Feature Story

Out of State Nurses

Inept Nurses Free to Work in New Locales

by Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber, ProPublica, and Maloy Moore, Los Angeles Times - December 27, 2009 9:04 am EST

Nursing regulators at the state level fail to effectively tell each other what they know. As a result, caregivers with troubled records can cross state lines and work without restriction, Read More »

Major Stories

When Caregivers Harm: Problem Nurses Stay on the Job as Patients Suffer

by Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber, ProPublica, and Maloy Moore, Los Angeles Times - July 11, 2009 12:17 am EST

The board charged with overseeing California's 350,000 registered nurses often takes years to act on complaints of egregious misconduct, leaving nurses accused of wrongdoing free to practice without restrictions, our joint investigation with The Los Angeles Times found.

Read More »

Loose Reins on Nurses in Drug Abuse Program

by Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein, ProPublica - July 25, 2009 12:31 am EST

For years, nursing board officials have described diversion as a haven where good nurses can kick bad habits – without losing their licenses or their reputations. But spotty oversight of the program allowed nurses who dropped out to continue treating patients, despite being labeled risks to public safety.

Read More »

Temp Firms a Magnet for Unfit Nurses

by Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein, ProPublica - December 5, 2009 7:52 am EST

Emboldened by a chronic nursing shortage and scant regulation, temp nursing firms vie for their share of a free-wheeling, $4-billion industry. Some have become havens for nurses who hopscotch from place to place to avoid the consequences of their misconduct.

Read More »

Schwarzenegger Replaces Most of State Nursing Board

by Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein, ProPublica - July 13, 2009 9:55 pm EST

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger replaced most members of the state Board of Registered Nursing, citing the unacceptable time it takes to discipline nurses accused of egregious misconduct.

Read More »

California Nursing Board Executive Officer Ruth Ann Terry Resigns

by Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber, ProPublica - July 15, 2009 10:31 am EST

The longtime executive officer of the embattled California Board of Registered Nursing resigned Tuesday, ensuring almost entirely new leadership for the agency as it strives to revamp its oversight of hundreds of thousands of caregivers. But the sweeping reforms promised by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this week face significant obstacles.

Read More »

Reform of California Nursing Board’s Discipline System Shows Early Progress

by Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber, ProPublica - October 10, 2009 10:09 pm EST

After moving swiftly to replace the leadership of the Board of Registered Nursing, California officials are revamping practices that had allowed errant nurses to work for years after complaints were filed against them.

Read More »

California Adopts Stricter Rules for Drug Abusers in the Health Industry

by Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber, ProPublica - November 20, 2009 8:47 am EST

California will require health workers who have abused drugs and are in state-run recovery programs to take at least 104 drug tests in their first year.

Read More »

Dozens of Criminal Registered Nurses Identified by California Regulators

by Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein, ProPublica - December 26, 2009 2:10 am EST

Fingerprint checks of thousands of California nurses not previously subject to background checks have turned up dozens of convictions of crimes ranging from petty theft to murder.

Read More »

Ongoing Coverage

Calif. Registered Nursing Board Follows Up on Our Nurses Stories

by Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber, ProPublica - December 26, 2009 1:00 am EST

The California Board of Registered Nursing has taken actions against nurses featured in a series of stories by ProPublica and the Los Angeles Times.

A ‘Crazy’ Way for an Industry to Operate

by Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber, ProPublica - December 5, 2009 9:06 am EST

There's no simple way for a hospital or temp agency to find out if a nurse it might hire has caused problems elsewhere in the United States.

Schwarzenegger Wants Sweeping Reforms in Discipline System for Health Care Providers

by Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein, ProPublica, and Rong-Gong Lin II, Los Angeles Times - August 13, 2009 7:57 am EST

The California governor says the process for policing health professionals is broken, but some of the problems have worsened on his watch.

State Board Seeks Swifter Action Against Errant Nurses

by Michael Finnegan, Los Angeles Times, and Charles Ornstein, ProPublica - July 27, 2009 11:10 pm EST

Managers of the California Board of Registered Nursing seek to more than triple the size of their enforcement staff and immediately boost licensing fees to speed discipline against errant nurses who may pose a danger to patients.

After Nurses Investigation, Scrutiny Turns to Other Calif. Health Boards

by Alexandra Andrews, ProPublica - July 22, 2009 1:55 pm EST

More Nurses Fallout: Head of Investigations Unit Resigns

by Tracy Weber, ProPublica - July 17, 2009 11:27 am EST

Troubled Nursing Board Defends Itself

by Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein, ProPublica - July 13, 2009 2:11 pm EST

Leaders of the California Board of Registered Nursing sent a note of encouragement to their staff following a Los Angeles Times-ProPublica investigation that found the board takes years to act on complaints of egregious misconduct.

