If you look up the words ordinary, common, routine, or mundane in any dictionary, you WILL NOT see "State Nursing Board Compulsory Order for Examination" as an example.
Why? There is nothing ordinary, common, routine, or mundate about a Compulsory Order for an Examination.
It is usually written in the Nurse Practice Act that a State Nursing Board can order a licensee or applicant for licensure by examination for a compulsory examination or order, at the expense of the licensee or applicant being investigated by the Nursing Board may have a physical or mental impairment that MAY affect the ability to practice nursing safely.
In Ohio, see ORC 4728.28(G).
Therefore let's say today you open your mail and you find a Compulsory Examination Order from the State Nursing Board ordering you to submit to:
1. Forensic Psychiatric examination;
2. Medical Examination;
3. Behavorial Examination;
4. Substance Use and Abuse vs. Dependency examination;
5. Neuro-Psychiatric examination; or
6. Psychological examination like a Fitness for Duty
then you need to:
1. Review the document carefully;
a. Sit down and take a cold shot of H20 on the rocks to clear your head;
b. Re-read the document again because I know you didn't read it carefully.
2. If you are represented by an attorney, contact your attorney and discuss; or
3. If you are not represented by an attorney in the Board investigation, you need to speak with an attorney like yesterday.
These Orders for Examination are the real deal. Yes, I know you are a nurse and maybe in one of your nursing roles you were involved in administering, observing, or reviewing these types of examinations for patients, but.....
Ask yourself, what would a reasonable and prudent nurse do at this point in a disciplinary investigation when you receive this type of Order for an Examination/Evaluation?
Do you continue to rep yourself? There is nothing wrong (or wright) about repping yourself before the State Nursing Board. It saves a dollar or two and you can then spend this dollar or two at Walmart, Target, or Lowes. I am all for repping yourself and I advocate repping:
a. Your hood (you can do this with a block party or garage sale. Invite me, please!);
b. Your block (you can do this with a swim party, block party (with a permit), or yard sale); and
c. Your City (next time you are at a professional function, wear a t-shirt saying "I love Columbus, Ohio" or the "Cincinnati Bengals Superbowl 2020).
But repping yourself in any legal matters can be a train wreck waiting to happen.
You only have one RN or LPN (with State Nursing Board A) and when this license is investigated and you receive an Order for a Compulsory Examination/Evaluation, is saving a dollar or two in the best interest of your nursing career, future employability, future plans for nursing education, and your sanity.
For example, I received three certified letters from the IRS that were not delivered yesterday because of my two horse like dogs which roam the yard stalking birds, bees, and anything that moves. I went into overdrive and contacted the IRS about my estimated taxes for 2011 and whether or not full payment was received for my 2010 tax liability. But I thought about the worse case scenario: Oh frack, I am being audited for 2011! My first thought was will I use my acountant or retain a tax attorney now: like yesterday. Certified letters from the IRS means "hear ye hear ye" for me as small business owner and attorney just like a Notice of Complaint, Potential Violation Report, or Compulsory Exam Order from the State Nursing Board means "hear ye hear ye" for a RN, LPN, APRN, or RN or PN NCLEX Applicant.
You have to be able to appreciate the best and worst case scenario for any workplace, licensure, legal, or State Nursing Board issue and sometime this requires the assistance of legal counsel for informed decision-making: like yesterday. I appreciated the best/worst and WTF scenarios from my certified letters from the IRS; the letters are related to my 2010 tax liability and estimated tax payments from 2011.
When you receive certain items, documents, or information by mail that impact you as a professional and your livelihood as a licensed professional, your natural instincts should flare up and you should go into hyperdrive like the Death Start from Star Wars in less than 10 seconds and start critically thinking about your next steps.
For nurses: it is a medical mal complaint naming you individually as defendant (because you probably do not have your own liability insurance policy), criminal indictments, certified letter from your employer after you have been suspended from work pending an investigation, letters from the State Attorney General's or Department of Health related to a workplace incident, and State Nursing Board Complaints and Compulsory Examinations/Orders.
You have critical thinking skills (if you don't email me and I will send you an invoice to pay me to help you develop those skills) so use those skills to critically think and be objective about your situation. There is nothing routine, ordinary, common, or mundane about receiving a Compulsory Examination Order from your State Nursing Board and the fact that this is "lost" of most nurses and NCLEX Applicants is troubling and speaks volumes to where we are as profession with knowledge and education of the intersection of the nursing law and professional standards of practice and the practical applications in the workplace.
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