Working in the health-care field in Minnesota is a rewarding and challenging career, but also one the state retains a vested interest in, as the state is concerned for the health care of its residents. As such, the state has established 18 health-care field licensing boards to oversee the professionals who work in a wide variety of disciplines.
Normally the licensing process is a matter of filling out the proper paperwork and providing your proof of education, continuing education, etc., and awaiting for your license to arrive. But sometimes a professional licensing board will receive information that causes it to deny or threaten to revoke a professional license.
If you find yourself in this situation, your career and livelihood could be in danger. You don’t want to face what could become a complex situation alone. You need to hire an attorney with experience in professional license defense to ensure the best outcome in your case.
LICENSE APPLICATION
If your application for a professional license has been denied, the board apparently discovered something during a background check or from witnesses that caused the denial.
An experienced license defense attorney can dig into that background and determine if the board received false information or if there were extenuating circumstances that the board did not consider that could lead it to reverse course and grant your license.
DON’T FACE MINNESOTA PROFESSIONAL LICENSING BOARD ALONE
Health-care workers deal with dozens of patients and medical staff members daily, and frequently false information can be generated through some kind of misunderstanding or malicious behavior from another person that can find its way to the regulatory board.
“Did you hear what Jane Doe did? She must be on drugs.” This, unfortunately, is a common phrase someone might overhear in any office setting, but one that can be misinterpreted by a passer-by. These kinds of rumors, particularly if someone has a grudge against you, can grow out of proportion and make their way to a licensing board.
When confronted with such an allegation, the licensed individual often reacts defensively and could unwittingly say something incriminating. It’s best at this point to have a defense attorney at your side to quickly set the record straight, clear your name and make sure you keep your license and your job.
Events in your personal life also can make their way into the record and affect your professional license. Let’s say police are called to your residence for a domestic disturbance and they decide to take you and your spouse to jail to cool off. Maybe no charges result from the incident, but the arrest itself can become part of your record.
Or you’re involved in a fender-bender and the officer suspects you of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Again, maybe nothing becomes of the case, but you still have an arrest to defend before the professional licensing board.
Professional mistakes also happen, despite our best efforts to avoid them. You’ve pulled a double shift and are running on little or no sleep. You make a mistake with a patient’s medication. Fortunately, the patient is unharmed, but your career could be threatened when the licensing board learns of the mistake.
In cases such as this that have some grounding in fact, an attorney can help mitigate the punishment and get your license reinstated as quickly as possible so you can continue to work in the health-care field.
If you are facing either a license denial or possible suspension or revocation of your license, contact us immediately and let our experienced attorneys move quickly to resolve your case and ensure you can continue to work in the health-care business in Minnesota.