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.