For Our RN Guardian Nurses:

GOVERNOR REPLACES BRN AND
FORCES RESIGNATION OF DIRECTOR 7/14/09
Following another expose by the LA Times and nonprofit news organization ProPublica, Schwarzenegger has fired 3 members of the Board of Registered Nursing, including the President and basically forced the resignation of the Executive Officer as well as another Board member. The remaining seated 2 members are appointees of the Governor from 2006 and the empty slots have already been filled by gubernatorial appointments. Schwarzenegger’s statement said his “administration is dedicated to protecting public health and safety, and the new board will act quickly and decisively to achieve that goal.”
This comes just days after the LA Times and ProPublica found that the Board of Registered Nursing was taking an average of three and half years to investigate allegations of misconduct. Perhaps this was because during the scope of its thousands of investigations, the BRN found that many of the investigations were superfluous. RN Guardian Attorneys are continually reminded that many of these “allegations” are often arbitrary at best, sometimes made as a retaliatory measure by a disgruntled colleague, sometimes made by a supervisor to cover up their own mistake, or more often than not, made by a family member of a patient who was dissatisfied with patient care.
The upheaval with the BRN’s administration and governing boards means a few things to California Registered Nurses:
The new BRN will undoubtedly be far more aggressive in investigating even the slightest incidence and will move swiftly to administer penalties, fines, suspensions and license revocations.
This is a tentative time for RN License security in California.
The need for a service that provides preventative counseling for license related matters as well as the peace of mind that if needed, your license would be defended by attorneys that specialize in the nuances of the BRN has never been more relevant.