AJN: Research Shows Link Between Nurse's Criminal History & Professional Misconduct

A study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Nursing(AJN) found that almost 40% of nurses who were on probation for professional misconduct in 2001 committed another act of misconduct between 2001 and 2005. Nurses on probation who had a history of criminal conviction were more likely to recidivate, suggesting that licensing boards should carefully screen and monitor nurses with a criminal background. The study was conducted by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN). ...

..."We hope that the study's findings will be used to help shape regulatory policies and develop disciplinary programs targeted to individual nurses," said Elizabeth H. Zhong, PhD, research associate, National Council of State Boards of Nursing in Chicago and an author of the study. "Our hope is that further quantitative research of professional disciplinary action will lead to more effective remediation programs to protect public health and safety."

According to the study, the recidivism rate among those with a history of criminal conviction (56%; 22 of 39 nurses) was nearly twice as high as the rate among those without such a history (33%; 24 of 73). Thirty-three percent of the disciplined nurses changed employers during their probation; the recidivism rate among them was more than twice the rate among the disciplined nurses who stayed with the same employer.

The proportion of men who had been disciplined was more than twice the proportion of men in the national nursing workforce, and younger nurses (both men and women) were also more likely to recidivate: among those who were younger than 40, 49% recidivated, while 34% of those who were 40 years old or older.

Protecting the public from incompetent or otherwise unsafe nursing practice is a responsibility of state boards of nursing. Boards of nursing can place nurses who have committed practice-related violations on probation, limiting their practice to particular settings or placing them under certain conditions for a specified time. The state boards also aim to help nurses who have been disciplined return to nursing practice through remediation. ...