How Do Disciplinary Actions Affect Multi-State Licensing

All State Boards of Nursing issue nursing licenses for their state and they handle the disciplinary actions against nursing home professionals who violate their license requirements. If a nurse moves to another state, they will need to possess that state’s nursing license to practice. It is essential to know how holding multiple licenses can impact them should they be involved in a disciplinary action.

Nurses are permitted to hold a variety of nursing licenses. Nurses are permitted to move across state lines and posses nursing licenses in several states. When a nurse changes their license, or leaves their state, or is licensed in a new state, their old nursing license does not go away. The state agency that grants the original nursing license continues to hold jurisdiction over that nurse, even if the license has lapsed or cannot practice in that state or capacity, the state’s Board of Nursing can still discipline that individual at any time. This is true even when the nurse dropped their license.

Nurses with licenses in another state are subject to that state’s laws and rules. Those rules and disciplinary actions follow the nurse from state to state. For example, should a nurse have their license suspended in one state, and move to a different states, the new state they reside in can penalize the nurser incidents in the previous jurisdiction.

Many states also consider the failure to notify a licensing agency concerning disciplinary actions in other jurisdiction as “unprofessional conduct.” Nurses are usually required to contact multiple agencies to report any previous or ongoing disciplinary actions even if the violation did not violate the new state’s rules.

Defending Against Disciplinary Actions

There are a several ways for nurses to lose their nursing licenses or face disciplinary actions. When the violations are professionally-related, such as a nurse failing to maintain charts or is has acted negligently in their treatment of patients. Sometimes these actions can also result in criminal charges. Moreover, nurses may receive disciplinary actions or lose their license after being convicted for a crime such as drug charges. Unfortunately, addiction is a significant issue with nurses. All states address these criminal charges or accusations based on the laws in that jurisdiction. Failing to address the criminal charges, or not defending against them, a nurse could complicate their future licensing in other jurisdictions.

If you are licensed in multiple states, or have prior licenses, and have faced disciplinary actions in any of those locations, you should speak to a licensing attorney. Contact the seasoned Kansas Professional Licensing Defense Attorney Sanger Law today at (785)-979-4353 to discuss your case.

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