Nurses fighting disciplinary charges sometimes suffer a cease and desist order that their state nursing board issues. A state nursing board may issue a cease and desist order either immediately, under a consent agreement, or after a formal hearing on the charges. A cease and desist order generally means for the nurse to immediately, clearly, and firmly stop doing whatever the nursing board has ordered the nurse to cease and desist. Violating a cease and desist order can lead to even more serious consequences. If you face the prospect of a state nursing board cease and desist order or need to address an order just issued, retain the LLF National Law Firm’s premier Professional License Defense Team for your best outcome. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form now.
The Nature of a Cease and Desist Order
A cease and desist order is just what it says: stop doing what the order says to stop doing. State nursing boards have the statutory authority to protect patients and the public against incompetent, dangerous, and dishonest nursing practice. State nursing boards do so through disciplinary proceedings against nurses who practice without a license or practice with a license but contrary to nursing standards. When the state nursing board has grounds to order a nurse to stop practicing, or to stop some practice related to nursing, such as providing care restricted to physician practice, the board issues an order. See, for example, the cease and desist orders the Georgia Board of Nursing has issued, posted online by the Georgia Secretary of State. “Cease” and “desist” are redundant. Both words mean the same thing, which is to halt or stop. Get our help if you face the prospect of a cease and desist order because you’ll have to stop whatever you were allegedly doing that your state nursing board orders you to stop.
The Authority of a Cease and Desist Order
Some state nursing boards issue cease and desist orders, while other boards call them cease and desist citations or letters. In this instance, order, citation, and letter all mean basically the same thing. A state nursing board is a government agency, established in the executive branch of state government by state legislative action. See, for example, the Texas Nursing Practice Act establishing the Texas Board of Nursing. As a governmental agency, the state nursing board’s edicts are regulatory actions or rulings. A board’s order, citation, or letter has the force of law. An order or letter from the state nursing board isn’t like an order from a customer or a letter from a friend. It’s an order from a state administrative agency. See, for example, the specific provision of the Texas Nursing Practice Act authorizing the Texas Board of Nursing to issue cease and desist orders. Don’t fool around with a cease and desist order. Instead, get our license defense help.
The Procedure for Cease and Desist Orders
State nursing boards generally issue cease and desist orders in cases that they open when they have grounds to believe that a nurse is violating the state’s Nursing Practice Act. Cease and desist orders don’t appear out of thin air. Typically, someone complains about a nurse, or the state nursing board learns about a nurse’s unfitness from public reports, and the state nursing board opens an investigation file and then a disciplinary proceeding against the nurse. Then, if the state nursing board finds grounds to issue a cease and desist order, the board does so out of that case with the nurse’s name and license number connected with the case. See, for example, the disciplinary orders, including cease and desist orders, issued by the Florida Board of Nursing. Don’t suffer a disciplinary order demanding that you cease and desist your nursing practice. Instead, get our defense help.
The Timing of Cease and Desist Orders
State nursing boards generally issue cease and desist orders at one of three points in a disciplinary case, either the beginning, middle, or end. The state nursing board may issue an emergency cease and desist order, as the Texas Occupations Code provides for one example, right at the beginning of a case if it finds that the nurse’s alleged practice is a clear, imminent, or continuing threat to public health or safety. The state nursing board may alternatively issue a cease and desist order under a consent agreement with the accused nurse. See, for example, the Louisiana State Board of Nursing’s summary indicating that consent orders are the most common type of order against a nurse. State nursing boards often try to convince the accused nurse, especially when unrepresented by counsel, to accept a consent order in which the nurse voluntarily relinquishes the license, agreeing to cease and desist from practice. If instead the nurse disputes the disciplinary charge, then the nursing board must hold a hearing, after which it may issue a cease and desist order if it finds that the evidence warrants discipline. Get our help with any disciplinary case. Don’t lose your license to a cease and desist order.
How Cease and Desist Orders Arise
Any alleged violation of your state nursing practice act may lead to a state nursing board cease and desist order, especially if you fail to answer a disciplinary charge and invoke your hearing rights. State nursing practice acts generally list specific grounds for discipline along with general catch-all provisions. See, for example, the Ohio Nursing Practice Act, listing thirty-eight numbered grounds on which the Ohio Board of Nursing may discipline a nurse. Common grounds for a cease and desist order may include practicing outside the scope of nursing, practicing on an expired license, patient abuse and neglect, inappropriate sexual relations with a patient, theft of patient or facility property, drug diversion, substandard or incompetent nursing care, conviction of certain crimes of violence or dishonesty, and delegating nursing duties to unlicensed individuals. Retain us to defend any such disciplinary charges before you face a cease and desist order.
