How to File a Complaint against BON

Nurses Activism

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Out of curiosity, has anyone ever filed a complaint against the board of nursing or is there a way to file a complaint and with who would you file a complaint?

LOL, keep that one as a second. actually have a wireless key board, just never completed install. thinking of a Mac. this one is 5 years old, the other is at least 12, both lap tops.

Hopefully the F remains intact, AMIRITE?! :)

Stubbornness abounds. Keyboards (especially non-bluetooth) are crazy cheap now.

(The stubbornness comment is meant light-heartedly. I'm battling a car that might as well be held together by duct tape, and has been that way for years. I still haven't stepped foot on a lot or opened a for sale section.)

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I_received_help_from_my_reps_office_with_the_BON....So,yes_it_is_possible_for_them_to_help

I didn't say a state senator wouldn't help a person with a legitimate issue with the BON. I don't believe for a second they will get involved over someone's subjective opinion that an employee is "rude."

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I didn't say a state senator wouldn't help a person with a legitimate issue with the BON. I don't believe for a second they will get involved over someone's subjective opinion that an employee is "rude."

Not just rude, but not doing their job, by not answering questions. But they are still collecting their pay check.

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Specializes in PICU, Pediatrics, Trauma.
Found a law firm devoted specifically to this. In all honesty, I would not go that route as I don't have the time or money with my kids, but I just think it is sad that they can treat nurses the way they do. The horror stories I've read about and the cases that these lawyers are working on are down right dirty and dispicable. Wish I could take more action to help the field, but that's government for you. Figured I'd find more nurses here fighting this battle, but guess I will continue to follow the group I found online.

I am so sorry you are going through this. As important as BON/BRNs are to nurses, generally, we have little to no knowledge on how they work, are governed, etc..When that topic came up in my education, most of us had our eyes glaze over in boredom. The truth is, they don't seem to help nurses much and are mostly about Policing over our practice and punishment. When we cannot feel comfortable holding them accountable to their responsibly to us as the ones who control our licenses, our livelihood and even our personal lives to some extent, then we have a problem. When we are too intimidated to hold them accountable, there is something drastically wrong here. Our laws that govern their responsibilities are out-dated and they have been stripped of funding making it even more difficult for them to function fairly. Seems they cannot even keep up. In my state, over several days, I called my board approx. 50 times (no exaggeration), before I even got someone to answer the phone. I just kept calling and calling. The only other number I was guided to on their website turned out to be a fax line. Then Sent on wild goose chase "press 1 for X or 2 for y" only to get a recording saying to leave a message, but the in box was full. I was calling, because when I went to their website, which seems quite extensive, and followed the links etc, I got nowhere and the "contact us" link took me to the wrong place. I was trying to get an answer to an important question. Took them 7 months to get to my issue while I sat around twittling my fingers, out of work without income, went through nearly all my emergency savings, my family suffering with the stress of it all waiting day after day...Not right. Not fair. Not even ethical.

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Specializes in PICU, Pediatrics, Trauma.
To OP - could you have had a change of address or name change that might have contributed to some kind of snafu?

Any chance you were practicing nursing without a valid license? That would get you into more deep trouble than you may expect.

True. But....how was he to know if he never received notice from them? Do we go online day by day to check if we in deed are still licensed, just because? Name or address change aside, Ive heard of these things happening, I.e. A nurse not receiving proper notice. It happens. Not right. Would the board be responsible for the lost income if they are at fault here? Probably not. I mean NO, NOT ON YOUR LIFE.

It seems really wrong that we have no recourse when this stuff happens. And they take weeks to months to resolve these problems/mistakes. Their mistakes.

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Specializes in PICU, Pediatrics, Trauma.
yes, me three wondering about what paperwork the ex employer has to provide.

OP, can you explain further? Are you a foreign trained nurse on a sponsorship?

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True. But....how was he to know if he never received notice from them? Do we go online day by day to check if we in deed are still licensed, just because? Name or address change aside, Ive heard of these things happening, I.e. A nurse not receiving proper notice. It happens. Not right. Would the board be responsible for the lost income if they are at fault here? Probably not. I mean NO, NOT ON YOUR LIFE.

It seems really wrong that we have no recourse when this stuff happens. And they take weeks to months to resolve these problems/mistakes. Their mistakes.

If it means checking license status hourly then that is what we have to do. Most boards are required to make good faith attempt at notification but failure of an individual to know is not an excuse.

If your driver's license is suspended and you are pulled over the excuse of "officer I didn't know" won't get you far.

As nurses we actually do have recourse if we feel as though the board wronged us. Much of the work done is not actually by board members so we can always appeal to the actual board. If that fails then look to who appointed the board, the governor. Write letters and make phone calls.

Ignorance of the law is not an excuse.

