Wisconsin has thousands of qualified nurse practitioners working within the state, and if you are one of them, you work hard every day to take care of patients and provide much-needed health services. However, sanctions on your license may prevent you from performing your duties and helping Wisconsinites through their medical problems.
You didn't become one of only a few thousand nurse practitioners in Wisconsin by taking an easy path. You had to earn your license, and you should do everything in your power to prevent misconduct allegations from threatening your professional career.
The Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team is ready to help defend your license before disciplinary boards and investigators. Call us today at 888-535-3686 or contact us through our website to start protecting yourself from sanctions on your nurse practitioner license in Wisconsin.
Who Oversees Nurse Practitioner Licenses in Wisconsin?
The Wisconsin Board of Nursing directly oversees the licensing of nurse practitioners under the umbrella of the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS). While the DSPS and other divisions underneath it will take part in investigations into misconduct, the final decision is left to the Board of Nursing. The Board also plays a key advisory role during investigations.
Orders and disciplinary actions taken by the Board of Nursing are public information in Wisconsin. Anyone can look up your name and find a history of sanctions against your license at any time. Even if disciplinary action does not result in the suspension of your license, you may still face difficulty finding employment, renewing your license later, or working in another state as a nurse practitioner.
To avoid this fate, you need to prevent complaints and investigations into your conduct from rising to the level of formal disciplinary action. The Professional License Defense Team at the Lento Law Firm can assist you as soon as you are aware of investigations or complaints, helping craft a defense that limits long-term harm to your license and career.
What Type of Allegations of Misconduct Threaten a Nurse Practitioner's License in Wisconsin?
Like other states, the Wisconsin Board of Nursing has a duty to discipline nurse practitioners who commit violations or engage in misconduct that puts the public at risk. As the Board that oversees your license, they can also decide to take action for any behavior they see as irregular or potentially harmful. Often, the Board learns of misconduct through public complaints made against you. Conduct that the Board may determine warrant disciplinary action include:
- Prescribing medications beyond your scope of practice or without authorization
- Fraud related to your education and work history during license applications and renewals
- Abuse of patients
- Violation of patient confidentiality
- Negligence in patient care or treatment
- Substance abuse that impairs your ability to perform required nurse practitioner duties
- Failing to promptly report a felony or misdemeanor conviction to the Board
- Fraudulent billing practices
- Inappropriate behavior with patients or colleagues
- Any other actions that display unprofessional conduct
Nurse practitioners complete advanced schooling and undergo extensive training to take on additional responsibilities and serve patients in a greater capacity. Don't let misconduct allegations or complaints about your actions as a nurse practitioner ruin your professional career. The Lento Law Firm helps nurse practitioners in Wisconsin protect themselves from accusations when scrutinized by the Board of Nursing.
Common Sanctions and Disciplinary Actions Against Nurse Practitioner Licenses in Wisconsin
The Board of Nursing can issue sanctions against your license that limit your ability to work in the state and add permanent negative baggage to your career. Some of the most common sanctions that the Board places on nurse practitioner licenses in Wisconsin include:
- Fines
- Written reprimands of behavior
- Probation with specific limits and monitoring
- Mandatory education and training
- Workplace monitoring and supervision
- Restrictions on specific areas of practice within your role as a nurse practitioner
- Treatment programs for substance abuse
- License suspensions
- License revocations
- Inability to renew your license in Wisconsin
A sanction on your license won't happen out of the blue. Nurse practitioners in Wisconsin will receive notice from investigators and staff attorneys about ongoing investigations of their licenses. When they reach out to you, make sure to contact the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team in order to protect your rights during the process and prevent serious sanctions against your license.
Complaint Process Against Nurse Practitioners in Wisconsin
If you are a nurse practitioner in Wisconsin and someone has filed a complaint against you, you may be involved in an investigatory and disciplinary process lasting over a year. The Division of Legal Services and Compliance (DLSC), part of the DSPS, handles investigations, discipline, and monitoring for Wisconsin license boards, including the Board of Nursing. Every year, their team of experienced attorneys and investigators receives and investigates over 3,000 complaints.
When you are made aware of a complaint against you, it's time to hire your own legal representation to ensure you are not overwhelmed by the process and put at a disadvantage. The Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team can assist you throughout the entire complaint process and protect your rights as you face accusations of misconduct or negligence.
Complaint Intake
The DLSC receives complaints and begins the potentially lengthy process of investigating violations. As a nurse practitioner, the DLSC will investigate any complaint against you in conjunction with the Board of Nursing members and screening panels. As Wisconsin provides the public with a simple online tool for complaints, the DLSC discards many that do not allege violations or warrant further investigation.
Any complaint that does not allege rule violations or misconduct is closed, but the DLSC will identify complaints that appear to have merit and mark them for investigative action.
Investigation
During an investigation, DLSC investigators, staff attorneys, and consulting Board members will work together to learn if your complaint's allegations warrant potential disciplinary action. The evidence they might gather during this phase includes:
- Patient medical records
- Evidence from interviews with you, your patients, colleagues, healthcare facility operators, or anyone implicated in the complaint
- Correspondence and written materials sent by you, colleagues, and patients
- Work history, disciplinary history, and credentials
- Financial records
- Documentation of standard protocols for your workplace
- Photo or video evidence
DLSC staff members consult with Board of Nursing employees when they have questions requiring professional expertise, meaning they will dig deep to determine if your actions do not align with current policies and rules.
While initial complaints may have warranted an investigation, a closer look into the complaint can reveal that there was no underlying violation. In this situation, DLSC will close the case, and your license is not at risk. Cases with evidence of violations continue to the legal action step of the complaint process.
