Your psychiatric technician or vocational nursing license being investigated or being subject to possible disciplinary action can be incredibly frightening and stressful. Your career and livelihood are at stake. However, you do not have to navigate the problem alone. Hiring a skilled attorney can make a significant difference. At San Jose License Attorney, we will help you understand your legal options and rights if your professional license is in jeopardy.

The Mission of the Psychiatric Technician and Vocational Nursing Regulatory Body of California

California’s BVNPT (Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians) licenses competent and qualified psychiatric technicians and vocational nurses. The board's primary objective is to ensure the highest quality patient care. It protects patients, consumers, and the public from vocational nurses and psychiatric technicians’ unsafe and unprofessional practices. Apart from licensure, the BVNPT has several other responsibilities, including:

  • Prescribing regulations that govern the vocational nursing and psychiatric technician practice,
  • Setting the requirements for vocational nurses and psychiatric technicians exams and licensure
  • Setting up educational standards for schools in California offering psychiatric technician and vocational nursing programs
  • Overseeing psychiatric technician and vocational nursing programs,
  • Adopting rules and regulations that outline the disciplinary practice, and performance standards for vocational nurses and psychiatric technicians
  • Enforcing state regulations that govern the approval of vocational nursing and psychiatric technician schools in California
  • Enforcing laws and regulations that govern psychiatric technicians and vocational nurses through the investigations of complaints
  • Disciplining psychiatric technicians and vocational nurses guilty of professional misconduct.

The board consists of eleven members, six of whom are members of the general public and five of whom are members of the medical community (psychiatric technicians and vocational nurses). The board's regulations are listed under Title 16 of the California Code of Regulations.

You must obtain a valid license to be a vocational nurse or psychiatric technician in California. But before that, you must prevail in an exam. Then, to continue practicing, you must remain in good standing and maintain your license.

The BVNPT License Disciplinary Process

Several steps are involved in the BVNPT disciplinary process. These are:

Complaint

The board can receive a complaint against you from a patient, the patient's family, colleagues, supervisors, or police agencies. Generally, there is no restriction on who may complain against a psychiatric technician or vocational nurse. Per California statute, licensed vocational nurses or psychiatric technicians must report their colleagues to the BVNPT if they learn they have engaged in professional misconduct. A complaint can be brought anonymously, which could be upsetting since you will be unsure who made the allegations or their reasons for doing it.

Apart from receiving a complaint from a party or report from other vocational nurses or psychiatric technicians, the board can also obtain information that may justify an investigation from a criminal court, civil court, media reports, other licensing bodies, et cetera.

Whereas not every patient will be content with the healthcare provider, the BVNPT encourages aggrieved parties to bring complaints only in particular situations. It states that a patient can bring a complaint if:

  • They have faced any kind of abuse.
  • They are a sexual misconduct victim.
  • Have been attended to by a psychiatric technician or vocational nurse who was alcohol- or drug-impaired.
  • Have been treated negligently.
  • Have been treated in a way that questions the vocational nurse or psychiatric technician’s professional conduct or competence.

You are entitled to know whenever someone has filed a complaint against you. Thus, the board will notify you shortly after it receives the complaint. Once you learn of a complaint against you, call an attorney immediately. Even if the complaint seems false, ridiculous, and brought by a dissatisfied colleague or patient, you want to take it seriously, as it may threaten your career, livelihood, and reputation.

While you might think the complaint has no basis, the BVNPT does not and has adequate resources to pursue disciplinary action against you. Remember, the board is in place to safeguard consumers and not you. Therefore, you should have someone on your side who should be a lawyer.

Once the BVNPT receives the complaint, it reviews it to establish whether it has authority over the issue and whether the complaint alleges misconduct, breaking any regulations or laws governing vocational nurses or psychiatric technicians. If the complaint satisfies these requirements, the board will initiate an investigation by assigning your case to its investigator.

Investigations

The BVNPT investigations into the complaint of supposed unprofessional conduct will center on gathering facts. If the complaint was not filed anonymously, the investigator may contact the complainant to interview and interrogate them and possibly request more evidence to support their accusations against you. Also, the investigator would interview and interrogate you, any witnesses, and relevant parties like your colleagues and supervisor.

The investigator might also gather documentation like the patient’s medical records (if the patient filed the complaint and, of course, with their permission), work performance reviews, and all other material relevant to your case. If there are photos, videos, or other related evidence, they will retrieve them at this stage.

Initial Determinations

Once the investigation ends, the board decides whether you violated any regulations or laws. If it determines you did not commit an act that justifies disciplinary action, it will dismiss your case immediately. If it determines you committed a violation, it will impose discipline against you. In this case, the board can take informal or formal disciplinary action. Informal discipline applies to minor violations. In this case, your license will not be restricted in any way. Prevalent informal disciplinary actions the board can take include:

  • Fine or citation
  • Private reprimand
  • Letter of admonishment
  • Notice of Warning
  • Notice of violation letter
  • Referral for criminal action
  • The requirement to enroll in a remediation program

The board will pursue formal discipline if your violation is severe, including probation and license revocation or suspension.

With formal discipline, the board escalates your matter to the attorney general’s office, which serves as the board's lawyer. The deputy attorney general will then draw up an official document known as a Statement of Issues (if you are an applicant) or an Accusation (if you are a license holder) mentioning the intent to impose discipline against you.

Once you are served with either of these documents, you must either agree to the discipline the board seeks to impose or demand an administrative hearing to fight against the accusations. If you plan to accept the disciplinary action, then there is no need to respond to the document. However, if you plan to defend yourself, you must respond to the document by filing a Notice of Defense with the board in 15 days.

