Effective February 1, Nursing Board to reduce time limit for nurses to personally appear to defend

Despite efforts by Collis Law Group and others, the Ohio Board of Nursing recently voted to reduce the amount of time which may be given to legal counsel to present a disciplinary case to the Board after a nurse’s Administrative Hearing.

At the November 2015 Board meeting, the Board changed its rule governing the amount of time which may be given to legal counsel to summarize a case concerning a nurse facing discipline after an Administrative Hearing.

The Board’s old rule permitted the Board to give legal counsel not more than 10 minutes to summarize a disciplinary case at the time the Board considers what discipline it will impose.  The new rule, effective February 1, 2016, reduces the time allotment to not more than 7 minutes.

At the November 2015 Board meeting, Collis Law Group attorney, Todd Collis, advocated for all Ohio nurses by suggesting to the Board that reducing the time allotment was not in the best interest of Ohio nurses or the Board.

Collis argued that it is unreasonable to afford legal counsel only 7 minutes in which to summarize a case for the Board under circumstances where a nurse is facing potentially career-ending discipline.  Collis also observed that the reduction in the time allotment would not result in any meaningful time savings for the Board and that the reduction in the time allotment might be viewed as curtailing access to the Board at a critical moment in a nurse’s career and life.

Effective February 1, 2016, Ohio Administrative Code 4723-16-12(C) provides that legal counsel who address the Board shall be given not more than seven minutes in which to do so. While this rule may appear to be a minor change, when a nurse is defending their professional license, they should be given more than just seven minutes to personally appear before the Board Members prior to the Board issuing a final sanction against their professional license. (This rule does not limit the amount of time that the nurse may present his/her defense at an administrative hearing.)

If you have any questions about this post or the Ohio Board of Nursing in general, please contact one of the attorneys at the Collis Law Group LLC at 614-486-3909 or email me at beth@collislaw.com.

46 Ohio nurses did not defend themselves?!

 

Yesterday, I attended the January meeting of the Ohio Board of Nursing.  On the morning agenda, the Members of Nursing Board voted to issue a Notice of Opportunity for Hearing, Notice of Immediate Suspension, or Notice of Automatic Suspension to over 60 nurses.

Additionally, the Nursing Board voted to impose a final disciplinary sanction (suspension, revocation, or limitation) on over 100 nurses’ professional licenses in Ohio.  I was struck and saddened to learn that in 46 casesthe nurse failed to request a hearing and never introduced ANY evidence in their defense.

If a nurse fails to request a hearing, the Nursing Board is authorized to impose any sanction from dismissal of the case to permanent revocation of the nurse’s license.  If a nurse fails to request a hearing, the nurse may not submit any evidence in their defense.

It cannot be understated the positive effect that can result when a nurse presents “their side of the story”, explains what happened, and puts the Nursing Board’s allegations into context.  The Nursing Board members like to see that the nurse understands the gravity of the allegations, accepts responsibility (where warranted), and fights for their license.  In certain instances, where the nurse presents evidence rebutting or refuting the Nursing Board’s charges, the Nursing Board has been known to dismiss certain counts in the Notice or dismiss an entire case against the nurse.

At the meeting yesterday, based on mitigating evidence that was introduced in one case, the Nursing Board modified the recommendation of the Hearing Examiner from a 6 month suspension to no suspension and simply placed the nurse on probation.

As a nurse, you have worked hard for your professional license.  If you are notified by the Nursing Board that they propose to take an action against your license, request a hearing and defend yourself.  While you may represent yourself before the Nursing Board, please note that the Nursing Board will be represented by an attorney from the Office of the Ohio Attorney General who will prosecute the case on behalf of the Nursing Board.  It is recommended that you should also have experienced counsel to represent you in this stressful and difficult process.

If you have any questions about this blog post or the Ohio Board of Nursing in general, please feel free to contact one of the attorneys at the Collis Law Group, LLC at 614-486-3909 or email me at beth@collislaw.com.