NEWS
ProPublica Discusses The BRN’s Diversion Program
ProPublica is the public watchdog group that incited public outcry last year with their piece on the Board of Registered Nursing:
Loose Reins on Nurses in the Drug Abuse Program
by Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein, ProPublica: Nov, 2009.
Diversion, embraced in various forms by many regulators, is intended to protect both professionals and the public.
[2] enroll voluntarily, sometimes after a complaint, sometimes before they land in trouble. They agree to a host of conditions, such as submitting to random drug tests, seeking treatment and pledging not to work without permission.
In return, the board suspends the disciplinary process, keeping secret the nurses’ participation in the program. With an annual diversion budget of nearly $3 million, it relies on an outside contractor to run the program day to day.