us help you resolve your licensure by endorsement issues.
District of Columbia Nurse Licensure Compact Bill
The District of Columbia has a bill pending for the District to join the Nurse Licensure Compact. That bill, District of Columbia B430, would have the District adopt all the standards and procedures the Compact requires to ensure that the District's nurses have the same qualifications as nurses in other Compact jurisdictions. The District Council published the bill, recognized its six sponsors, and referred the bill to two committees. But as of this writing, the bill has not yet passed. It may not pass, and if it does pass, its implementation may take months or years before Compact licensure by endorsement is available. In the meantime, let us help you resolve your District of Columbia licensure by endorsement issues. Waiting for legislative action can become a fool's game, given the uncertainties and delays. Act now for your best interests rather than waiting for others to do what they may not do or may not do soon enough for you.
District of Columbia Nurse Licensure Requirements
Congress adopted the District of Columbia Healthcare Occupation Revision Act to regulate District nursing practice and the practice of other District healthcare professions. The Act's Section 3-1205.01 requires a District of Columbia Board of Nursing license to practice nursing in the District. The Act's Section 3-1205.16 authorizes Board of Nursing officials to bring a civil action in the District's courts to enjoin nursing practice in the District without a District license. The Act's Sections 3-1205.03 and 3-1205.04 state LPN and RN nursing license qualifications, including graduation from an approved nursing program, passing the NCLEX or another approved exam, and proving good moral character and mental and physical fitness. The Act's Section 3-1205.14 details the grounds on which the Board of Nursing may deny a license. The Act's Section 3-1210-10 authorizes the Board of Nursing to obtain an injunction to prevent unauthorized nursing practice without a license. The District of Columbia Health Regulation and Licensing Administration helps the District's Board of Nursing implement these provisions. You must have a District of Columbia nursing license to practice nursing in the District. Let us help you resolve your District nursing license issues.
Nursing Licensure in Other Jurisdictions
You will face similar license requirements if, instead of trying to obtain a District of Columbia nursing license based on a nursing license you hold in another jurisdiction, you are trying to gain a license in another jurisdiction based on your District nursing license. Jurisdictions differ in their licensing requirements, especially when they do not participate in the Nurse Licensure Compact. That's the Compact's purpose and point, which is to standardize licensure requirements. Differences in the other jurisdiction's education, examination, post-graduate training or experience, good character, criminal background, and other requirements may lead to issues with your licensure by endorsement. Get our help resolving those issues.
District of Columbia Licensure by Endorsement
Nurse practice acts, and laws generally define two ways of obtaining a nursing license. One is by examination, and the other is by endorsement. A license by examination generally means a first license without the aid of already holding a license, while a license by endorsement means a license gained at least in part on holding a license in another jurisdiction. Both ways of licensure, by examination or by endorsement, generally require the same education, examination, and other qualifications. Licensure by endorsement may save a few steps, though, such as having to retake a licensing exam already passed. The District of Columbia, although not participating in the Nurse Licensure Compact, does recognize licensure by endorsement under the District of Columbia Healthcare Occupation Revision Act's Section 3-1205.07. That does not mean an automatic District nursing license, though. Under Section 3-1205.07, you must show that your qualifications were “substantially equivalent at the time of licensure to the requirements” of the District of Columbia Board of Nursing. See the following sections for the requirements for each type of nursing license.
District of Columbia LPN Licensure by Endorsement
District of Columbia Board of Nursing Administrative Rule 5505 states the requirements for a licensed practical nurse (LPN) to gain a District license by endorsement. Those requirements include a completed and verified application to the District Board of Nursing, a verified LPN license from another jurisdiction, and a passing NCLEX score or a certain score on the State Board Test Pool Exam (SBTPE) for Canada's provinces. The applicant must also show graduation from an approved domestic or foreign program of nursing education. Rule 5505 requires the applicant to complete the application within ninety days and warns the applicant that the District Board of Nursing will search disciplinary databases in other jurisdictions. These requirements may seem standard, but they are not standardized in the way that the Nurse Licensure Compact requires. Anomalies in your situation may create licensing issues having to do with your education, examination, prior discipline, criminal history, or alleged credential misrepresentations. Let us help you resolve any such licensure by endorsement issues.
