Peer Advocacy for Impaired Nurses

Anyone who has been through a board of nursing (or any other licensing board) investigation knows this is extremely traumatic. There are some general principles to follow if you are being investigated.

One of the first things to keep in mind is that this can happen even if you have done nothing wrong!

Believe it or not, people can, and do bring false allegations against a nurse. Knowing this doesn’t make it less traumatic. It does help (eventually) to realize and accept there are real jerks out there who will falsely accuse a nurse for a variety of reasons. That’s beyond the scope of this site, but I’ll provide links to sites I have found useful, or that have been referred to me by others. (that doesn’t necessarily mean I agree with everything linked to on this site).

Hire an attorney if you are notified of an investigation! Never assume innocence will protect you!

Sad but true. As Forrest Gump said, “That’s all I’m going to say about that”.

Be sure you have your own professional liability insurance!

Don’t fall for the, “My employer covers me, so I don’t need to get my own policy” line. You’ll never find a physician who doesn’t have their own policy. We need to learn from our physician colleagues. Read more here.