If you fail to file your response in 15 days, the board will impose its intended disciplinary action by default. Once you respond to the Statement of Issues or Accusation, your case will be scheduled for an administrative hearing at one of the Offices of Administrative Hearings (OAH) in San Diego, Sacramento, Oakland, and Los Angeles.

Administrative Hearings

Administrative proceedings are presided over by an ALJ (administrative law judge). These hearings are a serious matter. Even though these are not like the typical court hearings, they resemble each other procedurally. Just like you should not legally represent yourself before a criminal court, do not represent yourself during an administrative proceeding. While you will not be in court, many procedures and rules must be firmly followed during and before an administrative proceeding. Therefore, you should have a lawyer to guide you through the process.

During the proceedings, your lawyer will present witness testimony and evidence, conduct cross-examinations, and submit other relevant materials to defend your reputation and license aggressively. The attorney general's office will present arguments on behalf of the board.

Once the hearing ends, the judge deliberates and ultimately writes a recommendation to the BVNPT. The judge can agree that the board imposed the initial discipline it had intended or propose another action. Eventually, the board enjoys the discretion to determine what discipline to impose; it can accept, modify, or reject the judge's proposal.

Appealing the Board’s Decision

If the BVNPT unfairly imposes discipline against your license, you can appeal its decision. Appeals are official legal actions and are brought before the court. You want to have a lawyer representing you at this point.

You could appeal the decision of the board to a superior court. If you are not content with the outcome, you can proceed to the appellate court, and if the court of appeals does not give a satisfying outcome, you can move to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court’s decision on your case will be final, as it is the highest-ranked court. Note that appealing your case does not entail the introduction of new evidence or hearing the case afresh. Judges only review the ALJ’s records to determine whether there were procedural mistakes.

The entire disciplinary process may be lengthy. It is common for it to take many months, and it could even take more than a year if you decide to appeal the board's decision. Having a lawyer ensures you are protected throughout the process.

Common Grounds for Board Disciplinary Action

The board may initiate an investigation into a psychiatric technician or vocational nursing license for several reasons. Common ones include:

  • Negligence—Per the board, negligence happens when the behavior of a competent licensee is a significant deviation from the standards of care, which, given similar circumstances, an ordinary, careful licensee would behave otherwise, and this deviation could or did cause harm upon a patient. Prevalent instances of negligence are failing to respond to a patient immediately, administration of the wrong medicine, failing to report a patient's status change, or hurting a patient with medical equipment.

  • Incompetence—The BVNPT describes incompetence as lacking the possession and failing to exercise the degree of skill, care, learning, and experience an ordinary and responsible licensee should possess. Incompetence is prevalent when vocational nurses or psychiatric technicians lack enough training, leading them not to know how to do some tasks and do them incorrectly.

  • Substance abuse—Problems with alcohol or drug abuse, whether on the job or in your personal life, often result in a disciplinary process.

  • Serious criminal convictions—Not all convictions can result in a disciplinary process. Generally, only severe convictions will trigger disciplinary proceedings. The serious offense must be substantially related to a vocational nursing or psychiatric technician's duties, functions, and qualifications. Convictions that can trigger disciplinary actions are those for alcohol or drug offenses, sex crimes, financial crimes, and violent crimes. Even an arrest without conviction might result in the board taking action.

  • Sexual misconduct—Being involved in inappropriate behavior with a patient, even consensual conduct, will result in disciplinary action.

  • Fraud—Falsifying records, fraudulent billing practices, insurance fraud, and identity theft can trigger board investigations.

  • Professional misconduct—Breaching confidentiality, offensive comments, rude behavior, and other unprofessional actions expose you to discipline.

A single complaint does not necessarily imply the board will impose discipline against your license. However, several complaints on the same issue will draw attention from the board. A skilled attorney can assist you if you are concerned about a complaint against you.

How a Lawyer Can Help You

A skilled license defense attorney can offer invaluable help if you face discipline or are under investigation. Here are the ways they can help:

  • Guiding you throughout the disciplinary process—The disciplinary process can be complex and difficult to navigate alone. Your lawyer can simplify it by explaining every step and providing expert legal guidance.
  • Investigating independently—Your attorney will thoroughly probe the accusations against you and gather evidence, documents, and witness statements to develop a compelling case.
  • Negotiating with the board—Your lawyer will help negotiate a fair resolution to lessen the severity of the disciplinary action. If negotiations fail, the lawyer will vigorously defend you during the hearing.
  • Arguing your defense—During the administrative proceedings, your lawyer will argue your defense, object to the board's evidence, cross-examine eyewitnesses and strive to have the board dismiss or reduce the charges.
  • Appealing where necessary—If you are discontent with the hearing’s outcome, your attorney will counsel you on whether or not you can appeal the decision and handle the process for you.
  • Guiding you on compliance—If the board imposes discipline, your lawyer can ensure you comprehend and adhere to reinstatement requirements, probation terms, et cetera.

Find a Knowledgeable Professional License Defense Attorney Near Me

Having your psychiatric technician or vocational nursing license and investigation or facing disciplinary action can place your career, reputation, and livelihood at risk. The process can be complex and overwhelming. However, you do not have to navigate it on your own.

At San Jose License Attorney, we boast extensive experience and knowledge representing psychiatric technicians and vocational nurses before the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians. We understand how these cases go and know how to mount the most compelling defense.

If you are being investigated or face possible discipline due to professional misconduct or other reasons, call us at 408-850-3740 for a case evaluation. We will assist you in understanding your legal options and rights and fighting to obtain the most favorable outcome.