Cases begin with a complaint of possible professional misconduct made to a state nursing board or another state agency. An investigator for the state performs an investigation and the case is either closed or the nurse is charged. Most nurses accept settlement offers made by the prosecutors assigned to their cases. A settlement offer specifies penalties that will be imposed in exchange for an admission of guilt. When misconduct charges cannot be resolved through a settlement, a formal hearing is convened, often before a panel appointed by the state board of nursing.
Guilt is determined by a panel vote.
Penalties range from a fine to license revocation, and are determined by the state nursing board. Other penalties may include censure and reprimand, probation, suspension or any combination of these. Education or public service may be mandated. In some states, a nurse is far more likely than a physician to be disciplined when a complaint has been filed, author Sharon LaDuke, RN, said. From 1992 to 1998, for example, annual complaints against New York State physicians averaged nearly four times those made against the state s nurses, yet the average number of disciplinary actions taken was nearly the same.