No one ever has become a nurse so that they can sit to document all the care they provided to their patients.  Yet, documentation is one of the most important parts of our practice.  As much as any of you may dislike documentation, it serves a very important purpose to protect your license and your livelihood as well as protecting you if a medical malpractice claim should arise. One thing nurses seldom realize is that when they late chart or enter something in a record which is not timed, an … [Read more...]

I don’t know what it’s like in other states, but when Indiana went to electronic license renewal, they no longer sent reminders of license renewal to health care professionals. Some would get an e-mail and sometimes it would go to spam. Who knows? Every even numbered year, by October 31st, licensed practical nurses in Indiana had to renew their licenses while registered nurses were required do so by the same date on the odd numbered years. In our office, we learn every year that somebody … [Read more...]

There are different types of law.  Civil law, which guides us in the civil area of our lives.  Criminal law, which have consequences for your freedom.  There is military law which, obviously, affects those in the armed services of our country.  Lastly, there is administrative law, a subset of civil law which governs bodies such as nursing boards. Statutes that govern administrative law are referred to as the Administrative Procedures Act (“APA”). Or in Indiana, the Indiana Orders and … [Read more...]