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Arizona law holds that a licensed nurse may be sanctioned by the Arizona Board of Nursing (“Board”) with an administrative penalty should they:
1. Fail to timely renew a nursing license or nurse assistant certificate while continuing to practice nursing or engage in activities or duties related to nursing.
2. Fail to notify the board in writing within thirty days after a change in address.
The law allows the Board to fine a nurse up to $1000.00 for a violation of the actions listed above, however, a fine of that amount is highly unlikely. For failure to notify the Board of a change of address a nurse would likely receive a warning or nominal fine.
The Board has specifically defined the penalty amounts for practicing without a license assuming the nurse did not intend to deceive the Board by not renewing in a timely manner.
For RN/LPN’s the fines range from $100-500.00. However, the Board will refer the nurse’s employer to the Arizona Department of Health Services (“DHS”) if the nurse is more than two months late in renewing their license. Obviously, no employer likes to be referred to the DHS, so a nurse must be careful that they aren’t sanctioned by their employer as well.
For CNA’s the fines range from $25-75.00. As with RN/LPN’s the Board will refer the nurse’s employer to the DHS if the nurse is more than two months late in renewing their license.
So, Arizona nurses must be careful and renew their licenses on time! Failure to do so could not only open them up to administrative fines, but could also put their employer in jeopardy as well.
If you have any questions about Arizona Board of Nursing Administrative violations contact Arizona Attorney Robert Chelle.
