As of 2023, Kansas reports about 18,813 registered nurses working throughout the state, whereas Missouri employs 33,178. Both states are home to their own Kansas Cities, located only a few minutes apart; when combined with surrounding towns and cities, they make the largest metro area in the region. That means thousands of nurses across Kansas and Missouri practice in a Kansas City in each state, as well as the Kansan cities of Overland Park, Leavenworth, Olathe, Lenexa, and Shawnee and the Missourian cities of Independence, Blue Springs, and Lee's Summit.
Kansas and Missouri share more than just a thriving metro and thousands of dedicated, talented registered nurses. They also share many nursing issues specific to the area. Nevertheless, every registered nurse in the Kansas City metro can overcome the region's unique challenges with the help of the right legal team.
In fact, don't wait to figure out the best way to protect your nursing license in the Kansas City metro. Whether you're dealing with complaints or charges right now or simply wish to prepare yourself for the possibility, call the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team at 888.535.3686 or fill out this contact form to schedule a consultation.
The Disciplinary Process for Licensed Nurses in the Kansas City Metro
Despite sharing the Kansas City metro, the nursing boards are each located in entirely different areas. For Kansas, it's in Topeka, while Missouri's is in Jefferson City. Still, the distance hasn't stopped the nursing boards from familiarizing themselves with the problems that most commonly arise in the Kansas City metro, such that they have perfected the disciplinary process for nurses there. It goes like this:
The Board Assigns Investigators
Both the Kansas and Missouri Nursing Boards (usually abbreviated as the KSBN and BON, respectively) launch investigations after receiving complaints or misconduct reports about registered nurses in the Kansas City metro. The KSBN specifies that they use investigators who are also licensed nurses. It also accepts multiple sources for complaints, including TV and radio reports. By contrast, the Missouri BON requires all complaints to be submitted in writing.
Regardless of which board conducts the investigation, they may use diverse methods and resources, like evaluating material evidence, taking witness statements, reviewing medical reports, and checking employment or criminal history. The investigators organize all the pertinent information into a single summary report. Most investigations take several months to complete.
The Board Assesses the Information
The ideal goal for each state's nursing board is to come up with a quick and simple resolution after the investigation. After reviewing the summary report and taking mitigating factors into account, they'll try to determine the nurse's guilt and choose an appropriate punishment without a hearing. The Missouri BON usually opts for a settlement agreement, while the KSBN often goes straight for probation, CNE course assignments, impaired provider program referrals, or license activation.
The Board Invites the Nurse to a Hearing
On occasions when the nursing boards decide that they need more information or want to give the offending a nurse a chance to defend themselves, they'll offer the nurse to meet with them for a hearing. Once they've considered the nurse's side of the story and any additional evidence or arguments they present, the nursing board will either dismiss the complaint or take formal disciplinary action.
The Board Makes a Final Decision
Both boards have the authority to restrict, suspend, or revoke a professional nursing license and to impose fees, reprimands, or probation. They select whatever discipline they deem suitable for the circumstances.
Common Nursing License Issues in the Kansas City Metro
The combination of regional politics, culture, and demographics influences the local healthcare system and the issues it tends to face. For registered nurses in the Kansas City metro, these are the most frequent causes of problems and complaints.
Poor Training
Thanks to issues like nursing shortages and inadequate funding, nurses throughout the Kansas City metro struggle to obtain all the training they need to succeed. This can lead to actions that harm patients, like medication errors, improper treatment, and miscommunications among healthcare staff.
For example, in 2024, a Kansas City filed a lawsuit against the Lee's Summit Hospital, where the husband received hip surgery because he suffered a life-changing infection due to the staff's failure to provide proper sterilization. Mistakes like that can drastically affect patients' lives and force medical facilities to compromise on quality care and staff wages in order to compensate.
Unprofessional Conduct
Nurses throughout the Kansas City metro are reported for a variety of unprofessional conduct, such as sexual or verbal harassment, profane language, acting outside of one's scope, and disregard for established policies and procedures. Such actions can hurt a patient's sense of physical, mental, or emotional safety and well-being.
One of the most serious examples is that of a former high school nurse based in Gardner, Kansas, for having inappropriate sexual relationships with students. His crimes were uncovered in at least two different school districts.
Patient Abuse
Many registered nurses in the Kansas City metro have been accused of physically, verbally, emotionally, sexually, or financially abusing their patients. Humiliation, whether public or private, is considered abuse as well. Since this is all in stark contrast to a nurse's duty to protect and heal patients, the KSBN and Missouri BON take swift and heavy-handed action in these cases.
Take the example of ten nurses in Kansas City subjecting their patients to theft and Medicaid fraud, as well as battery and other types of physical abuse. The incidents took place in 2017, but the nurses were not charged until 2018, prolonging the patients' suffering.
Patient Neglect
In many ways, paying inadequate attention to a patient can be just as harmful as the more direct and deliberate action of abuse. Without the competent and diligent care of nurses, patients may experience dangerously poor hygiene, mental health deterioration, and an increase in painful or problematic medical symptoms for their conditions.
In 2020, a rehabilitation center in Kansas City, MO, demonstrated how damaging patient neglect can be. A whistleblower proved that nurses often failed to provide their patients with the medications that they needed. They also allowed the patients to struggle with defective medical devices, develop bedsores, and sit in their own urine. One woman even died of sepsis.
