Nursing is a stressful profession. The everyday expectations to manage patient care demanding. Add in navigating the recent professional and social pressures that came with the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is no surprise nurses are currently struggling to manage an unprecedented level of stress.
One thing that can make that pressure even more difficult to manage: a threat to your nursing license.
What could threaten my nursing license?
The state board could initiate an investigation after it receives allegations of substance abuse, a failure to provide quality care, a lapse in moral character, disciplinary measures in another state, or criminal charges for drunk driving or other mistake. The possibilities are seemingly endless and almost anyone can file a report with the state board to initiate further questions.
How can I manage the stress that comes with this investigation?
Nursing professionals encourage their fellow nurses to take time to care for their own mental and emotional health. This includes common sense practices like getting enough sleep, eating right, and taking time for exercise as well as more aggressive approaches like seeking mental health professionals to help provide guidance through the more challenging emotions that can impede our ability not only to provide quality nursing care but to live a full life.
In any stressful environment, one of the most powerful tools is to get some level of control over the situation. When it comes to a threatened nursing license, one way to get control is to fight back.
How can I fight back?
You do not have to go through the investigation and face the allegations of wrongdoing on your own. The law allows you to have legal representation on your side, advocating for your interests and fighting on your behalf. You worked hard to get that nursing license. Do not let allegations and a board investigation threaten to end your career.
If you are a nurse and received a complaint from the Texas Board of Nursing, you really need an experienced aggressive lawyer to defend your case. A Board investigation can last years. The Board often files public Formal Charges without giving nurses the opportunity to resolve the case informally through the Informal Settlement Conference process. This can result in Formal Charges being placed on your public profile for months if not years while your case is pending only to be dismissed just before mediation or trial.
Rivas Goldstein has been defending nurses for over 20 years. Let us know if we can help you.
Attorney John Rivas is responsible for this communication