Use Common Sense and a Calm Temperament When Responding to a Board of Nurses Complaint

It can happen to any nurse at any time for any reason. Whether you are practicing nursing in direct patient care, or in administration, a complaint can be made to the Texas Board of Nursing (the Board) by any person. Due to the requirements on the Board from the state, each and every complaint is investigated. Patients will complain, family members will complain, your competitors will complain, and other nurses are charged with the duty to turn in another nurse if a question arises regarding the nurses abilities. If you work in the home health field, the state surveyors are typically nurses and they account for many complaints each year about nurses in the home health field (those who see patients and those in the office).   

Typically, the Texas Board of Nurses will issue a notice of possible violations of the Texas Nursing Practice Act. The nurse has 30 days to respond. The response is your road map to what occurred and shows the reasons for your actions as a nurse. 

Take care when drafting your response to the Board. A complaint against your nursing license is a very personal assault and that makes it more difficult for the nurse to make a fact based response. The investigators at the Board have subpoena power to gather records, question witnesses, and pull criminal records. They will do all of this during their investigation and scrutinize any records obtained.

The complaint can change after the investigation. Our firm assisted one nurse with a complaint for failure to render the appropriate care that contributed to the death of a patient. What resulted after the statement and the production of additional documents was a failure to fill out a form completely (2 forms had a blank each in the medical records). While it still resulted in continuing education and a fine, there was no action taken against the license and supervision was not required. A clear win to what appeared at first to be a license revocation matter.   

Remember to make sure the response is complete and addresses the complaints, and that your defense isn’t to call the complainant the “devil.” (Don’t laugh, we have seen it done, with very poor results). The Board is tough on nurses, but the right response can go a long way.