Nursing Law & Order

Birchaven Redux and the Saga Continues: Criminal Charges, Civil Suit, and State Nursing Board investigations, Oh My!

One might say this saga has it all. In my opinion it certainly illustrates what I am talking about when I tell nurses you have to be your own risk manager and have your own professional liability insurance policy with a license defense benefit. Unfortunately it is becoming all to common in healthcare to see cases with criminal, employment, civil, licensure, workplace, and regulatory implications for individual nurses. The good, the bad, and the ugly at its best, baby.

I am not representing any of the nurses involved in this case and I am planning to follow this story on my blog. All of this is public record and reported on various websites. Here is a brief summary of what you can gather from the public records and media reports regarding the incident:

Birchaven fired 8 nurses. The facility was investigated by the Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Attorney General's office. Several of the nurses who were terminated were reportedly investigated by the Ohio Board of Nursing and the Ohio Attorney General's office because of the allegations. Criminal charges have been filed thus far against two of the nurses. There is a pending wrongful discharge and slander action filed by 4 of the nurses against Birchaven.

See http://www.thecourier.com/Issues/2009/Jul/16/ar_news_071609_story1.asp?d=071609_story1,2009,Jul,16&c=n.

See also

http://www.thecourier.com/Issues/2008/Aug/27/ar_news_082708_story6.asp?d=082708_story6,2008,Aug,27&c=n

http://www.thecourier.com/Issues/2009/May/29/ar_news_052909_story5.asp?d=052909_story5,2009,May,29&c=n

See my previous blog post about the Birchaven issue at

http://advocatefornurses.typepad.com/my2cents/2008/12/2nd-criminal-investigation-launched-last-month-involving-birchaven-facility.html

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Criminal cases, Nursing Board matters, and Civil Suits: Oh My!

Nurses, if you don't have your own policy, you may need it! Also the way healthcare is going now and how nurses are dissed and dismissed like a toddler smashing an ant, all nurses may need to have a legal defense slush fund for attorneys fees and costs and consider keeping an attorney or law firm on retainer.

Did you see my post on the incident involving the Texas nurses who were terminated and have criminal charges pending? http://advocatefornurses.typepad.com/my2cents/2009/07/texas-nurses-association-has-a-legal-defense-fund-for-2-nurses-criminally-indicted.html

Healthcare reform is nice but when does the reformation of the healthcare workplace and workforce begin?  

I don't know about you but I don't think this is what most of us as nurses picture when you say "I want to be a nurse." I want to be a nurse although I may be fired at-will, investigated by the State Nursing Board, and charged with a crime. The Sleeper Must Awaken. 

 

I have a 3 year probationary agreement with my State Nursing Board; Can I and Should I apply for a nursing license in another State(s)? What will happen?

I don't know the answer because of course it depends on the facts underlying the State Nursing Board probation and EACH State Nursing Board is independent and different. I am seeing cases where nurses are on probation with two or three different State Nursing Boards and then wondering why they are so stressed and wondering how did it get to this point.

If you on State Nursing Board probation in State A, talk to several individuals, whether its at your State Nurses Association, your State Specialty Nursing Association, or a nurse license defense attorney before you apply for a license via endorsement in State B, C, D, and/or E.

Most nurses represent themselves in State Nursing Board matters. The best thing about representing yourself is it doesn't cost you ANY money. One of the negatives about representing yourself is you don't receive sound objective legal advice from an attorney with State Nursing Board experience.

You can represent yourself for free and of course, this sounds really nice especially in this economy but you have to weigh your situation and decide what is right for your situation. If you cannot afford the bells and the whistles of "full scale legal representation" then consider a legal consultation with an attorney to review your file and discuss your options. A legal consultation may cost a few hundred dollars vs. full scale representation which may be several thousand dollars.  

Texas Nurses Association has a legal defense fund for 2 Nurses Criminally Indicted

http://www.texasnurses.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=509

http://www.cbs7kosa.com/news/details.asp?ID=13685

I had a consultation with a nurse yesterday about a workplace matter and I told her to proceed carefully when you decide your next course of action in a dispute with a physician and a hospital. Other nurses will tell you "do it" and "go for the gusto" "do what's right" "I wish I had your strength", etc. but you need to speak with an attorney, preferably a nursing law attorney before you decide whether or not to whistleblow and how to whistleblow. There are many courses of action and you need to make an informed decision because you may be surprised to learn that the same folks who pushed and prodded you to "fight the man" will tell you "I can't get involved" "I need my job" "I am not comfortable helping you now" when the __ hits the fan.

