Bill To Erase Some Nurse Disciplinary Actions Gains Momentum

By Kristina Fiore

A bill that would void 20 years' worth of nursing board disciplinary actions for late license renewal passed the Kansas House of Representatives late Wednesday, lending momentum to a popular movement that began earlier this summer.

The bill, HB 2528, would also establish a pathway for late license renewal -- something that nurses say would have spared them the black mark of "unprofessional conduct" had it existed previously.

"Unprofessional conduct is the same title they would give somebody who sexually assaulted a patient or beat a patient or stole drugs," said Amy Siple, NP. "It's the worst thing you can say about a nurse."

Siple has been a driving force in the legislation and the mounting discontent with the board's policies around late license renewal. She says her own experience drove her to address the policy head-on when she was slapped with the unprofessional conduct sanction for being late to renew her license after stepping away from practice to take care of her husband, who had cancer.

Once she started telling her story, the floodgates opened, she said. Many other nurses had similar stories of being disciplined for license renewal issues, and they shared those stories at two hearings convened by the state's House Select Committee on Government Oversight this summer -- one in July, one in September.

State Rep. Sandy Pickert (R) introduced HB 2528 to erase past disciplinary action regarding licensure or license renewal and establish a path forward for late license renewal that would include a fee.

The bill would also require digital reminders about license renewal, limit the term "unprofessional conduct" to practice-related issues, and prohibit retaliatory action against licensees. It also would require nursing board members to be subject to state Senate confirmation.

During a hearing on the bill held by the state's House Committee on Health and Human Services earlier this month, KSBN Executive Administrator Carol Moreland, MSN, RN, raised concerns about "some of the cases that would be voided under this bill."

"One of them was a school nurse who was sexually inappropriate with students, one nurse stole credit cards and made purchases after a patient was deceased," Moreland said. "Those are things that could be voided, and they would go off the record."

However, bill proponents said only discipline related to license renewal would be voided.

Siple's license has been reinstated, but she is still fighting to have the "unprofessional conduct" blemish removed from her record.

"Once you're labeled as unprofessional, it's really hard, if not impossible, to find employment again," said Siple. "Your malpractice company cancels you, or you get quadruple the rates. You can't get hospital privileges. You can't contract with insurances. You become a liability risk for anyone to employ you."

For now, she is happy that HB 2528 passed out of the House and is headed to a state Senate health committee for consideration.

"This is a great day for nurses in the heartland and the clients who we serve," she said. "We are confident that the Kansas Senate will concur with the House and bring a more fair and just culture back to the Kansas State Board of Nursing through the passage of HB 2528."