Whether you are a patient who has received inadequate care or a coworker noticing a pattern of destructive behavior, a time may occur when you find it necessary to report a nurse to the Indiana Board of Nursing. The Board, along with the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency and the Indiana Attorney General’s Office, have many resources for any person to file a complaint. 

Contact our Indiana Board of Nursing Attorney

For Consumers (General Public)

Whether you’re a patient or other patron you may find yourself looking to report a nurse. You have a choice with who to file your complaint with either the Board of Nursing or directly with the Attorney General’s Office. 

If contacting the Board of Nursing, they can be reached via email at pla2@pla.in.gov or by phone at 317-234-2043. For further questions attempting to contact the Board, please reference a recent blog we made here. 

If contacting the Attorney General’s office directly, there are several means for a person to file a complaint. First, you can either access a printable consumer complaint form or an online version on the Attorney Generals website here. You can fill this form out with all of the details of your complaint. If you need additional support accessing a form, you can reach the Attorney general’s office by phone at either 1.800.382.5516 or 317.232.6330. You can also file a Do Not Call/Text complaint here . 

Additional Tips for Filling Out a Consumer Complaint

To make sure your complaint is heard and processed, the Office of the Attorney General has several tips including:

• A consumer transaction (such as a purchase) must have occurred before our office can investigate a complaint.
• If you have documents to support your claim, it is important that you send copies of them to us. Please do not send original documents.
• Our office will contact you by mail as your complaint progresses through the process. Please allow adequate time for our office to notify you.
• You may be referred to another agency. Often another local, state, or federal agency will have the legal authority or more expertise than our office to handle a particular consumer problem.

For Non-Consumers/Coworkers

For those wishing to file a complaint but have no commercial transaction attached to their report, it is best to reach the Indiana Board of Nursing to make sure your complaint is heard. Reference to our previous page regarding contacting the Board here.

If you’re a nurse who has received a DUI you’re probably asking yourself questions about self-reporting. Specifically, do you have to report a DUI to the Indiana Board of Nursing? Nurses with a DUI may wonder what implications will this have on my career and how do I move forward?

Contact an Indiana Board of Nursing Attorney

If a nurse receives a DUI charge, they have to report it to the board once their license comes up for renewal. In the case of the Indiana Nursing Board, the license renewal form has six questions that may involve a DUI. 

These questions include:

1. Since you last renewed, has any health professional license, certificate, registration or permit you hold or have held been disciplined or are formal charges pending?
2. Since you last renewed, have you been denied a license, certificate, registration, or permit in any state?
3. Since you last renewed, and except for minor violations of traffic laws resulting in fines and arrests or convictions that have been expunged by a court, have you been arrested, entered into a diversion agreement, been convicted of, pled guilty to, or pled nolo contender to any offense, misdemeanor, or felony in any state? 
4. Since you last renewed have you had a malpractice judgment against you or settled a malpractice action? 
5. Have you been reprimanded, disciplined, demoted or terminated in the scope of your practice or as another health care professional? 
6. Since you last renewed have you been excluded from being a Medicare or Medicaid provider? 

If an applicant’s answer to any of these questions is “yes” then they will need to appear before the board. Additionally, the result may be a mandatory or regulatory referral to the Indiana State Nursing Assistance Program (ISNAP). 

Indiana State Nursing Assistance Program

The Indiana State Nursing Assistance Program or ISNAP is a free of charge program for nurses struggling from substance abuse that helps them find solutions for recovery while allowing them to continue working. 

In order to continue working, however, a nurse must sign up for ISNAP via voluntary admission or self-referral. Those admitted via mandatory admission by the board may face license suspension. They can even be prevented from working as a nurse. Nurses who can work during their time with ISNAP are monitored and are able to remain working as long as they remain compliant with the program. 

Contact Information for ISNAP

To best reach a member of ISNAP, they recommend calling their toll-free number at 844-687-7309. Additionally, a monthly informational newsletter can be subscribed to by email at info@INPRP.org . 

Chelle Law Assists With Self-Reporting

If you’re a nurse in Indiana who needs assistance or if you have questions about how to report a DUI to the Indiana Board of Nursing, contact Chelle Law today.

Like 31 other states, Indiana, requires those applying for licenses to submit a “national criminal background check.” Prospective nurses with a felony or criminal conviction may wonder if this will keep them from being employed. There is hope, however, as the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency has discretion to either approve an application with no further action or request an individual’s appearance before the board to gather more information.

Contact an Indiana Board of Nursing Attorney

Indiana Professional Licensing Agency Criminal Background Hearings

Individuals set to have a hearing in front of the board may be asking what steps they need to take. In addition to requesting an appearance, the PLA may request additional information regarding the criminal activity or related documentation. Applicant’s who don’t have these items on hand can obtain them from the court or law enforcement agency who processed the matter. Further, the PLA can also require applicants write a statement explaining how the offense was resolved.

Expungement

Nurses who seek a professional license in Indiana can have previous offenses expunged from their criminal history. Applicants can do this by petitioning the local court or  through private legal counsel. Once a court grants a petition the file is expunged or sealed. The court will send the files to the Indiana State Police Expungement Section and they will comply with the order. Afterwards, you can apply for a nursing license and it will likely be approved with no further investigation.

Legal Representation

If you have been denied clearance for a license from a board criminal background check, contact Chelle Law for assistance. We help with ensuring  all related court documents are collected and any statement you write is complete. Obtaining an attorney with experience will help you with presenting your case in the most favorable way. They can help you in obtaining your license and getting on with your career.

If you have questions about Indiana Board Criminal Background Checks and would like to learn more about the services we offer, contact Chelle Law today.