Most nurses don't have their own professional liability insurance (for a civil suit or Nursing Board investigation) or the financial resources to "do battle" with a physician let alone a hospital or healthcare system. You add criminal charges (legal defense of criminal charges is not covered by professional liability insurance anyway) and a Nursing Board complaint and possibly a civil suit for slander and libel and it can be overwhelming to say the least.

Most hospitals and physicians have an attorney(s) or a law firm(s) on retainer. Compare and contrast this to nurses, who primarily represent themselves in workplace, employment, State Nursing Board, professional, and legal matters involving nursing practice.

I am not familiar with the Texas incident and I am not speaking to the Texas incident. I am planning to donate a few dollars to the cause and I hope everything turns out okay for the nurses involved.

I do know that nurses as patient advocates of course advocate for patients; but nurses also need to advocate for themselves. Sometimes this means slowing down, taking a step back, and getting a neutral and an objective party involved to provide a realistic evaluation of the situation and the courses of action.

Sometimes going out with "guns blazing" and a "scorch the earth" approach is not in the best interest of the nurse.

Kentucky Board of Nursing Conference this Year is September 25, 2009 in Louisville, KY: Be There or Be Square

I am attending the Kentucky Nursing Board conference again this year as the sessions really seem interesting. http://kbn.ky.gov/board/conf.htm. It falls on the second day of the Ohio Nursing Board meeting so I will probably attend the Ohio Nursing Board meeting on Thursday, September 24th and attend the Kentucky Nursing Board conference on Friday, September 25th.  http://kbn.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/4EB587C8-BB72-4B32-9C0E-08D77177E642/0/Brochure.pdf

You should attend your State Board of Nursing conferences or seminars which are usually jam packed with information.

No, I don't attend State Nursing Board seminars because I am prowling for clients. My hubby asked me this being funny. I won't have booth or table or stand up in the room and shout "hire me if you have a Kentucky Nursing Board case" when I attend these programs. Although, you can hire me if you have Kentucky Nursing Board case.

I attend because I like to stay up to date on what's going with the Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana nursing boards and these conferences along with Board meetings are usually the best opportunities.  

Legal Webinars for Nurses: Recordings Available online now

I presented Emerging Legal Issues with Professional Boundaries and Professional Sexual Misconduct on Wednesday, July 15, 2009 for the Center for American Nurses. The recording along with the other webinar recordings are available online on the Center's website and online store. See

http://www.can.affiniscape.com/storeindex.cfm

The next webinars are as follows:

Professional Liability Insurance: Pros and Cons

August 19, 2009 from 7pm to 8:15pm ET.

The speaker is Rebecca Cady, RNC, BSN, JD, Attorney at Law

Nursing License Compact: Pros and Cons

September 16, 2009 from 7pm to 8:15pm ET.

The speaker is Carol A. Roe, RN, MSN, JD, Attorney at Law

Register at www.centerforamericannurses.org or call 1-800-685-4076.

Dishonesty, Deceit, and Deception: My Name is A, I am a nurse, and I am a liar

My grandmother used to tell us "there is nothing worse in the world than a thief and a liar" growing up and she still says this, alot. I smile because I know there are worse folks in the world than "thieves and liars" and it was just a saying impressing upon us as kids the importance of telling the truth. Her saying scared me straight alot of times as a child.

This isn't legal advice of course but:

Don't tell a story. Even now at age 38, I can't bring myself to use the word "lie" because we were not allowed to say the word growing up. Don't tell my maternal grandmother on me, please!

Don't lie when something happens in the workplace and things will happen. The nursing workplace and clinical practice is not perfect and things will happen. Have the intergrity to own up to what has transpired because LYING ALWAYS make it worse especially when you get caught LYING.

Notice, that I did not say "if" you get caught; I said "when you get caught.

When you lie in the workplace, one questions your ethics, your credibility, your competence, and who you are as a nurse and who are you as a person. It depends on the facts of course and whether this was a "little lie", "the lie", a "big lie", or a "series of lies." You will hear things like "I thought I knew her" and "I guess you don't really know anyone you work with."

Did you know that a lie can take human form, grow, become all consuming, and destroy everything that you have worked, cried, and sweated so hard to obtain? Lies in your personal life can wither into your professional life and vice versa. Lies can become the boogie monster, baby.

Can you say State Nursing Board investigation for the LIE and the conduct, actions, and behaviors LIED about in the nursing workplace?   

