How easy is it to lose your nursing license?

Is it something that you worry about day to day? Every move you make could wind up to you losing your license?
Nurses are fond of saying "my license is on the line". It's relatively rare to permanently loose one's license. Having suspensions is more common. Your BON should publish those with suspensions and revocations.Most people loose their license over drugs and alcohol. I've seen a nurse get suspended for a year for giving a medication without an order thinking the doc would back her up....wrong.

I know someone whose license got suspended because she accidentally gave dilaudid rather than the prescribed morphine. The pt ended up coding. I don't know whether the pt lived or not though. She's currently taking refresher nursing courses to get her license back. Her license is suspended for 3 or 4 years. I don't remember exactly.

Quote from Tweety I've seen a nurse get suspended for a year for giving a medication without an order thinking the doc would back her up....wrong.

Whoa I can't even imagine what a struggle it must be like to not be able to practice for a couple of years. At least it wasn't completely taken away though.

do i understand correctly that it is akin to losing your drivers license? every time you get behind the wheel you put it on the line. mixing up meds or texting behind the wheel, both can lead to devastating results. and I would say its better not to dwell on the fact that you can lose either, just drive, or nurse!

What did you do?

It can be suspended or even lost if youdon't pay your federal taxes. I recently just found that out.

i worry daily about losing my license. it takes just one unintended mistake to lose license. we dont use pyxis machine, but medications are inside bubble packs. this one patient is taking oxycontin ir 20mg scheduled two times a day and also same dose of oxycontin 20mg as prn. both packs were next to each other and when patient asked me for prn medicaiton, i almost took medication out of ir packet. when i double checked and found my mistake, my heart almost dropped and realized how easy it is to lose my license for things like this. i know anybody from patient to family to employers can report complaints to the bon. can nurses with suspended license still practice? or is it just with probation?

From what I hear it's hard to lose your license - even if you make a medication error. From what I know, you have to make some sort of error that is SO out of the ordinary that you should have known better no matter what the circumstances. And even considering that, it usually has to be multiple errors (from the cases I've read in California). It's either that or you have to be a drug addict and refuse treatment or relapse over and over again. Just show up, do your best at work, and you don't have to worry about your license. (My nursing instructor said to treat every patient like a brother or sister and you have nothing to worry about)P.S. A nurse at my hospital (this was a few years ago) was deliberating giving medication to a patient (benzos) that were not prescribed. Yes, deliberately - not by accident, but by falsifying paperwork repeatedly. He was fired from the hospital but he still works as an RN with his license. CA seems to be very forgiving.P.S.S. I've had to call physicians at like 1am for an order of tylenol for fever and they have said things like "Why on earth are you calling me at this hour? It's OK to write an order for tylenol and then I'll sign it when I make my rounds tomorrow. Don't call me for this anymore" But I still call them anyway, totally not worth it.

Quote from JomoNurseFrom what I hear it's hard to lose your license - even if you make a medication error. From what I know, you have to make some sort of error that is SO out of the ordinary that you should have known better no matter what the circumstances. And even considering that, it usually has to be multiple errors (from the cases I've read in California). It's either that or you have to be a drug addict and refuse treatment or relapse over and over again. Just show up, do your best at work, and you don't have to worry about your license. (My nursing instructor said to treat every patient like a brother or sister and you have nothing to worry about)P.S. A nurse at my hospital (this was a few years ago) was deliberating giving medication to a patient (benzos) that were not prescribed. Yes, deliberately - not by accident, but by falsifying paperwork repeatedly. He was fired from the hospital but he still works as an RN with his license. CA seems to be very forgiving.P.S.S. I've had to call physicians at like 1am for an order of tylenol for fever and they have said things like "Why on earth are you calling me at this hour? It's OK to write an order for tylenol and then I'll sign it when I make my rounds tomorrow. Don't call me for this anymore" But I still call them anyway, totally not worth it.

Quote from morte[/B]you need to get standing orders for things like this, it is silly to have to call doc in the middle of the noc for this....that said, it must be done until you get the standing orders in place.....

Quote from ms.rni worry daily about losing my license. it takes just one unintended mistake to lose license. we dont use pyxis machine, but medications are inside bubble packs. this one patient is taking oxycontin ir 20mg scheduled two times a day and also same dose of oxycontin 20mg as prn. both packs were next to each other and when patient asked me for prn medicaiton, i almost took medication out of ir packet. when i double checked and found my mistake, my heart almost dropped and realized how easy it is to lose my license for things like this. i know anybody from patient to family to employers can report complaints to the bon. can nurses with suspended license still practice? or is it just with probation?