As a licensed nurse practicing in Louisiana, you are familiar with many of the standards that the Louisiana State Board of Nursing expects you to meet. You've already fulfilled the state's educational, testing, and background history requirements, and if you've been working as a nurse, you're aware of your continuing education obligations and the standards of practice that you're expected to meet.
But if you're facing criminal charges for domestic abuse or a petition for a protective order, you may not be aware of your obligation to report either to the BON. While generally speaking, there is no obligation to disclose either criminal charges or protective orders issued against you to the BON, and it is helpful to understand at what point you may face license discipline because of either situation. The Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team can help you make sure you meet your obligations as a nurse and can also fight to defend and protect your license. Call us at 888.535.3686 or fill out our contact form to schedule a confidential consultation with one of our experienced license defense attorneys to learn more about how we can help.
Domestic Abuse Crimes in Louisiana
Louisiana has two separate domestic abuse crimes. The crime of domestic abuse battery can be charged in cases where there is the intentional use of force or violence that has allegedly been committed by one “household member” or “family member” against another “household member” or “family member.”
The terms “household member” and “family member” have specific definitions in Louisiana. A family member is broadly defined to include:
- Spouses
- Former spouses
- Parents
- Children
- Stepparents
- Stepchildren
- Foster parents
- Foster children
- Other natural relatives (so-called “other ascendants” and “other descendants”)
A household member is defined to include:
- Anyone presently or formerly living in the same household with the defendant who is “involved or has been involved” in a “sexual or intimate relationship” with the defendant
- Any child who is or was living in the same household with the defendant
- Any child of the defendant, no matter where the child is living
Penalties for domestic abuse battery vary depending primarily on whether the defendant has been convicted of domestic abuse battery in the past. Depending on the number of prior convictions, a convicted defendant can be sentenced to anywhere from 30 days to 30 years in prison and, in certain circumstances, can be sentenced to up to 50 years in prison.
The crime of domestic abuse aggravated assault can be charged where the defendant allegedly used a dangerous weapon to assault a household member or family member. A convicted defendant can be sentenced to prison “at hard labor” for anywhere from one to five years. If a child under the age of 14 was present during the assault, the minimum sentence is two years with no parole.
The Louisiana State Board of Nursing does not require nurses to report when they have been charged with either domestic abuse battery or domestic abuse aggravated assault. But because a conviction, guilty plea, or nolo contendere (no contest) plea can have an effect on your license, it's important to make sure that this is considered in the event you are offered a plea by prosecutors. The Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team can advise you on how a potential plea agreement or a guilty verdict at trial may affect your nursing license. We can also protect your rights and defend your license if the BON decides to investigate or discipline you because of the outcome of your criminal case.
Protective Orders in Louisiana
It's important to understand that a protective order is not a criminal matter. It is a civil one, and the fact that a protective order is issued against you does not mean that you are guilty of a crime. The standards for issuing protective orders are lower than the standards that apply to finding someone guilty of a crime.
A protective order can result if someone files a petition asking the court to issue one. In Louisiana, protective orders can be issued to bring a stop to actual domestic abuse or to the threat or danger of domestic abuse. In other words, it's not necessary for domestic abuse to have occurred before a protective order issues.
“Domestic abuse” for purposes of a protective order includes – but is not limited to – the following:
- Physical abuse
- Sexual abuse
- Offenses “against the person” – both “physical and non-physical”
when it is committed by a family member, household member, or dating partner against another. Domestic abuse also includes the abuse of adults when committed by an adult child or adult grandchild.
Protective orders can cover many different aspects of everyday life. If a protective order is issued against you, it can drastically change how you live. In addition to prohibiting you from abusing the person who requested it (also known as the petitioner), a protective order can:
- Prohibit you from contacting the petitioner and minor children on whose behalf the petition was filed
- Award the petitioner “use and possession” of your home, and essentially evicting you from what had been your home
- Prohibit you from transferring assets that you and the petitioner own or lease together
- Give the petitioner temporary custody of minor children
- Require you to let the petitioner have possession of a wide range of things, ranging from mobile phones to computers to everyday household goods, checkbooks, personal items, and other things
- Give the petitioner “exclusive care, possession, or control of any pets”
In some cases, a protective order will be granted without a hearing in the form of a temporary restraining order. If that happens, there will be a hearing at some point shortly thereafter where you will be able to be heard and present your side of the case. You will also have that same chance to argue your side of the case at a hearing if the petitioner doesn't ask for a temporary restraining order.