Deceit, Deception, and Dishonesty sounds like a wayward romance novel nowdays but it should not be used to describe your nursing practice or your behaviors and conduct in your personal and professional life. Remember what you do personally can impact you professionally as a licensed nurse. Some would say you are professionally what you are personally and what you are personally is what you become professionally.

Take a look at the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses for guidance.  http://www.nursingworld.org/mods/mod580/cecde03.htm  

Is Your State Board of Nursing Executive Director Next? Ruth Ann Terry with the California Board of Registered Nursing resigns after 16 years

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-nurse15-2009jul15,0,4544890.story.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-nurse-story-gallery,0,709761.storygallery

Just what we need in nurse license defense, a story saying more discipline is needed and the State Nursing Board isn't doing its job to protect the public. Just what we need, legislators assuming more discipline and faster discipline is better. More complaints, more investigations, more adjudications, more discipline, more State Nursing Board investigators, more Nursing Board staff, more post-discipline monitoring: more is always better, right?

I guess that could possibly translate into more inquires, more consultations, more clients, and more money for me if this trickles over to the Midwest State Nursing Boards in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. I can do the "more money" dance. When you see me, ask me to do the money dance and I will.

How about just cutting out due process all together in these cases and and implementing the public flogging of nurses in State Nursing Board investigations and adjudications?  Ten lashes for each accusation in a State Nursing Board complaint. Did you see the whip used in Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans?  

How about a series of stories by reporters saying more procedural and substantive due process protections and rights should be provided to nurses involved in licensure investigations and adjudictions akin to the protections and rights afforded and provided to litigants in civil suits and defendants in criminal trials?

Psych Patient charged with Felony Assault for Hitting an Ohio Nurse

http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/local_news/local_wpri_warwick_kent_patient_accused_of_assaulting_nurse_060209_acm

What do you think? Should patients who hit nurses face criminal charges?

ANCC National Magnet Conference on October 1-3, 2009 in Louisville, Kentucky

Have you seen the brochure for the upcoming Magnet Conference? I would love to attend but I am 3 out of 4 with registering for out of state nursing conferences and not attending nursing conferences out of state this year.

The conference fee is expensive but the educational sessions are very appealing.

See http://www.anccmagnetconference.org/

Is Chemical Addiction a Permanent Disability? See this case involving an Anesthesiologist

See http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/50550022.html.

2009 Indiana Board of Nursing license renewal is coming for RNs and others

This copied and pasted from the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency website. http://www.in.gov/pla/2502.htm

Renewal Dates/Information

• Registered Nurse (RN) licenses expire on October 31 of odd-numbered years.
• Practical Nurse (LPN) licenses expire on October 31 of even-numbered years.
• Nurse Midwife limited licenses expire on October 31 of odd-numbered years.
• Advanced Practice Nurse Prescriptive Authority (NP, CNS & CNM) expires on October 31 of odd-numbered years.
• Indiana State Controlled Substances Registrations (CSR) for Advanced Practice Nurses expire on October 31 of odd-numbered years.

October 31, 2009 is the next renewal date for the following licensees:

Registered Nurses
Limited License Nurse Midwives
Advanced Practice Nurse Prescriptive Authority
Indiana State Controlled Substances Registrations

October 31, 2010 is the next renewal date for Licensed Practical Nurses.

Renewal applications are mailed sixty (60) days prior to the expiration date of the license or authority. If you do not receive your renewal application at that time, please call our office at (317) 234-2043 to receive a duplicate application. You may also send an e-mail message to mailto:[email protected]. Please be sure to give us your name, address, license number, profession, and telephone number. Online renewal is also available at http://www.in.gov/pla/

Address Change - You are required to notify the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency of any address changes. Your written notification must include your name, license number, profession, social security number, date of birth, and both your old and new addresses. Please send the information to the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency at 402 West Washington Street, Room W072, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204. Address changes may also be sent by e-mail to mailto:[email protected].  You may update your address online at any time by logging into Indiana's Online Licensing Service (Your login ID will be your license number, and your password will be your social security number).

Advanced Practice Nurses please note that if you are changing the address of your practice location and hold an Indiana State Controlled Substances Registration (CSR), you must submit a new collaborative agreement before a new controlled substances registration can be issued for that location.

