Need to tell the Texas BON about an arrest or conviction?

If you have an arrest or a criminal conviction and need to tell the Texas Board of Nursing, be sure you speak with an attorney who has kept up to date with the Board's new guidelines.  I continue to hear from nurses (who have spoken with other attorneys in regards to criminal convictions) that are told they are going to receive disciplinary action or that they will have to obtain some type of evaluation; in many cases this is not true because the guidelines changed.  The Texas BON revised  their criminal guidelines in 2018 and some attorneys apparently have not kept up with the new regulations and policies.  What the Texas BON used to do in response to convictions before 2/2018 has changed and you need to be sure you are receiving current information.  Before agreeing to anything, be sure to speak to several attorneys that have experience with the BON (check Google or AVVO.com for information on attorneys and their experience).

My blogs have moved to www.nursingattorney/b. I have not posted in a while because we were busy setting up the new blog site. I hope that putting the blogs on my website will help readers navigate the blogs and the articles. Let me know what you think.

How to Explain past Board Orders to Employers

If a nurse receives an Agreed Order from the Texas Board of Nursing it is a disciplinary action and will forever be on the nurse's license (unless some future legislation allows for this to be changed). Even though the nurse has completed the probation/restrictions/stipulations and the nurse's license is now active and clear, the nurse will have a disciplinary history. This means that if the nurse is applying for a job and on the application is a question - "Has your license ever been sanctioned, disciplined, revoked, suspended or otherwise had action taken against it?"(or some similar type of question), the nurse will have to answer "yes."

The nurse should keep a copy of the Order and of the letter from the Board indicating that the Order has been completed and be prepared to present this to the employer.

New Continuing Education Hours

Do you have a nursing license and are not currently working as a nurse? If so, you should read the Texas Board's proposed CUE rules because they will affect you. Go to the Board's website and click on the May 15, 2009 proposed rules for Chapter 216. The new rules require nurses to demonstrate continuing competency in the nurse's specific area of practice. The problem is that if you are not working as a nurse, you do not have an "area of practice."

Every nurse that this impacts needs to immediately read the rules and send a comment to the Board detailing how they would be impacted by the new rules. According to the Board "To be considered, written comments on the proposal or any request for a public hearing must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. on June 14, 2009, to James W. Johnston, General Counsel, Texas Board of Nursing, 333 Guadalupe, Suite 3-460, Austin, Texas 78701, or by e-mail to dusty.johnston@bon.state.tx.us, or faxed to (512) 305-8101. An additional copy of the comments on the proposal or any request for a public hearing must be simultaneously submitted to Denise Benbow, Nursing Practice Consultant, Texas Board of Nursing, 333 Guadalupe, Suite 3-460, Austin, Texas 78701, or by e-mail to denise.benbow@bon.state.tx.us, or faxed to (512) 305-8101. If a hearing is held, written and oral comments presented at the hearing will be considered.