Reasons to lose nursing license?

Anonymous865 · Apr 21, 2016

My state publishes a report online every month of all actions taken against licensed professionals the previous month.

When I started reading all the "I'm not risking my license" and "Can I lose my license" comments on here, I got curious and started periodically reading these reports to see what things the BON takes action on and what action they take.

There are 4 actions the BON can take 1) reprimand 2) suspend 3) probation 4) revoke.

They revoke maybe 30 licenses a year in the whole state. Considering how many licensed nurses there are in the state, that is a miniscule number.

Here's what I've seen them take action on:

Revoke - being under the influence while on duty (including on-call), impersonating another licensed professional, committing a crime (rape, murder, battery, theft, etc.), abandoment, intentionally or negligently causing physical or emotional injury to a patient, violating confidentiality of information concerning a patient.

Probation - majority are abuse of drugs or alcohol

Suspended- majority are failure to repay student loans or failure to pay child support

Reprimanded - usually related to insufficient CEUs

There are a lot of actions for documentation. It can get you any of the above actions. It includes failing to document what you did, documenting you did something when you didn't, not properly identifying the name and title of who did what, not documenting nursing diagnoses/actions.

Recently they convicted someone with abandonment for being impaired while on duty. Their impairment made them unable to provide competent nursing care thus they abandoned the patient. Interesting. (The person was also charged with being impaired, abusing drugs and alcohol, documentation problems, theft, causing injury to a patient)

Every month or so I see them convict someone for failing to protect the patient from incompetent healthcare practices or failing to report an incompetent or unethical health care professional. That can result in anything from some classes to a hefty fine.

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Apr 30, 2016

Oddly enough- I have been in the unfortunate position of discovering drug diversion four times at three different facilities in the last 30 years. Three nurses lost licenses, only one regained hers.

Fentanyl once, Demerol once and Vicodin twice.

Follow up question: How do Vicodin addicts EVER poop? Seriously

Guest219794 · Jun 15, 2018

Bumping this thread to the top.

I think every time somebody on this site mentions losing a license, they should be pointed this way.

It has helped me rethink my plans to to get drunk on my way to work, take a patients narcotics right before I post nude pictures of him on line, then leave in the middle of a shift so I can go home to inject my child with feces before I take steps to continue my charade as a cancer patient.