Record Falsification
Whether due to a misguided attempt to help their patients or simply protect themselves from accusations of misconduct or errors, nurses in the Kansas City metro have been known to falsify their patients' medical records. Occasional mistakes are understandable, but when a nurse is shown to have purposely added false notes or omitted important details about a patient's care, they compromise the patient's health and risk their own career.
This is what happened when nurses at the Jackson County Detention Center failed to help a woman with chest pains who'd been arrested for a probation violation. Despite the woman's pleas for help, the nurses assumed she simply had heartburn. When she died of an aortic tear, they falsified her medical records, trying to hide the fact that they never checked her vitals or provided any other timely assistance besides offering antacids.
Alcohol and Substance Abuse
Unfortunately, the Kansas City metro is not immune to the nationwide problem of registered nurses abusing drugs and alcohol. The stresses of the job and everyday life drive many nurses to look for emotional relief or support through an unhealthy reliance on toxic substances, many of which they can access easily. Some nurses also seek to improve their own financial status by supplying prescription drugs to people who shouldn't have them.
The Kansas City metro's politicians and healthcare professionals are especially concerned with the skyrocketing rates of fentanyl abuse in the area. Consider the case of a nurse who was convicted of stealing fentanyl from a special surgery unit in Overland Park. This and other examples have driven Kansas City public health organizations like United Way to combat the metro's fentanyl crisis.
How Nursing License Sanctions Can Nurses in the Kansas City Metro
Whether due to misunderstandings, stress, physical ailments, or other factors, you may have been accused of these and other nursing license violations. Don't assume that truth or mercy will protect you; the potential consequences of a guilty verdict could damage your entire future, so it's not worth the risk of foregoing legal aid.
The Kansas City metro is home to many healthcare employers that tend to have the highest number of job openings for registered nurses. Examples include the North Kansas City Hospital, Colonial Village, Children's Mercy, BJC HealthCare, DaVita, HCA Midwest Health, Adventist Health, Artera, the University of Kansas Health System, and the Saint Luke's Health System. They usually perform background checks on prospective nursing hires, so they will probably see records of sanctions imposed on your professional license. Probations, restrictions, suspensions, and revocations are the most likely to cause an employer to decline you, but even less serious sanctions like disciplinary reprimands, fees, or remedial education courses can affect your chances of getting hired.
If you secure a job anyway, you may still find obstacles in your path toward advancement. For instance, since they may feel like they're taking a bigger risk in hiring a person with your history, employers could offer you a lower salary than other nurses with similar qualifications. Restrictions on your license could prevent you from mastering skills or gaining experience that you would need for promotions. Suspensions and revocations would interrupt your career to the point that employers would question whether your skills are still sharp enough for specialized positions.
Plus, your supervisors, subordinates, and co-workers could find out about your history with professional license sanctions. It could negatively impact their respect for you and willingness to work with you, potentially creating a hostile or unproductive work environment. Your reputation may suffer for years.
Luckily, the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team can prevent all these problems, ensuring that you enjoy an exciting and fulfilling career.
How the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team Can Help
One of the many reasons why the Lento Law Firm has produced such an impressive track record over the years is that they understand that every region of the United States requires defensive strategies tailored to its issues, politics, and culture. If you're a nurse practicing in the Kansas City metro, the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team is prepared to offer personalized legal services to safeguard your career. Consider the following examples of how the firm has dealt with cases related to the most common nursing violations in the Kansas City metro.
Poor Training
Medication errors, deviance from procedure, ineffective communication, and other mistakes are all inevitable to some degree. However, many of them are avoidable with proper training, which too many nurses in the Kansas City metro don't have. The Lento Law Firm understands this and will defend you accordingly.
Unprofessional Conduct
Because it's such a broad category covering numerous prohibited actions, an accusation of unprofessional conduct is challenging to overcome. However, the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team is well-versed in every type of misconduct and knows what strategy each one demands.
Patient Abuse
If you're guilty of patient abuse, the Lento Law Firm understands that it doesn't come from anywhere. By building their defense around the stressors and other factors that can lead to abusive actions, they'll present you in a positive and sympathetic light to the nursing board.
Patient Neglect
Some nurses underestimate how complicated and far-reaching patient neglect can be, so they're also unprepared for the consequences of an accusation. The Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team is familiar with the details of this violation and how to argue in your favor, pointing out potential causes like overworking the staff or an unresponsive employer, for which nurses are often scapegoated.
Record Falsification
Nurses in the Kansas City metro have gotten into trouble for medical record errors and fraudulent practices. The Lento Law Firm has mastered advocating for the accused in these cases, emphasizing that the first step is to understand the violation—including the issues that can cause it, like understaffing and disruptive or unorganized work environments.
Alcohol and Substance Abuse
Knowing that alcohol and substance abuse is such a common problem for nurses in the United States, the Lento Law Firm has become adept at defending nurses accused of such misconduct. They know how to inspire the nursing board's sympathy and support, sparing you from harsh disciplinary measures.
Defend Your Nursing Career in the Kansas City Metro
Patients throughout the Kansas City metro need constant access to knowledgeable and passionate nurses, who, in turn, deserve soaring careers. If you're a nurse working in this area, it's imperative to protect yourself and your license. Act now by calling the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team at 888.535.3686 or filling out a contact form.
