If you're a nurse who is facing misconduct allegations that could have an impact on your license and your ability to practice nursing, you may reach the point in the disciplinary process where your case is scheduled for a hearing before your Board of Nursing (or the agency that conducts disciplinary hearings in your state). You may have questions about whether or not it makes sense to attend the hearing in person or to simply avoid the entire proceeding and hope for the best.
At the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team, we understand completely how difficult it can be to find yourself in this position. Our experienced attorneys regularly help nurses and other professionals face disciplinary investigations and hearings in states all across the country. We can explain what is happening with your case and, based on your particular set of circumstances, whether you should attend your disciplinary hearing in person. Call us today at 888.535.3686 or use our contact form to schedule a confidential consultation to tell us about your case and hear how we can help.
What is the Purpose of a Live Disciplinary Hearing?
If your nursing discipline case has reached the stage where a hearing has been scheduled, it typically means there has already been an investigation of misconduct allegations made against you, formal charges have been brought against you, and you have not agreed to accept any offers to resolve your case with whatever sanctions your licensing body has proposed. Things are at a critical stage.
The live disciplinary hearing is where the licensing body (your state's Board of Nursing or the appropriate licensing entity if it's not the BON) will produce evidence against you. This will typically be in the form of witness testimony and documents (paper or digital) that it believes will support the misconduct allegations. You may be questioned at the hearing as well by someone from the licensing body.
You will also have a chance to have witnesses testify on your own behalf and introduce other types of evidence to support your defense. You can also testify for yourself.
Any witness who testifies for one side of the case will typically be cross-examined by the other side. This gives each side a chance to test the truthfulness and the accuracy of the testimony that the witness gave when they were first questioned. Each side's representative will be able to make arguments based on the testimony in support of their side of the case.
The hearing officer or panel (it can vary depending on the state) will consider all of the testimony and evidence that has been introduced at the hearing and make a decision about whether to hold you responsible for misconduct.
Should I Attend the Disciplinary Hearing in Person?
If you fail to appear for your disciplinary hearing, it will likely go forward in some form without you. The Board of Nursing or licensing entity for your state will introduce all of the evidence it has against you, including witness testimony, and will make arguments in support of its disciplinary case against you. There will be no cross-examination of their witnesses. There will be no evidence introduced to support your side of the case. And there will be no arguments made in your defense. This obviously makes it difficult for you to prevail.
Another reason to attend your disciplinary hearing in person is for appearance's sake. Disciplinary officers or panels take their roles very seriously. A nurse who appears in person for their hearing, particularly with counsel present, shows the panel that the nurse is also taking the proceeding seriously. This is a small but important signal that you can send that this matter is important to you and that you respect the efforts of everybody involved.
In short, if you want to defend yourself against the misconduct allegations you're facing, you should, in most cases, attend your hearing in person and be prepared to defend yourself against the allegations that are being brought against you.
This is not to say that you should absolutely attend your hearing in person in every case. Each disciplinary case is different, with a different set of facts, a different set of allegations, and a different set of charges that need to be addressed. The best way to know whether you should attend your disciplinary hearing is to work with an experienced attorney from the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team. Your attorney will be able to advise you, based on their understanding of your case and their experience defending many other nurses and other professional license holders in other cases, whether you should attend your hearing in person.
I Want to Attend My Disciplinary Hearing in Person, but It's Too Far From My Home. What Should I Do?
It is increasingly common for parties and witnesses to be allowed to participate in disciplinary hearings remotely by a live video link. If you have a good reason for being unable to attend in person, your attorney can contact the agency that is conducting the hearing to discuss how you can attend remotely. Some of the common reasons for a nurse to attend a disciplinary hearing include:
- Distance. The hearing is located too far away from the nurse's home for the nurse to be able to attend, particularly if the nurse has young children or others in their home that they are caring for.
- Health. The nurse is ill or has health issues that make travel challenging, or a close family member is ill.
- Scheduling issues. The nurse has other important obligations that require them to be somewhere else the same day of the hearing, and can only attend remotely.
If you believe that you will be unable to attend your disciplinary hearing in person, you should notify the licensing body as soon as possible. If you are working with an experienced professional license defense attorney, your attorney can discuss the matter with the licensing body on your behalf and help with the logistics of your remote testimony.
Is There a Way to Avoid Having a Disciplinary Hearing Altogether?
As we've noted above, you only reach the hearing stage in a nursing disciplinary case when all else has failed. There could be a number of reasons for this. The Board of Nursing or another licensing agency may have refused to accept evidence that the nurse is not responsible for the misconduct allegations against them. The nurse and the licensing agency may have attempted to negotiate a resolution to the misconduct claims but failed to reach an agreement. Or – and this is probably the worst reason – the nurse has decided at some point to stop participating in the process (which will almost always lead to a bad result for the nurse).
Generally speaking, the best way to avoid having a disciplinary hearing in your nursing misconduct case is to work with an experienced attorney who can mount a strong defense against the allegations made against you. That defense can be the basis for effective negotiations with your Board of Nursing or licensing agency that can either result in the allegations against you being dismissed or in an agreement on what sanctions will be imposed against you.
At the Lento Law Firm, the goal of our Professional License Defense Team is to preserve the ability of our nursing clients to continue to practice nursing with as little damage to their reputation and record as possible. We will use our experience with many other disciplinary cases to help you resolve yours without the stress and uncertainty of a hearing.
Are There Different Hearing Rules in Different States?
It's important to keep in mind that each state has its own laws, rules, and procedures that govern the entire disciplinary process for nurses. While many of these are similar, they can and do vary from state to state. That's why it's important to speak about your nursing disciplinary case with an experienced professional license defense attorney, someone who knows the laws, rules, regulations, and procedures that apply in your state.
The Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team is made up of experienced attorneys who regularly defend nurses and other professionals against disciplinary allegations. We understand each state's requirements for nursing discipline cases and will be able to advise you what they are for your particular situation.
The Lento Law Firm Can Help Defend Your Nursing License
Whether you've reached the hearing stage in your nursing disciplinary case or whether you've just learned that someone has filed a misconduct complaint against you, the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team is here to defend your license, your career, and your future. While we can provide the most help if we're on board as soon as you learn of the allegations made against you, we are also ready to step in at the last minute if needed.
We know how stressful it can be to find yourself under investigation for nursing misconduct. If we're involved from the early stages on, we can help relieve much of that stress and save you time as well. We'll explain what's happening at each stage of your case. We'll be the contact point for all communications with your licensing body so that you don't have to deal directly with them. We will prepare you for your interview with the Board of Nursing's investigator and, in many cases, can be there with you when that happens to make sure you only answer clear, understandable questions. We'll negotiate your case with your state's licensing body to try to resolve it in as favorable a way as possible. And when necessary, we will fiercely defend you at your hearing.
In short, the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team will protect your rights at every step of your nursing disciplinary case. You will benefit from our years of experience helping and defending other nurses and other licensed professionals in their disciplinary matters. There is no substitute for experience; we have that experience and are ready to use it to help you fight for your future.
If you're facing allegations of nursing misconduct, call us no matter what stage your case is at. Call the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team at 888.535.3686 or by using our contact form to schedule a confidential consultation. We're here to listen and to help!