What Cease and Desist Orders Typically Cover
The common action that a state nursing board’s cease and desist order prohibits is the practice of nursing. If, for instance, you fail to renew your license and the state nursing board finds that you have nonetheless continued to practice nursing in the state, the board may simply order you to cease and desist practice. But some state nursing boards may instead issue cease and desist orders limiting the accused nurse’s practice to certain settings, certain supervision, or certain practices, say, for a nurse who is clearly competent in certain settings and practice but potentially not in others or whom a physician had ordered to provide care for which the nurse was not licensed. A state nursing board may likewise issue a cease and desist order to prohibit a nurse from administering medications, using certain equipment, or caring for patients with certain conditions. State nursing boards may also condition cease and desist orders on the accused nurse complying with other terms, such as for monitoring, reporting, counseling, or other remedial measures. But the usual cease and desist order is to stop practicing nursing. Let us help you answer any charges threatening to interrupt your nursing practice.
The Scope of Cease and Desist Orders
A cease and desist order typically applies to the accused nurse whom the state nursing board has called to defend the disciplinary proceeding. Yet a cease and desist order may extend to individuals under the nurse’s control or facilities where the nurse would ordinarily work. A nurse might, for instance, attempt to skirt a cease and desist order by having an unlicensed aide, associate, family member, or friend do what the order prohibited the nurse from doing. Trying to avoid a cease and desist order by manipulating its scope is generally a very bad idea. When an order prohibits a nurse from doing something, the idea either expressly or impliedly prohibits the nurse from unlawfully inducing another person to do the same thing for the nurse, to get around the order. Don’t mess with an order. Instead, get our help.
The Duration of Cease and Desist Orders
Cease and desist orders generally state their duration. An emergency order issued at the outset of a disciplinary case might well state that it remains in place until further order of the board. A cease and desist order entered on a consent agreement with the accused nurse may state that it remains in place until the nurse completes the other terms of the consent agreement and the board modifies the order. A cease and desist order entered after a disciplinary hearing resulting in license suspension would generally be for the specific suspension period, whether thirty days, ninety days, six months, one year, or another period the state nursing board determines. A cease and desist order entered after a disciplinary hearing resulting in license revocation may be permanent, subject to the state nursing practice act. Nursing practice acts often have terms for reinstatement of a revoked nursing license. See, for example, Virginia Board of Nursing administrative regulations providing that a nurse whose license the Board revoked may apply for its reinstatement after a three-year wait. Otherwise, a cease and desist order in connection with a license revocation would generally be permanent. Don’t let that happen in your case. Get our defense help.
The Effect on Licenses in Other States
A cease and desist order from one state nursing board may result in a similar cease and desist order in another state in which the same nurse holds a license. State nursing practice acts commonly include among their grounds for discipline the discipline of another nursing license that the accused nurse holds in another state. See, for example, the Ohio Nursing Practice Act already cited once above, providing for discipline in Ohio in the event of discipline in another state. Discipline in one state is also a common ground on which to deny a license in another state. In short, your current disciplinary proceeding in your state may have national implications. You may be unable to license in another state if you suffer a cease and desist order in your current disciplinary proceeding. You can’t run, and you can’t hide. Instead, get our skilled license defense help.
How State Boards Enforce Cease and Desist Orders
State nursing boards just issue orders. They don’t generally have their own police force. But state nursing practice acts typically give state nursing boards the authority, often with a state attorney general’s help, to get a court injunction if they find that a nurse is violating a cease and desist order. See, for example, Pennsylvania’s Nursing Practice Act, granting the state’s nursing board the authority to obtain a civil court injunction. Violate a court injunction, and the court can hold you in contempt, the punishment for which can be jail and a fine. State nursing practice acts also commonly define unauthorized practice as a crime punishable by imprisonment and fines. The Pennsylvania Nursing Practice Act just cited has its own criminal provisions.
How to Get Relief from Cease and Desist Orders
If you face a cease and desist order, retain our attorneys to pursue an appeal of that order, license reinstatement, or other appropriate relief. If you face a disciplinary charge, retain us so that your charge doesn’t result in a cease and desist order. Get our strategic and effective representation. It’s your best move when facing state nursing board disciplinary charges.
Premier Nurse License Defense Available
If you face the daunting prospect of a state nursing board cease and desist order, or if you need relief from a state nursing board cease and desist order just issued, retain the LLF National Law Firm’s premier Professional License Defense Team. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form now for our skilled and experienced nursing license defense representation. We have helped hundreds of nurses nationwide overcome all kinds of licensing issues, including dealing with cease and desist orders.