Expired License Nurse

chare · May 7, 2020

In my opinion you need to let this go.

llg, PhD, RN · May 7, 2020

I would notify the Board of Nursing and ask them if the person truly has a license or not.

I personally know of a case where a nurse whose RN license had expired continued to work and rose through the ranks of administration to be the CNO of a large community hospital. When it was discovered she had not been licensed for years -- and had lied about it for years -- it was a big scandal.

chare · May 7, 2020

23 minutes ago, llg said:
I would notify the Board of Nursing and ask them if the person truly has a license or not.

To what end? He or she has already verified via Nursys. If he or she knows that this individual is working as a nurse, then by all means report that.

scuba nurse, BSN, MSN, RN · May 7, 2020

Why are you checking on her license status to begin with?

do you work with her and she is incompetent? if so, then go to your manager.

Also, where ever she works, that is their responsibility to make sure that all RNs working for them are truly licensed.

Otherwise, let it go.

Closed Account 12345 · May 7, 2020

I believe nurses have a duty to report if we suspect someone is practicing without a valid license, which is fraudulent and criminal. You've done your due diligence by checking the state BON and NURSYS pages to verify your suspicion.

Six years is 3 license renewals; I seriously doubt the state BON and NURSYS have somehow forgotten to update this nurse's information 3 cycles in a row.

I think contacting the BON is the right thing to do, but you must know your "close friend" may no longer be a friend.

Jedrnurse, BSN, RN · May 7, 2020

1 minute ago, chare said:
To what end? He or she has already verified via Nursys. If he or she knows that this individual is working as a nurse, then by all means report that.

Some questions:

Is Nursys infallible?

Wouldn't it have been incumbent upon the friend's current employer to verify the license?

Does OP suspect incompetent practice?

If OP is wrong, there goes the friendship...

JadedCPN, BSN, RN · May 7, 2020

2 hours ago, lil'India said:
Hey all fellow nurses,
What would you do if you knew someone (who is supposed to be a close friend), say they are working as a nurse right now, but both their state BON site and the NURSYS site show their license as expired 6 years ago for failure to renew? Said person stated the BON has yet to "update" their status and they received their paper license in the mail. I don't think the BON would do that, right?
Just asking because after all the hard work I, myself, and all of us nurses do with our education and working that someone should lie.

I'm just curious, why did you check the site in the first place? Did she give you the explanation and THEN you checked the sites to verify, or did you randomly check her status and then she gave an explanation?

llg, PhD, RN · May 7, 2020

1 hour ago, chare said:
To what end? He or she has already verified via Nursys. If he or she knows that this individual is working as a nurse, then by all means report that.

I thought that Nursys said she did NOT have a license -- that her old one had expired for failure to renew. Did I misunderstand the OP?

chare · May 7, 2020

28 minutes ago, llg said:
I thought that Nursys said she did NOT have a license -- that her old one had expired for failure to renew. Did I misunderstand the OP?

No, I was less than clear in my post and apologize. Both Nursys and the BON show the OP's friend as being expired 6 years. As the OP doesn't know in what capacity her or his friend is working, if at all, I am not sure that reporting her to the BON is warranted.

2 hours ago, llg said:
[...]
I personally know of a case where a nurse whose RN license had expired continued to work and rose through the ranks of administration to be the CNO of a large community hospital. ...

I've no doubt this was 't an isolated event at one time. However, with the advent of the ability to verify a license online, if this were to happen today the facility, in my opinion, would be just as culpable as the individual. My current facility doesn't ask nueses to provide proof of renewal as they verify online.

Sour Lemon · May 7, 2020

4 hours ago, lil'India said:
Hey all fellow nurses,
What would you do if you knew someone (who is supposed to be a close friend), say they are working as a nurse right now, but both their state BON site and the NURSYS site show their license as expired 6 years ago for failure to renew? Said person stated the BON has yet to "update" their status and they received their paper license in the mail. I don't think the BON would do that, right?
Just asking because after all the hard work I, myself, and all of us nurses do with our education and working that someone should lie.

It seems like your "close" friend may not be as close as you believe. Not only because of the stories she's telling you, but because of your discussion about her on a public forum.

I've never had an employer who didn't verify my license, especially for three terms of renewal. Something just doesn't add up. My first suspicion would be that she's not actually working as a nurse, but doesn't want to talk about why.

As an unrelated (most likely) side note, I do have an expired license in one state and an active license in another.

lil'India · May 8, 2020

6 hours ago, JadedCPN said:
I'm just curious, why did you check the site in the first place? Did she give you the explanation and THEN you checked the sites to verify, or did you randomly check her status and then she gave an explanation?

I checked the site because I knew for a fact she was expired. We were both lpn's years ago and went to school together. SO when I decided to go for my RN 10 yrs ago I figured we could have done that together. She couldn't because she was expired. So few now to her lying stating she is a nurse and working and making up fake titles. She is working and going around falsifying being nurse. That is illegal to do. And so I checked. And it is our duty to report.