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Legislation allows Connecticut nursing board to use DPH hearing officers and three-member panels for hearings
Summary
A recent law gives the Board of Nursing two new options for disciplinary hearings: DPH hearing officers for cases that don’t require nursing expertise and three-member board panels for cases that do. The board would still review proposed decisions before final action.
A provision passed in the most recent legislative session lets the Connecticut Board of Nursing use Department of Public Health (DPH) hearing officers or three-member board panels to conduct disciplinary hearings, board legal staff told members.
The change adds two optional procedures to the existing process in which the entire board hears cases. Attorney Ryan Burns, deputy legal director for the DPH hearing office, told the board the new options are not mandatory but intended to reduce member time commitments and help preserve the quality of hearing records for potential appeals. “These are options for the board to use. They’re not mandates,” Burns said.
Why it matters: Board members have repeatedly said full-day hearing calendars make it hard to recruit and retain members. DPH and the AG’s office framed the change as a way to shift administrative burden to staff trained to conduct hearings while preserving the board’s final decision-making authority.
How each option would work: under the…
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