Louisiana also allows parties to consent to a protective order. This option can avoid the need for a hearing along with the findings of actual or potential domestic abuse that a court must make in order to issue a protective order after a hearing has occurred.
One of the biggest mistakes that anyone who is subject to a protective order can make is to ignore the order and do something that the order prohibits or fail to do something that it requires. Even if you and the petitioner agree that it is okay for you to act in a way that is not allowed by the protective order, you can face sanctions from the court, including prosecution for violating a court order, if you simply ignore the terms of the order. The proper way to handle any situation where you or the petitioner may want to change the terms of a protective order is to go to court and ask the judge to modify it. Penalties for violating a protective order include fines and up to five years in prison, depending on the situation.
Abuse Allegations, Protective Orders, and Your Nursing License
Even though you aren't required to disclose domestic abuse battery or domestic abuse aggravated assault charges to the Louisiana State Board of Nursing, and are also not required to disclose to the BON if a protective order has been issued against you, that doesn't mean you won't face a disciplinary investigation or proceeding if you've been accused of any kind of domestic abuse. That is because anyone can file a misconduct complaint against a nurse in Louisiana and can put anything they want into the complaint.
The person filing the complaint can be a patient or a patient's family member, of course. But it can also be a co-worker, a neighbor, a friend of your ex-spouse, or anyone else who decides that they want to file allegations against you that could put your nursing license in jeopardy.
Whether the BON takes any action on a complaint is another matter, however. The BON will review the complaint and will decide whether it raises issues that could relate to your ability to practice as a nurse or that suggest the well-being of your patients may be an issue. If the BON is concerned that either of these might be the case, it may open an investigation into the allegations made in the complaint.
In that case, it is almost guaranteed that you will be interviewed by the BON's investigator. It's important to understand what's involved in the interview process and to be prepared for the kinds of questions you can expect – as well as your obligations to the BON to respond. An experienced professional license defense attorney can help you prepare for the kinds of questions you can expect and for the stress that can come with having to answer questions about topics that may be uncomfortable for you to discuss. In addition, your attorney can typically be with you when you're questioned by the BON's investigator to make sure you only answer questions that are fair and that you understand. At the Lento Law Firm, this is the kind of help we give our nursing license clients on an almost daily basis.
Another situation that can result in you being investigated by the BON is if you are convicted of a crime. In this case, depending on the conviction, the BON may choose to open a disciplinary investigation and, in some cases, to pursue disciplinary charges. There are some crimes – for example, domestic abuse or aggravated assault – that the BON is likely to argue reflect an inability to practice nursing safely. Your ability to practice nursing can depend on how the BON decides to treat your conviction, guilty plea, or nolo contendere plea.
This is another reason why it's important to confer with one of the experienced attorneys from the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team if you are considering taking a plea to a criminal charge in Louisiana. The plea you take and how your case is resolved can have a direct effect on your ability to practice nursing. Our attorneys can help you understand the potential implications of a plea deal and can advise you and your attorney on potential alternatives that could make it less likely that your license will be affected as a result.
The Lento Law Firm Can Help Protect Your Nursing License in Louisiana
Facing criminal charges of any type can be a difficult and stressful experience, even more so if you've been accused of domestic abuse battery or domestic abuse aggravated assault. And finding yourself the target of a protective order that may restrict your ability to see your children and live in your own home can be extremely difficult as well. When you're facing these kinds of issues, you shouldn't have to wonder what's going to happen to one of your most valuable personal assets – your nursing license. That's where the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team comes in.
Our experienced attorneys understand the laws, rules, and regulations that apply to nursing licenses in Louisiana. We can look out for you, helping you make sure you don't take steps in your criminal case that could impact your license and make it difficult for you to make a living as a nurse. If the BON opens an investigation based on allegations made against you, we will be there to help protect your rights and defend you against any disciplinary charges that the BON may bring. This is what the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Team does: we help nurses and other licensed professionals protect their licenses in states across the country, including Louisiana.
If you are facing criminal charges, whether they relate to domestic abuse or not, or a protective order that you are concerned could result in a complaint being filed against you with the BON, contact the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team today. We can be reached at 888.535.3686 or through our contact form – fill it out, and we will get back to you to schedule a confidential consultation. When your nursing license is on the line, you need an experienced professional license defense attorney by your side. The Lento Law Firm has the experience you need to help protect your license.