Legal Action
After an investigation finds evidence of violations, DLSC attorneys review the results and determine if disciplinary action is warranted. Even if they find evidence of rule-breaking, there is not a one-size-fits-all solution to discipline and license sanctions.
Working with your lawyer, DLSC attorneys can resolve cases through informal settlement conferences, stipulated agreements, or administrative warnings. Meetings and settlement conferences are opportunities for you to speak to officials, explain your actions further, and negotiate for better terms. The Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team can play a critical role, as this part of the complaint process is your opportunity to avoid serious sanctions against your license.
Our experienced attorneys have helped Wisconsin nurse practitioners show themselves in the best light and end the process before requiring a formal hearing. Never accept a settlement or stipulated agreement without first consulting with an attorney. By not contesting the facts of the agreement, you may be opening yourself up to issues when you try to renew your license or gain licensing in another state.
Hearings
If both sides cannot reach a satisfactory agreement, DLSC schedules a formal hearing before a Wisconsin administrative law judge. These hearings are not casual meetings. DLSC attorneys will prosecute their case, call witnesses, provide evidence, and build a case against you. You also have the ability to defend yourself, and hiring an attorney ensures your rights are protected.
After hearing the case, the judge will propose a decision to the Board of Nursing. Board members can decide which sanction to impose, and the severity of your punishment will likely be higher if the process has reached this final step. You should not downplay the very serious risks of license revocations and suspensions. In formal disciplinary hearings, you need the assistance of the Professional License Defense Team at the Lento Law Firm.
What To Do When Substance Abuse is at The Heart of Your Complaint
While you may think that substance abuse can exacerbate sanctions and put your license at greater risk, Wisconsin provides an alternative avenue that may help you avoid discipline. The Professional Assistance Procedure (PAP) is an alternative, non-disciplinary program that aims to protect the public from harm while encouraging rehabilitation for nurse practitioners who are committed to beating their substance abuse issues.
If complaints against you involve misconduct explainable by substance abuse, the Board of Nursing may recommend or mandate participation in this program and allow you to continue working as a nurse practitioner, albeit with close monitoring and restrictions. This also allows you to beat your condition and avoid public disciplinary action. However, if other violations do not relate to substance abuse, you may still face disciplinary action over those behaviors.
The Lento Law Firm shares the opinion of the Wisconsin DSPS and Board of Nursing, and we want to help if substance abuse was the cause of your violations of nurse practitioner rules and requirements. Our Professional License Defense Team can communicate with investigators and argue for voluntary placement in the Professional Assistance Procedure as an alternative to license sanctions.
How Sanctions on Your Nurse Practitioner License Affect Your Ability To Serve Patients
If the Board of Nursing takes action against your nurse practitioner license and prevents you from working in this role, you still have options. Suspension or revocation of your advanced license does not immediately apply the same restrictions on your registered nurse license, though it may in some circumstances.
Serious violations that do not relate directly to your duties as a nurse practitioner, such as widespread fraud or unrelated criminal convictions, might also mean you face sanctions on your nursing license. However, sanctions might not affect your ability to work as a registered nurse if they relate directly to the expanded duties of a nurse practitioner, such as writing prescriptions.
Even if your license is sanctioned, you have the right to appeal actions taken by the Board of Nursing. This is only possible if you follow the procedures of the disciplinary process, and mistakes like failing to appear for a hearing can limit your ability to appeal. Working with attorneys ensures you don't let procedural errors impact future appeals and license restrictions.
The Lento Law Firm can offer detailed advice and legal guidance after meeting with you in a confidential consultation. After facing license sanctions, you may be able to continue your career in other states through Wisconsin's adoption of the enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact. Our Professional License Defense Team can work to protect your license from sanctions if you face sanctions from other states' licensing boards. We represent nurse practitioners across the United States, from Wisconsin to California and everywhere in between.
The Lento Law Firm Can Protect Nurse Practitioners Across Wisconsin Facing License Sanctions
Wisconsin has over one hundred large hospitals and countless smaller facilities providing high-quality healthcare to residents. The Lento Law Firm has represented nurse practitioners facing license complaints and sanctions working in some of the largest employers in Wisconsin, including:
- UW Health University Hospital – Madison
- Froedtert Hospital – Wauwatosa
- Aurora St Luke's Medical Center – Milwaukee
- Mayo Clinic Health System - Eau Claire
- Ascension SE St. Joseph Campus – Milwaukee
- ThedaCare Regional Medical Center – Appleton
- Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center – La Crosse
- Marshfield Medical Center – Marshfield
- SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital – Madison
- Bellin Hospital – Green Bay
Our Professional License Defense Team understands how the Wisconsin Board of Nursing addresses violations, and our attorneys can gather evidence and present a defense to the Board that helps you continue working as a nurse practitioner with minimal interruptions. Don't accept a settlement or try to represent yourself in formal hearings with so much on the line. No matter where you work or what allegations are present in complaints against you, the Lento Law Firm can step in to help.
Contact The Lento Law Firm to Protect Your Wisconsin Nurse Practitioner License
Someone can make a complaint against you today and threaten your future as a nurse practitioner in Wisconsin. Hiring attorneys who know the Wisconsin disciplinary process for nurse practitioners inside and out will give you an edge and help limit sanctions that harm your career.
Whenever you learn that investigators are looking into your conduct, get in touch with the Professional License Defense Team at the Lento Law Firm. Contact us today at 888-535-3686 or fill out our online form to get the help you need in defending your license.