Name Change - You may have the name changed on your licensure records by submitting a copy of an official name change document such as a marriage certificate or a divorce decree. A copy of a social security card will NOT be accepted. Please send the information to the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency at 402 West Washington Street, Room W072, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204. Your letter should include your name as it is listed now, your new name, your license number, professions, social security number, and date of birth. If you want us to send you a new pocketcard, please indicate in the letter that a new card is needed due to the name change.

Look at How This Nurse is Being Treated: Could This Be You?

Nurses are so trusting of everyone and we always assume that everyone has our best interest at heart including our employers. Take a look at this article that appears in Cincinnati Enquirer today and see how this poor nurse is battling with her employer for benefits.

"I'm left wondering why Good Samaritan hasn't been a good Samaritan to me," she said. "I wish I knew."

Could this be you?

Nurse Fights Hospital Over Small Pox

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090711/NEWS01/907120329/-1/NEWS010703/Vaccine+leaves+nurse+disabled

What happens if you know of or suspect illegal conduct in the workplace? Legal, Ethical, Moral, and Professional Duties and Obligations

I was contacted by a nurse who knew of and/or suspected the use of illegal billing practices by a physician employer and did not report the conduct to a regulatory board, licensing board, or a law enforcement agency.

There may be of code of silence in healthcare, a "don't ask and don't tell" philosophy towards certain conduct in the military, and a "no squeal" rule in the criminal underworld but you need to determine what are your mandatory reporting obligations if any: legally, ethically, morally, and professionally in this type of situation as a nurse.

Call it whistleblowing, call it "tattle telling" or whatever, but you need to make sure as a licensed nurse that you have met your legal, ethical, and professional obligations under the circumstances. As a state-licensed nurse, you are not a "Joe Blow" working at a local fast food parlor. You are a licensed nurse practicing in accordance with legal, professional, moral, and ethical frameworks.

You have to determine if it is legal, ethical, professionally, or morally okay for you to just turn your head and not to report this type of conduct.

What should you do if you know of or suspect illegal conduct in the workplace? This of course is not legal advice but you need to determine your next course of action and you can consider one or more of the  following:

1. You need to look at your State Nursing Practice Act and State Nursing Board regulations;

2. You need to look at your ANA-affiliated State Nurses Association guidelines and standards;

3. You need to look at the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics for Nurses;

4. You need to contact your ANA-affiliated State Nurses Association and speak with the Executive Director or a Nursing Practice Consultant;

5. You need to contact your nursing union and speak with a Labor Relations Specialist or an elected Nursing Union official; and/or

6. You need to contact a nursing license defense attorney who represents nurse.

Speak to someone about the situation but don't just turn your head and remain silent because healthcare is highly regulated and the situation may come back to bite you...

  

Comparing criminal probation and monitoring to State Nursing Board probation and monitoring is like comparing apples to green beans

If you have a pending criminal case, you need to seriously consider speaking with an administrative law or nursing license defense attorney before you accept a plea in the criminal case. Your criminal defense attorney, is looking at the criminal aspects not the license aspects, unless your criminal defense attorney is also an administrative law or license defense attorney.

I am speaking with more and more nurses who were involved in a criminal case and did not fully understand or appreciate how serious the State Nursing Board looks at criminal convictions with nurses and NCLEX-applicants.

You cannot reasonably or rationally assume that you will have a criminal conviction and there will be no license, career, or workplace implications in today's healthcare environment. If you didn't know this, you know it now.

I often hear:

* I am being punished twice for the same thing;

* This isn't fair, physician don't have to endure this with their Board;

* The Board acts if I killed a patient;

* I didn't think this was a big deal; and

* My criminal attorney said this wouldn't implicate my license because it is unrelated to my nursing practice.

Most of the nurses retain a criminal defense attorney for the criminal matter then represent themselves before the Board. This is understandable, if you have to choose between your liberty and your license, you are going to hire an attorney to represent you in the criminal matter to keep you out of jail and mitigate the criminal penalties. But guess what? Its not over just because the criminal case has resolved. That's just Part 1 to a saga with at least 3 parts. Yes, 1, 2, and 3.  

But please be advised, you cannot Sarah Palin "wink" yourself through a State Nursing Board investigation related to a criminal conviction. It just ain't gone happen.

The criminal justice system with post-conviction monitoring is more concerned with violent and repeat offenders. This is typically not nurses. Therefore most nurses can do criminal probation standing on their head without an issue and actually complete the criminal probation with flying colors and receive "early release" from the terms and conditions of the criminal probation.  