Board Takes No Public Action Against Some King/Drew Nurses

by Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber, ProPublica, and Maloy Moore, Los Angeles Times - July 11, 2009 1:04 am EST

Spencer Sullivan: His Body a Prison

by Tracy Weber, ProPublica - July 11, 2009 1:00 am EST

Today Spencer Sullivan, 48, spends his days in a wheelchair at his Laguna Hills home. In 2001, after neck surgery at UC San Francisco Medical Center, two doctors gave similar orders for powerful medications. Instead of questioning the duplication, a nurse gave Sullivan all of the drugs, then didn't check on him as required, state records allege.

Many California Health Workers Not Checked for Criminal Pasts

by Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber - December 29, 2008 9:25 pm EST

California's failure to check the criminal backgrounds of health professionals extends well beyond nurses, encompassing tens of thousands of doctors, dentists, psychiatric technicians and therapists. As many as a third of the state's 937,100 licensed healthcare workers have not been screened through fingerprint checks, according to a December 2008 estimate.

Board Knew of Nurses’ Criminal Records But Took Years to Act

by Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber, ProPublica - November 1, 2008 11:10 pm EST

Even in cases when vocational nurses reported their own felony convictions, the vocational nursing board failed to act in a timely manner.

California Nursing Board Will Require Fingerprints From All Licensees

by Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber, ProPublica - October 24, 2008 11:00 am EST

The California Board of Registered Nursing approved emergency regulations requiring all licensees to submit fingerprints shortly after a Los Angeles Times/ProPublica story revealed that dozens of convicted criminals had kept their licenses for years.

Criminal Past Is No Bar to Nursing in California

by Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber, ProPublica - October 4, 2008 8:20 am EST

Dozens of nurses convicted of crimes, including sex offenses and attempted murder, have remained fully licensed to practice in California for years before the state nursing board acted against them. In some cases, nurses with felony records continue to have spotless licenses – even while serving time behind bars.

Spencer Sullivan

Our July 2009 joint investigation with the Los Angeles Times uncovered broad breakdowns in California’s regulation of registered nurses. The Board of Registered Nursing took more than three years, on average, to investigate and discipline errant nurses. It failed to act against nurses whose misconduct already had been thoroughly documented and sanctioned by others. And the board gave probation to hundreds of nurses – ordering monitoring and work restrictions – then failed to crack down as many landed in trouble again and again.

Interactive Database

The Los Angeles Times and ProPublica compiled a database of nearly 2,400 California nurses who have been disciplined since 2002. See how many nurses were disciplined in each year, including the reasons for their sanctions and the length of time it took for the judicial process to complete. Search the database.

Chart

California takes far longer to discipline registered nurses than many other large states. Because of this slow pace, nurses can land in trouble again and again. More than 60 nurses were accused of serious misconduct or mistakes by three or more employers before the nursing board took action.

View a graphic detailing the long disciplinary process.

Fallout: Days after our July 2009 investigation ran, most of the California Board of Registered Nursing either resigned or were removed by the governor's office. The board's executive officer, Ruth Ann Terry, and the head of investigations for the state's Department of Consumer Affairs also resigned.

An interactive graphic about the former board.

Subscribe to This Story's Feed

Our Partners

Los Angeles Times

See the Los Angeles Times' coverage »

Want to know more about this series? Send your questions to the reporters here.

Multimedia

Audio Slideshow: Stricken at Birth

Caitlin Greenwell's family alleges that she suffers from cerberal palsy because nurses neglected to monitor her during her birth.

Audio Slideshow

Document Dive

Read official documents relating to the California Board of Registered Nursing and responses to our work.

Board of Registered Nursing Enforcement Division Process Improvements, July 9, 2009

Enforcement Report on the Board of Registered Nursing, July 27, 2009

Gov. Schwarzenegger Issues Statement on Backlog at DCA Boards, Aug. 12, 2009

Creating a Seamless Enforcement Program for Consumer Boards, Aug. 12, 2009


© Copyright 2010 Pro Publica Inc.

FREE REPRINTS

 Unless otherwise noted, you can republish our articles and graphics (but not our photographs) for free. You just have to credit us and link to us, and you can’t edit our material or sell it separately. (We're licensed under Creative Commons, which provides the legal details.)