Lapsed license - advice?

Nurses General Nursing

Updated:   Published

So, I got audited for my CEU's last year and spent a lot of time pulling them together, as I had changed jobs twice (my husband is military).

This year, no renewal notice came from the State and my employer doesn't have an auditing department. Having done all that work last year, I guess I just forgot that THIS was the renewal year. Totally accepting responsibility here.

I've gone past the 60 day grace period now.

Went online and downloaded the stuff to re-register, have all my CEU certificates and, of course, the fees.

Just wondering if anyone else has gone through this process. Anyone have words of advice or input?

Feeling enough like a dumb-***, so please save that part of the input. LOL

Thanks, everyone!

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Specializes in Ambulatory Care-Family Medicine.

Many employers won't let you work without a current license. So you may not be able to work until it is renewed. A former coworker let her license lapse and she actually had to go to the BON office in person (Texas so it was not a short trip) to provide all her CEUs, proof of current nursing employment and pay the fines. Even after that it still took almost 6 weeks for them to process and post her license. Basically be prepared to wait a while.

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bugya90 said:
Many employers won't let you work without a current license. So you may not be able to work until it is renewed. A former coworker let her license lapse and she actually had to go to the BON office in person (Texas so it was not a short trip) to provide all her CEUs, proof of current nursing employment and pay the fines. Even after that it still took almost 6 weeks for them to process and post her license. Basically be prepared to wait a while.

It's not just a matter of "many employers" who won't "let" you work without a license -- it's illegal to practice nursing without a license, and that includes individuals with an expired license.

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Specializes in Healthcare risk management and liability.

^^^Not to mention that the hospital or facility's malpractice coverage does not cover unlicensed individuals providing care, and this also applies to your personal malpractice policy, if any. We routinely put physicians, nurses, pharmacists, etc. on unpaid leave until such time as their license is reinstated.

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You have enough going on right now, please don't use your real name.

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Thanks, Been there. Not my real name. :-)

Appreciate the advice, everyone. I just found out about it tonight and hadn't thought about the legal ramification of not working as a Nurse with a lapsed license!

Sounds like it would be responsible of me to own up to my error and notify my employer. They're really good, I anticipate being re-assigned to non-Nursing duties. But, if I get put on unpaid leave ... no one to blame but myself. Just hope it doesn't take as long as the friend of Bugya90!

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Check your BON website. Mine says that if I do not receive a renewal notice that I can legally still practice until they send it.

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WheresMyPen said:
Check your BON website. Mine says that if I do not receive a renewal notice that I can legally still practice until they send it.

I'm curious, which state is this?

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Specializes in Ambulatory Care-Family Medicine.
elkpark said:
It's not just a matter of "many employers" who won't "let" you work without a license -- it's illegal to practice nursing without a license, and that includes individuals with an expired license.

I was referring to the fact they won't let you work for them period, even as a patient care tech or unit secretary, neither of which require a nursing license. There's no being reassigned to a support staff or UAP role, just unpaid leave normally is your only option.

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Specializes in ER/Tele, Med-Surg, Faculty, Urgent Care.

The only RN I ever knew that let license lapse was fired because of it since he was not able to fulfill job requirements on top of leaving unit shortstaffed. It was unprofessional conduct per the unit manager & DON.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

I live in IL where we have had no budget for over a year and none on the horizon. We no longer receive any notifications:

No professional license renewal notifications

No drivers license notifications

No car sticker notifications

NOTHING.

In IL, you can't practice without a license - this was our year to renew everything and because the state is closing state offices and laying off workers, we were all told to renew as soon as possible which for us was March (our licenses expire May 31st). IL is not a state to let your license lapse as there are few workers to help you get it reinstated

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bugya90 said:
I was referring to the fact they won't let you work for them period, even as a patient care tech or unit secretary, neither of which require a nursing license. There's no being reassigned to a support staff or UAP role, just unpaid leave normally is your only option.

(Thanks for clarifying.)

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