You have received a Notice of Disciplinary Hearing from the Missouri Board of Nursing. This is the scene you will encounter.
How will you appear at your Hearing?
There are several options for the nurse. I strongly recommend personally appearing in Jefferson City. The Board likely wants to see you face-to-face. That way, the members can experience your demeanor, and get to know your statements and reactions to the alleged incident(s). You want to demonstrate that you understand the seriousness of the Hearing. After all, your livelihood is at stake. Nursing is a profession that is only entered into with many hours of hard study, and a lot of dollars. Do not risk it.
You may contact the Board of Nursing in advance and ask if they will accommodate your request to appear either virtually (Zoom), or on the telephone (audio only). I do not recommend these options unless you are physically unable to be present in Jefferson City.
There is the exceedingly bad option of ignoring the Hearing altogether. This deprives the Board of listening to your explanation, and means the Board will only hear evidence from its own lawyer. Its decision will be made based on its own evidence. Remember, the Hearing would not have been set unless it appeared there was a cause to discipline your nursing license.
What you will see when you arrive
The hearing room is rather large. When you enter, the back half of the room will have folding chairs in rows. There may be other nurses waiting for their turn, witnesses, even a bus load full of nursing students, observing the cases.
The front of the room contains a large square of tables. The far end of the square, against the wall, usually is occupied by the Board President, who presides over the hearing, a paralegal or administrative assistant, and one of the Board’s lawyers, who is acting as the legal advisor for the hearing.
On the 2 tables extending along the right and left sides of the square are other Board members.
On the end of the square closest to you, facing the Board President, will be the Board’s lawyer who is presenting the case, and a paralegal on the left half. In the middle will be a court reporter who types down the questions and answers during the Hearing. On the right half of the table will be the licensee and hopefully, a lawyer. Of course I strongly advise a lawyer, for the reasons stated above.
What is the Hearing Procedure?
The Board’s legal advisor will ask if there are any preliminary matters, and once they are resolved, the Board’s lawyer and licensee’s lawyer will be asked it they wish to make an opening statement. Following that, The Board’s lawyer will introduce into the record all of the evidence it wishes to present. This would be live witness testimony, and also documents. My experience is in the vast majority of hearings, the Board’s evidence is based on documents only. In that case, it will be the licensee’s turn for evidence within about 5 minutes. Generally, the Board wants the Hearing to be done within one hour.
Now it is the nurse’s turn to present evidence. I have always called my client as the first witness. We will have prepared for the hearing, and I will ask the questions (direct examination). When I am finished, it will be the Board’s lawyer asking you questions (cross examination). Following that, any individual Board member may ask you questions. When they are finished, I am permitted to ask you questions that I believe will clarify any issues that came up during cross examination. The cycle continues until all questions have been answered. That’s it. We walk out. I debrief you, and we will be notified in the future of the Board’s Decision and Order. We will not know what happens on that date.
Questions? Call me.