The Florida Board of Nursing Can Discipline You for Violations in Another State!

As a licensed nurse in the State of Florida, you know you must adhere to the rules and laws governing your license. If not, you could find yourself in a situation where an investigator with the Florida Department of Health comes calling. What you may not realize is this extends beyond your health care license in Florida to your health care licenses in other states; even countries.

Have you received a letter or been contacted by an investigator with the Florida Department of Health concerning a complaint or investigation of your license? This article will show you what can happen if disciplinary action is taken against your nursing license and the options you may have.

We’ve previously written about the overall subject of nursing regulation in Florida. See https://www.floridahealth careattorney.com/nursing-law-and-florida-regulation/

Florida Nurse with License in Other States

Consider this scenario.

You’re a Florida nurse but you also hold a license in another state. You recently had some trouble in that other state where your license was disciplined. That wasn’t in Florida, so you have nothing to worry about, right? Wrong. An investigator with the Florida Department of Health has sent you a letter stating you’re under investigation from DOH for having your license in that other state disciplined. Should you talk to them? Often times we recommend not contacting the DOH investigator until you have spoken with an experienced health care attorney. The results could be detrimental to your well-being if you go it alone. The penalties imposed by the Board of Medicine can be severe. If you are disciplined in Florida for having your health care license disciplined in another state or country, you could face the following.

Penalties Imposed by Board of Medicine

	Minimum Discipline	Maximum Discipline
First Offense	Letter of concern	Same penalty as the penalty imposed by other jurisdictions.
Second Offense	Same penalty as the penalty imposed by other jurisdictions.	Revocation

Your nursing license in Florida could be in serious jeopardy if your license in another state or jurisdiction is disciplined. First a first offense, you could get a letter of concern, but you could the same penalty you received in the other jurisdiction. If you received 2 years of probation and a fine of $1,000 in the other jurisdiction, you could receive that same punishment here. That is the minimum punishment you would get for a second offense. Your license could be revoked for a second offense. This extends if you have a license application denied in another jurisdiction. Florida takes the licensing of nurses very seriously.

However, it is important to note these penalties are not set in stone. The Board of Nursing can take into account any number of aggravating or mitigating factors to increase or lessen the penalties set forth in the rules. When you have an experienced health care attorney defending your license, you stand a much better chance of receiving a lower penalty, or even of getting the complaint against you dismissed.

Should you have any questions or would like additional information about the Board of Nursing investigation/disciplinary process, please feel free to contact the law firm of Howell, Buchan & Strong, Attorneys at Law at 850-877-7776 to set up your FREE no-obligation consultation with attorney Jeff Howell or attorney Rickey Strong today. DOH and the Board of Nursing have experienced attorneys on their side.  Shouldn’t you!