District of Columbia RN Licensure by Endorsement
District of Columbia Board of Nursing Administrative Rule 5405 sets forth the District Board of Nursing's requirements for a registered nurse (RN) to license in the District by endorsement. Those requirements, like the requirements above for LPNs, include an RN license application, a verified RN license from another jurisdiction, passing the NCLEX or SBTPE for RNs, and the other good character and background requirements. Just as in the case of an LPN license by endorsement application, your application for a District RN license by endorsement may trigger issues with your education, examination, good character, criminal history, or other qualifications. Your RN license by endorsement application may also trigger documentation, verification, and misrepresentation issues. We can help you address those issues. Notably, though, Rule 5405.2 gives the Board authority to issue a license by endorsement even if the candidate does not meet the above requirements, within the Board's discretion, “if the Board determines that the District's public interest is served by so doing.” Thus, if you know that you cannot meet one or more of the published requirements, we may be able to advocate with the District Board of Nursing for its waiver of those requirements based on your strong record of nursing in another jurisdiction.
District of Columbia Nurse Practitioner Licensure by Endorsement
The District of Columbia recognizes several nurse practitioner certifications based on advanced nurse training, including advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), nurse anesthetists, and nurse midwives. District of Columbia Board of Nursing Administrative Rule 5906 provides for licensure by endorsement of District nurse practitioners. Like the requirements above for LPNs and RNs seeking District licensure by endorsement, the candidate must complete the Board of Nursing's application form, supply a verified license or certification from the other jurisdiction, and meet any other District Board of Nursing requirements. Once again, you may face education, examination, credentials, documentation, discipline, and criminal history issues, among other issues, even though nurse practitioner licensure by endorsement holds the promise of a somewhat streamlined procedure. Let us help you resolve those issues.
Issues Obtaining a Second or Subsequent License
The above discussion suggests some of the issues you may face obtaining your District of Columbia nursing license by endorsement or a license by endorsement in another jurisdiction based on your District of Columbia license. The following sections discuss those common issues in more detail.
District of Columbia Nursing Education Issues Delaying Licensure
Nursing schools generally look to accreditation by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) to ensure that state nursing boards will accept their graduates for licensure. Your nursing program may well have had ACEN accreditation. But it may still have been seeking ACEN accreditation when you first enrolled or may have suffered ACEN accreditation probation or revocation before or since your graduation. Any such anomaly may cause the District of Columbia Board of Nursing or other nursing board to which you apply for licensure by endorsement to question your program's approval. If you graduated from a special state nursing program without ACEN accreditation or from a foreign nursing program, you may face similar education issues. You may alternatively have suffered nursing school discipline, academic progress issues, or other anomalies in your education program that raise red flags with the officials reviewing your licensure by endorsement application. Beware of nursing education program issues. Let us help you address and favorably resolve those issues, whether with your nursing school or with District Board of Nursing officials or officials with another jurisdiction's nursing board.
District of Columbia Nursing Examination Issues Delaying Licensure
Your nursing examination can also raise issues. You've seen above that the District of Columbia Board of Nursing accepts either NCLEX or SBTPE passage to satisfy its examination requirement for licensure by endorsement. But you've also seen above that the District Board of Nursing accepts only a certain SBTPE passing score, which may be a higher score than other nursing boards require. And you may not have qualified for your other nursing license based on the NCLEX or SBTPE at all. You may have taken an alternative special nursing examination that your other state nursing board permitted or required. Even if you took and passed the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX) with its official passing score, your exam qualifications or conduct may have triggered issues that the District Board of Nursing questions, even if your other nursing board did not question. Nursing boards can also differ in their time limits for NCLEX or other exam passage from the date of graduation or date of application to the board. Do not be surprised if those differences suggest problematic issues to District officials or officials of the other nursing board to which you applied for a license by endorsement. Let us help you resolve those examination issues.
District of Columbia License Discipline Issues Delaying Licensure
You may alternatively have faced and suffered discipline before your other nursing board in a way that led District of Columbia Board of Nursing officials to deny you a District nursing license by endorsement. Nursing practice acts, and laws routinely grant authority to the jurisdiction's nursing board to punish nurses who violate nursing standards. Punishment may be anything from a reprimand to remedial training or even a full-on license suspension or revocation. The District of Columbia Healthcare Occupations Revision Act is an example. Its Section 3-1205.14 authorizes the District Board of Nursing to revoke or suspend the issued license on certain grounds. You may have already faced District of Columbia Health Regulation and Licensing Administration proceedings alleging your violation of District Board of Nursing standards or similar proceedings in your other jurisdiction of licensure. If those proceedings resulted in sanctions, those sanctions may prohibit you from gaining your next license by endorsement. Even if you resolved those proceedings favorably, the documentation of that resolution may be inaccurate or incomplete. Let us help you address pending or resolved disciplinary issues to ensure your best opportunity to gain a license by endorsement.
