Nurses, Midwives, and Psychiatric Technicians

Defending Your Nursing License

Simas & Associates, Ltd., has years of experience providing nursing license defense and representation for Nurses, Midwives, and Psychiatric Technicians throughout the state of California. As one of California's leading healthcare and professional licensing defense law firms, we have helped hundreds of Registered Nurses (RN), Nurse Practitioners (NP), Certified Nurse Midwives (CNM), Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVN), Psychiatric Technicians (Psych Tech), and Nursing Assistants (NA).

We have years of experience serving as an attorney for nurses who need assistance obtaining or defending their nursing licenses. Issues for which we have represented each nursing type include allegations of drug diversion, DUI, other impairment allegations, failure to report convictions or discipline, nursing practice act violations, consumer complaints, negligence claims, and criminal matters. We also assist nurses with obtaining the appropriate nursing license or certification with the two licensing agencies in the state of California: the Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) and the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians (BVNPT).

Our nursing license defense attorneys regularly represent nurses before both Boards of Nursing, the office of administrative hearings, and in state courts by way of writs of mandate. And in defending a license, one is often also defending a nurse's employment. Fortunately, we have a robust employment law practice doing just that.

Why Nurses Need Legal Counsel

The consequences of violating the portions of the California Code of Regulations and the Business and Professions Code related to nursing are severe and can lead to fines, suspension, and even revocation. In addition, any violation of law deemed substantially related to the profession can also have an impact on the viability of your license application or actual license.

With the present media climate in California regarding health care competency, the two Boards, the Department of Consumer Affairs, and the Attorney General’s office are all on heightened alert of controlled substance abuse and even a suggestion of incompetent practice. All have increased their regulatory oversight of the profession of bursing in order to meet the demand of the public. Recently, we have seen an increase in all of the following types of allegations:

• Failure to disclose criminal history on application
• Failure to introduce evidence of rehabilitation, character, and mitigation at time of application or at hearing
• Drug or alcohol abuse
• History of deficiencies in mental health
• Record-keeping violations

Experienced Healthcare and Professional Licensing Attorneys

As a result, we have provided counsel to nurses as they prepare their applications and helped them challenge denials after the filing of a statement of issues. We have also advised all nursing types as they face  investigations, accusations, and interim suspension orders. Our nursing license defense lawyers have many years of experience representing all nursing licensees and applicants in settlement negotiations and administrative hearings.

What sets Simas & Associates, Ltd., apart from other law firms is our vast range of experience in other areas of the law that cover nurses. We have experience in Employment Law and Contract Law and negotiation. We have experience in expert witness retention and alternative dispute resolution. As for license defense, our specialized practice in Writs of Mandate allow us to pursue another level of appeal or review in situations where we believe the Office of Administrative Hearings, BRN, or BVNPT has not given our client a fair shake.