Stacie L. Patterson Law Blog

The California Board of Registered Nursing has launched a statewide
investigation into California nurses regarding past disciplinary actions.  A
recent search by the Nursing Board has found that thousands of California
licensed nurses have been disciplined for misconduct in other states.  In
response to this information, it seems that the Board, with support from
Governor Schwarzenegger, intends to take swift action to discipline or even
revoke the licenses of as many as 2,000 nurses.  In order to achieve this, the
board  will be launching their own investigation which will include collecting records
from other states.  The investigation will first focus on California nurses who are
currently licensed, meanwhile flagging more than 1,500 nurses whose
licenses are currently inactive, in the event they want to renew them.

Every nurse wishing to renew their California license is already required
to report any past legal convictions.  The board then compares the
licensee's application for renewal against criminal records from
the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice.   
Upon finding that a prior criminal conviction exists, a nurse may be in
jeopardy of having his or her license revoked.  Currently, California
nurses have no duty to report to the Board of Registered Nursing when
or where they are working, and it wasn't until 2008 that California
required nurses renewing their license to disclose past discipline from
other states.

It is the responsibility of the state to notify the nurse of disciplinary action
and give the nurse, or the nurse's attorney, the opportunity to present a
defense in front of an impartial administrative law judge. The names of nurses
who have faced sanctions in other states will remain undisclosed until a formal
disciplinary charge is filed against them in California.