Believe me when I say for the most part it is not the criminal probation and monitoring that causes legal drama and headaches for most nurses. This is not said in anyway to disrespect or diminish the criminal justice system or the process and procedure for monitoring criminal offenders because as an attorney, I am an officer of the court.

But if you didn't know or suspect, I am here to tell you, criminal probation is not State Nursing Board probation. Like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz said best "there is no place like home", I am saying "there is no probation like State Nursing Board probation" and you haven't "been on probation" until you are on probation with the State Nursing Board. 

Criminal probation and monitoring should not and cannot be compared to State Nursing Board probation and monitoring.   

Soap on the Rope: Medication Errors, Patient Injury or Death, and the Nurse. But what about Magnet?

A number of factors can contribute to a medication error(s) in a hospital. It is interesting to see how some hospitals handle a medication error(s), which caused or contributed to patient harm or death; the discipline slopes downhill.

I have been contacted by four nurses this year who work in hospitals and who have been involved in serious medication errors. Two of the cases involved a patient death and two involved serious injury.

None of the nurses have their own professional liability insurance policy with a license defense benefit. Do you know how scary it is to be in this type of situation? You don't realize how bad you need your insurance policy until something like this happens. This is the kind of stress that leads hair loss, bleeding ulcers, mind numbing headaches, and taking a combo of meds everyday to remain functional.

You are flying blind so please take your blinders off because your interests may not be the same as the interests of the Hospital in the forthcoming litigation.

Did you know that nurses are sued individually and named as defendants in med mal and negligence cases? See the NSO RN Claims Study. https://www.nso.com/pdfs/db/rnclaimstudy.pdf?fileName=rnclaimstudy.pdf&folder=pdfs/db&isLiveStr=Y&refID=rnstudy

What's even more interesting is some hospitals, depending on where the hospital is in the Magnet process, leave the nurses dangling like soap on a rope. Maybe we will report it to the Nursing Board, but what about Magnet? Maybe we will self report to JCAHO, but what about Magnet? What if this is leaked to the media and the press, what about Magnet? Should we apologize to the family and settle outside of litigation, what about Magnet?

Hospitals have insurance and are prepared for lawsuits so therefore its not the lawsuits that keep the C-Suite officers at up a night in these types of cases. Hospitals have a team of lawyers ready and willing to investigate and litigate these cases.

What about Magnet is the million dollar question, not what about the nurse?

Guess what if you don't have your own professional liability insurance policy and you are involved in a serious or medication error(s), then you are going to need a heap of cash, baby. Why?

You may need your own personal counsel in the medical malpractice case (can you say evergreen retainer and $250.00 an hour for attorney fees depending on the law firm?) and you will most certainly need attorney representation when this is reported to the State Nursing Board.

Or you can do what most nurses do anyway: follow the advice and counsel of the hospital management, risk management, and attorneys, not seek independent legal advice and continue to be the soap on the  rope. Its only your nursing career, your license, your livelihood, your life, and your assets.

Kentucky Board of Nursing and Ohio Board of Nursing: license renewal is here!

Its renewal time in Ohio and Kentucky and Indiana is here for nurses depending on your licensure. I am receiving lots of calls and emails related to the renewal applications and criminal convictions or affirmative responses on the renewal applications in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.

If you have any questions or would like to schedule a telephone or in-person meeting, please contact my office, my receptionist will assist you with scheduling. I really do appreciate your business and will assist you if I can or refer you to another attorney.

If you are a RN in Ohio, renew your license, you don't have but a month of so left and I am doing a countdown starting next month on August 1st on this blog for the Ohio RN license renewal. Yes, it is that big of a deal on this blog anyway!!

The Kentucky Board of Nursing license renewal started at 12 midnight on July 1, 2009 and runs through midnight on October 31, 2009. Indiana for certain licenses runs to October 31, 2009. http://kbn.ky.gov/ and http://www.in.gov/pla/2502.htm.

Don't wait until Halloween and the last minute to renew your Kentucky and Indiana nursing license especially if you are required to make affirmative responses on the application for renewal.

Halloween is like a holiday for us with block parties on our street and our neighborhood goes all out on Halloween. I have 12 nieces and nephews and we have a ball on Halloween. I am going as Princess Leia this year. I am also superstitious and I don't like to fly on Halloween or Friday, the 13th.

I practice in Kentucky and I tested positive for.....Will this be reported to the Kentucky Board of Nursing?

Will an employer report a positive drug screen (if you don't have a legally valid prescription or you test positive for illegal substance) to the Board is the five dollar question. Only five dollars because I am in Las Vegas, we just got married, and I am trying to hold on to my last five dollars:) Just kidding!