District of Columbia Background Issues Delaying Licensure
Your issues may instead have to do with your background, including not only your criminal history but also your mental or physical impairment, suspected substance dependency, abuse, or addiction, or even your nursing malpractice liability or unprofessionalism issues. Nursing practice acts, and laws routinely require background checks for nurse licensure. The District of Columbia's laws are an example. District of Columbia Healthcare Occupations Revision Act's Section 3-1205.22 requires a background check of every healthcare practitioner, including nurses. The Act's Section 3-1205.14 permits the District Board of Nursing to determine on a case-by-case basis what criminal convictions will disqualify a nurse applicant from obtaining a license based on the offense nature, seriousness, date, applicant's age when committing the offense, applicant's rehabilitation, reference letters, and other evidence. Your other nurse licensing board may have approved your license application despite a criminal conviction that the District Board of Nursing will not accept. Or you may have suffered criminal charge and convictions since obtaining your other nursing license on which you apply for District licensure by endorsement. Let us help you resolve criminal history issues. We can also help you address and resolve professionalism, fitness, impairment, and substance abuse issues delaying your District licensure by endorsement.
District of Columbia Nurse Licensing Procedures
You have a constitutionally protected property and liberty interest in your nursing license and practice. When you apply for a license by endorsement, and the District of Columbia Board of Nursing or another jurisdiction's board denies your application, you likely have protective procedures available to you that satisfy constitutional due process. Section 3-1205.19 of the District of Columbia Healthcare Occupations Revision Act is an example, setting forth lengthy procedures the Board of Nursing must follow when revoking or refusing a license on certain grounds. The regulations fulfill constitutional due process by guaranteeing you notice of the deficiencies in your qualifications and an opportunity to present your evidence to the Board of Nursing to resolve disputed fact issues. Referencing the District's administrative procedures act, Section 3-1205.19 offers a conciliation conference, the right to an attorney at the formal hearing, compelled witness attendance for testimony under oath, and other traditional protections. We can invoke your formal hearing rights to represent you at the hearing. If you have already lost your formal hearing, let us evaluate and pursue the appeal to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals that Section 3-1205.19 expressly offers.
Attorney Help With Your Multistate Licensing Issues
Don't entrust your District of Columbia nurse licensure by endorsement issue to an unqualified local criminal defense attorney. Our professional licensed defense attorneys have the administrative knowledge, skills, and experience to put the above administrative procedures to their best effect for your best possible outcome. Administrative licensing proceedings differ markedly from criminal and civil court proceedings, not just in their substantive law but also in the evidence, rules, procedures, customs, and conventions. We know what your strategic and effective representation takes. We can do any or all of the following tasks with the highest skill for the earliest and best resolution:
- appearing on your behalf before the District Board of Nursing or other jurisdiction's nursing board, bringing to bear our national reputation and relationships;
- sharing in informal communications and conciliation conferences your evidence and grounds for licensure by endorsement to bring about the earliest possible resolution;
- requiring the District Board of Nursing to detail the alleged deficiencies in your licensure by endorsement application so that we can marshal the appropriate law, facts, and explanations to fill those alleged gaps;
- invoking the formal administrative hearing before the District Board of Nursing to present your evidence and challenge the adverse evidence toward a favorable decision granting licensure by endorsement; and
- appealing to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals the formal hearing you have already lost, to correct the errors and show that you deserve licensure by endorsement.
Your Stakes in District of Columbia Nursing Licensure
Your ability to move your nursing practice into the District of Columbia or from the District to another jurisdiction may mean more to you than you immediately realize. You know your circumstances best. You know the reasons you are seeking licensure by endorsement in the District or in another jurisdiction based on your District license. Your interest may relate to better employment with higher wages, greater advancement, and better benefits. It may have to do with continuing or advanced education. Or it may have to do with the education, employment, or other interests of your spouse or other dependent family member or a close friend. But you may not realize that your inability to license by endorsement now could mean an inability to renew a license or gain a new license by endorsement later. Keep your record clean and your nursing practice mobile. Let us help.
District of Columbia Nursing License Attorneys
If you face District of Columbia licensure by endorsement issues, retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team for your best licensing outcome. Our attorneys have helped hundreds of nurses and other professionals in the District of Columbia and nationwide favorably resolve their licensure by endorsement and other licensing issues. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form now.
