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Nursing board proposes schedule changes to clear hearing backlog, seeks public members
Summary
The board proposed keeping the full membership on the first Wednesday and running two simultaneous hearings on the third Wednesday using breakout rooms to address summary-suspension backlogs; members also noted three public-member vacancies and at least one LPN opening.
The state nursing board on Feb. 4 proposed changes to how it schedules disciplinary hearings in an effort to reduce backlog and ensure due process for respondents. Chair Gina Reiners told members the board has struggled to assemble hearing panels and has seen ‘‘several summary suspensions’’ that require prompt hearings.
"So what we're proposing is that the first Wednesday of the month that we have our meeting, that we all are we all stay on, that we have a hearing," Reiners said, describing a plan to start hearings after the board’s regular meeting on the first Wednesday and to split the third Wednesday into two simultaneous hearings using breakout rooms so the board can run more matters in a month.
Reiners said the board needs at least three members for a panel and hopes to preserve a quorum of five for full-board hearings. Under the proposal, the third Wednesday would keep summary-suspension review from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and run breakout hearings from about 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Board members said scheduling and member availability are the main obstacles. Salvatore Diaz urged the board to consider member burdens, noting volunteers, educators and working professionals already find two full hearing days difficult. Reiners said the group will reassess the new cadence after several months and coordinate with prosecutors and hearing officers before implementing the change.
Reiners also raised board staffing: she said there are three public-member vacancies and an LPN vacancy on the panel and asked members to recruit community candidates who are not nurses. "Please, if you know somebody... there is an area we can apply," Reiners said.
The board plans to trial the schedule adjustments and reassess in April, depending on coordination with Department of Public Health staff and attorneys.