Kentucky like most states is a mandatory reporting state and this should be reported. Now I am here to tell you that everything that should be reported to the State Nursing Board isn't always reported; it depends and varies from facility to facility.

Some facilities report any and everything to the State Nursing Board and some facilities don't report anything to the State Nursing Board unless the media gets involved or another regulatory agency is involved. 

 http://kbn.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/51401E6F-D531-42EE-BD8F-95C61C5C9CAB/0/discpbroch.pdf

I love you, Michael Jackson! You are the King of Pop; Rest in Peace

I have fond memories of Michael Jackson growing up as a teenager. I can remember wearing the glove, the sparkle socks, and the black ankle length pants in junior high school.

My favorite MJ song is the Man in the Mirror and Dirty Diana.

My employer told me to self-report to the State Nursing Board because it looks better: A+ for you

I am told this several times a month (my employer told me to self-report and I did because it looks better) and the answer to whether or not it is in your best interest to self-report to the State Nursing Board is..... It depends of course.

A State Nursing Board complaint is not a college test, exam, or a quiz and you receive 50 points for self-reporting vs. -25 points if your employer has to file the complaint against you. You receive 30 points for knowing how to follow directions and 15 bonus points for doing what you were told also. Also you will receive 10 stars and 75 bonus credits for taking your self-report and statement to the State Nursing Board office and having it date and time stamped because you are Michael Phelps and you are going for the gold here!!

If you have been told that you need to self-report to the State Nursing Board, consider speaking with an administrative law or nurse license defense attorney before you self-report. Contact your State Nurses Association and speak with the Practice Consultant or Executive Director.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying you should not self-report or that self-reporting is necessarily bad, but it depends on your situation. You are not a robot (are you? Did you see, I Robot?); don't mindlessly do what you told to do by your employer in something so serious because your self-report triggers the State Nursing Board disciplinary investigation. Did your employer mention this to you also?

Don't blindly assume, I am self-reporting to the State Nursing Board and I am going to receive an A+ on this exam.

Two State Nursing Board Complaints Pending Simultaneously: Oh, and I don't Have Any Money To Pay

I was contacted by a nurse who is being investigated by two Nursing Boards and was looking for representation, counseling, and advising in both matters but could not afford to pay an attorney fees. Its becoming more common especially since I practice in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana to see these types of cases.

Attorneys are like nurses, we expect to be paid for the services provided. Would you work for free for a hospital, home care agency, or staffing agency? Of course not, so why would you expect your attorney to handle or assist you in your license defense case or a professional nursing practice matter for free.

I am being asked, why don't license defense attorneys take nursing license defense cases on a pro bono basis? Well let's see, pro bono services are usually provided to the low income, poor, and/or disadvantaged groups.

LPNs, RNs, and APRNs are not low income, poor, and/or traditionally disadvantaged groups in need of access to justice and pro bono services.

I am more willing to work on a reduced fee basis with a nurse with a suspended license seeking license reintatement, NCLEX-Applicant or a nursing student than I am with a licensed and practicing RN, LPN, or APRN. But that's just me and each call and case is different.

Contact The American Association of Nurse Attorneys (TAANA) at www.taana.org to see if there is a license defense or administrative law attorney in your state

http://www.probonoinst.org/

http://www.probono.net/

http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/probono/

Also I get asked, why don't you provide free legal consultations like most attorneys. If you contact my office, I will speak with you or return your email or fax. I will try to assist anyone because I like to help if I can or refer you to someone who can assist you if I cannot assist you.

I will speak with a nurse about a license defense case or a professional nursing practice, employment contract, etc. without charging a fee however, I will not provide any types of legal advice or counseling without establishing an attorney-client relationship or scheduling a legal consultation.

I have clients who pay me to represent them and I am working for them. I also have nurses who pay me for a workplace, career, or legal consultation and I am working for them. I am not working for you unless you pay me; just like you are not working a healthcare organization, unless you are being paid.

So yes, you can contact Attorney Z, who practice family law, criminal law, and zoning issues, who offers free legal consultations and receive advice on a Nursing Board matter or a professional nursing practice. I am not offended in anyway, shape, or form.

But just keep in mind when you contact an attorney today and you indicate that you needed assistance yesterday (meaning ASAP) in a Nursing Board or professional practice matter, the next statement, shouldn't be "Oh and I don't have any money to pay you."