Dear Nancy, Show I have been unable to get a job as an LPN for almost two years due to a prior reprimand in 2008 for a medication/documentation error. I complied with the board of nursing requirements, paid a fine and completed 16 hours of continuing education. What can I do to change the reprimand status and be able to be a nurse again? Agatha Dear Nancy replies:Dear Agatha, The collateral impacts of a discipline by a board of nursing are numerous and your difficulty in getting a job may be one of them. Unfortunately, many employers view a discipline, however minor, as a restriction of the license and therefore will not hire the potential employee, sometimes years after the discipline has been imposed. Although not a fair outcome, it is a common one. You may be able to expunge the discipline from the public record the board of nursing maintains for discipline of nurses. Many boards have links on their website to disciplines by the month and year the discipline was imposed, along with a short description of what the nurse was disciplined for. If your state board of nursing has decided to expunge listings that are a certain number of years old, you should seek advice and help from a nurse attorney or other attorney in your state to get your listing removed from the state board’s website. Keep in mind, though, the discipline by the board of nursing may be reported to other agencies or data banks to which the public has access. If, for example, you are disciplined in more than one state, the other state may take action against you as well. This state may not have a process for expungement so the information remains available to the public, including potential employers, Likewise, if the discipline was the result of a professional negligence suit and a verdict required the nurse licensee who had professional liability insurance to pay an amount to the injured patient, or the lawsuit was settled with a monetary amount to the patient, the event would be reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Data Bank. Although the public does not have access to this information, healthcare employers do. You can read more about the collateral effects of being disciplined by a board of nursing in the article by Porter and Mackay, “Collateral Damage to Encumbered Nursing Licenses,” Vol. 15, No. 2, Journal of Nursing Law, pages 45-50. Remember, that there are employers out there who are willing to give nurse licensees a second chance despite their discipline by a board of nursing. It does take time to find the right fit. Hopefully you will find an employer who sees you as a good candidate for its job opening and you see the employer as a viable place to work. Regards, Retired status means the licensee is not working in FL (has retired from practice) and has paid a $55 fee to receive a Retired license. It is possible to come off of retired status in the future, but that is not the intent of this status. This is an optional status. Practitioners can also Voluntarily Relinquish the license — or take no action and initially go Delinquent and then Null/Void if the license isn’t renewed after two consecutive bienniums. To reactivate a license from this status you must contact the Board. It can take a lot of work to become a licensed nurse. And after all of those years of schooling, on top of taking NCLEX–the last thing you’d want to happen is for your nursing license to expire. But sometimes situations arise where a nurse may leave the workforce (such as having children or seeking a new career), and eventually, there comes a time in every nurse’s life when it is time to hang up the scrubs for good (retirement). Nevertheless, you will still probably get those license renewal forms in the mail asking you to renew your nursing license (along with a fee, of course). So should you renew your nursing license if you are no longer a nurse? What if you leave temporarily? Or if you retire? We received a question about this:
Do You Have to Renew Your Nursing License?First let’s just address this question regarding a delinquent notice. From what you described, it seems to me that they are assuming you are still working as a nurse, or plan on renewing your license. So this was probably just an automated notice mailed to you with that assumption of you still working. You should not have to renew your license unless you plan on working as a nurse. In your case, just to be 100% sure, I’d call and let them no that you are retired. From that point, perhaps they can remove you from their system. Then, you won’t have to worry about future mailings.In addition, you can inquire about the charge to make 100% sure that you don’t have to pay any final renewal fees (which I would assume you shouldn’t, unless you had a balance previously for delinquent fees). Should Nurses Pay To Renew a License If They Change Careers?Now let’s switch gears and address the issue of whether or not nurses should continue to renew their license if they switch careers. In my opinion: ABSOLUTELY! The fact is, you never know how your career may go, and it is a lot easier paying a fee every so often to keep that license active, than to go through all the hoops once you let it expire. Granted, some states may require so many hours of work too (in addition to the fee), but this is usually easy to obtain in the form of taking a few classes, or even a few part time shifts. But since the economy and the work force is so shaky, I’d definitely hang on to my license until I was 100% sure I was never going to need it. If your second career doesn’t pan out, then you have a safety net and plenty of opportunities to continue working in a good paying career (nursing). Should Nurses Pay To Renew Their License After Retirement?Again, I’d say yes–at least, for a few years. Most people retire in their early-to-mid 60’s. Yet, we are still generally capable of work up until our late 60’s, or even 70’s. I’ve even read stories of nurses much older than that working (ie, nurses in their 80’s). Even though retirement is a great time, the truth is, I’d still probably renew my license if possible. You just never know if we got into some dire economic situation (and the current news doesn’t help my confidence much). Plus, there is always a threat of wars, financial calamity, or that somehow your nest egg could go faster than you thought. I’d say it is always a good idea for the small investment to keep it active. Then again, I guess it depends on how much your state charges for renewals, and also how much you’d have to pay (and what hoops you’d have to jump through) to get it re-instated. If it costs thousands in your state, obviously it may not be worth it. But if it is just $50-100, I’d definitely consider it. If I live to around 70-72, I definitely think I’d consider letting it expire. But before then, assuming my health is in top shape, I’d probably keep it active (just in case). Even if you no longer practiced nursing, it could help to have it on a resume for teaching, or other activities that are less strenuous. Final Note About License RenewalsWe occasionally get emails asking us to renew or verify licenses on this website. We do not deal with these issues. This is up to the State Board of Nursing. So for help with this, just find your state and they can help with those issues. |