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You should make it your BUSINESS to know when your license expires. As someone whose license expired because I wasn't notified, I still admit that it WAS MY RESPONSIBILITY to know when my license was coming up for renewal.

People, own your actions. Or inactions, as the case may be.

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Specializes in PICU, Pediatrics, Trauma.

Yes. Of course it is our responsibility to keep our licenses current and to know when and what and all that. I had the impression he was saying he did all he was supposed to do and yet somehow/someway relating to the employer not doing their part, his license was not renewed for some reason AND he was not notified. I don' get it either. Just taking his word for it.

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Specializes in PICU, Pediatrics, Trauma.
If it means checking license status hourly then that is what we have to do. Most boards are required to make good faith attempt at notification but failure of an individual to know is not an excuse.

If your driver's license is suspended and you are pulled over the excuse of "officer I didn't know" won't get you far.

As nurses we actually do have recourse if we feel as though the board wronged us. Much of the work done is not actually by board members so we can always appeal to the actual board. If that fails then look to who appointed the board, the governor. Write letters and make phone calls.

Ignorance of the law is not an excuse.

I guess my point was that if I have no knowledge of doing something that would make my license be suspended...or put it this way....If I had done all I am supposed to do and then find out it was suspended, how would I know to check? Honestly, how often do you actually go online with your BRN and check just in case, to make sure you are actually still licensed when you know you sent in the form, had all your CEU's and correct fee etc...Been doing it the same way year after year, never moved or changed your name etc...? Seriously, without any reason to suspect, do you go online and check the status, just because?

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Because she is not Chicken Little and because they should not be rude.

They are paid to do a job, never to be rude. They are servants, nor royalty.

Would you be allowed to be rude at your job? I bet not. The only reason they are is because some people are terrified of them.

In the immortal words of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, your Senior Drill Instructor, Sound off like you've got a pair, CaringGerinurse525.

You can't always hide from the fray. Sometimes you have to stand up for yourself. And if you won't stand up to rudeness, what else will you bow down for?

Will you stand up for your Constitutional rights? Will you sacrifice them for the sake of "harmony and peace"? Many people have bled and died for you to have those rights. Cherish them like nothing else.

OP, try writing to your state Senators and tell them your problem. They can contact the head of the BON on your behalf, who can figure out who was rude, when, why, and if that worker should continue to be employed by the BON.

I've done it and it felt danged good to be able to show the Senator what was going on in State government. He stood up for me and I got what I needed (timely license renewal, no loss of income; I had been trying to renew for many months - should have taken only a couple or a few weeks).

By the way - there was no retaliatory bull pucky from them, either. If there had been, I'd have gone to the Senator again, even the news media. Ain't gonna let nobody turn me around. I like peace as much as you, but sometimes we do have to engage the enemy. Yes, discretion is the better part of valor, but sometimes we have to draw that line in the sand.

All of the changes in equality for Blacks - the right to vote, the right to use any toilet, any drinking fountain, try on a pair of shoes in the store, eat where we want, live where we can afford, attend good schools, use any elevator, sit in front on the bus, and so on - people had to fight and actually die for us to have these rights. We overcame.

We are still overcoming. And it doesn't happen without courage. That applies to dealing with government bureaucracies, too.

I'm all for standing up for equal rights, fair pay, etc. The only complaint she stated was someone was rude and hung up on her. She would not be able to prove that they weren't just disconnected. To me rudeness by someone on the phone doesn't warrant a march to the White House. So in my opinion in this instance, I would not put a target on my back.

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
I am so sorry you are going through this. As important as BON/BRNs are to nurses, generally, we have little to no knowledge on how they work, are governed, etc..When that topic came up in my education, most of us had our eyes glaze over in boredom. The truth is, they don't seem to help nurses much and are mostly about Policing over our practice and punishment. When we cannot feel comfortable holding them accountable to their responsibly to us as the ones who control our licenses, our livelihood and even our personal lives to some extent, then we have a problem. When we are too intimidated to hold them accountable, there is something drastically wrong here. Our laws that govern their responsibilities are out-dated and they have been stripped of funding making it even more difficult for them to function fairly. Seems they cannot even keep up. In my state, over several days, I called my board approx. 50 times (no exaggeration), before I even got someone to answer the phone. I just kept calling and calling. The only other number I was guided to on their website turned out to be a fax line. Then Sent on wild goose chase "press 1 for X or 2 for y" only to get a recording saying to leave a message, but the in box was full. I was calling, because when I went to their website, which seems quite extensive, and followed the links etc, I got nowhere and the "contact us" link took me to the wrong place. I was trying to get an answer to an important question. Took them 7 months to get to my issue while I sat around twittling my fingers, out of work without income, went through nearly all my emergency savings, my family suffering with the stress of it all waiting day after day...Not right. Not fair. Not even ethical.

California, by any chance?

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