Appeal the denial! There are probably one of four reasons your RN license was denied during the initial application: you have been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony, you didn’t disclose a conviction when you should have, you are applying for endorsement with past out-of-state license discipline, or you had another license that has been disciplined. We have defended thousands of nurse applicants for all of the above reasons and have a 99% success rate of winning the appeal and getting you your RN license in California.
PRIOR CONVICTION
The Board of Registered Nursing can deny an RN license applicant for the conviction of any misdemeanor, and certainly any felony, especially those that are substantially related to the practice of nursing. The most common are DUI’s, theft, fraud, or assault or battery convictions. Having the conviction expunged will help, but it does not by any means guarantee an unrestricted license. The length of time since the conviction, evidence of rehabilitation, risk of reoccurrence, and letters of recommendation are all critical pieces of mitigating evidence we use to win an RN license denial appeal. We can give you some great pointers and lists of things you can do following a conviction to increase your chances of getting an unrestricted RN license.
FAILURE TO PROPERLY DISCLOSE
This is an ugly-sounding basis for denial because even though you may have made an honest mistake and didn’t disclose an expunged or old conviction, the BRN’s reason for the RN license being denied will be “fraudulent procurement of a license” and accuses you of fraud for lying on your RN license application. This mistake gets made so often because you are under the impression that an expunged conviction “isn’t on your record” or that a ten-year-old conviction “isn’t on your record” and there is no way the BRN will know. Here’s the truth: the BRN will know. As soon as you are Live Scan fingerprinted, the BRN has the same access to your “record” that the Department of Justice and the FBI have. They know everything. On top of that, the BRN is crystal clear on the fact that even expunged convictions or those that are 10 or 15 years or even older, must be disclosed.
If you have been denied for failure to disclose, we can help. Please do not try to handle the appeal on your own at this stage. Your disclosure needs to be done perfectly, the underlying conviction explained and good cause presented for your initial mistake. “Sorry, I didn’t think I had to report it” isn’t going to cut it.
ENDORSEMENT WITH OUT-OF-STATE DISCIPLINE
Nurses licensed in other states may be surprised to find that California’s BRN is much harsher and the slap on the wrist in Colorado needs to be disclosed to CA, and that California’s BRN may very well deny your RN license application. If you are applying for an RN license endorsement in California and you have had your RN license disciplined by another state, please let us help you with your appeal of that denial. Nurses in this situation often give up and stay in the state they are in, not realizing that the CA denial will now count as its own license discipline, giving you 2 strikes against your RN license and one that now has to be disclosed to all other states, including your home state!
OTHER LICENSE DISCIPLINE
Just as with nurses applying for endorsement with out-of-state discipline, another type of license, like an LVN license may have been previously disciplined by the BVNPT, and that can be the basis of your RN license being denied. Also, just like with the endorsement application, if you don’t win your appeal and just decide to work as a LVN, the BRN will count the denial as discipline, you will have to disclose that to the BVNPT and it can and does create a horrible snowball effect. If you are in this situation, please let us help you with your RN license denial appeal.
WHAT YOU CAN AND SHOULD DO TO GET YOUR RN LICENSE
If you are lucky enough to be reading this before you have even submitted your application, you are in great shape! You are far more likely to get your RN license upon application and avoid a denial altogether if you get assistance with the application itself. If you have a past conviction, past discipline in another state, or on another license, let us help you with the application! It is inexpensive and guarantees that you are giving yourself the best possible chance of getting an unrestricted RN license out of the gates, and you can avoid having your RN license denied at all.
If your RN license was already denied, you will definitely want to appeal. A denial all by itself is considered discipline and appeals are tricky, fraught with deadlines, discovery requirements, Hearings before the BRN, and arguing with the Deputy Attorney General assigned to your case. While I cannot promise we can get you your RN license without any restrictions once it has been denied, I CAN promise with 99.9% certainty that we WILL GET YOU YOUR RN LICENSE, and you WILL BECOME A NURSE!