Petition For Reinstatement Of Nursing License ~ Texas Board Of Nursing (BON)

If your nursing license has been suspended or revoked, or if you’ve voluntarily surrendered your license, you can apply to the Texas Board of Nursing (BON) for a reinstatement of your license.After waiting at least one year after your license was suspended, revoked, or surrendered, you can begin the process of reinstating your nursing license by filling out a “Petition For Reinstatement Of Nursing License” form and submitting it to the nursing board. In most cases, you’ll also be required to provide supporting documentation. These documents could include: letters of reference, verification of continuing education, proof of completion of an alcohol or drug treatment program, or court documents related to a criminal offense.

Once the nursing board has received your petition for reinstatement, it could respond in several ways:

• the board could approve your petition and reinstate your nursing license
• the board could impose conditions that need to be satisfied before your nursing license can be reinstated
• the board could reissue your nursing license with a limited practice designation or with stipulations
• the board could deny your petition and set a time that has to elapse before you can file another reinstatement petition

When the board is reviewing your petition for reinstatement, it will typically consider:

• what led to the suspension, revocation, or surrender of your nursing license and how much time has elapsed since this occurred
• your conduct since your nursing license was suspended, revoked, or surrendered
• whether you’ve complied with all of the conditions the board imposed as a requirement for the reissuance of your nursing license
• your qualifications to practice nursing (based on your nursing work history and education)

These are the typical steps in the nursing license reinstatement process in Texas:

• you file a petition for reinstatement with the nursing board
• the nursing board mails you a proposed Reinstatement Agreement Order, or it schedules an informal conference
• you attend the informal conference, (which isn’t open to the public), and you can invite people to speak on your behalf, including an attorney
• the panel at the informal conference makes a recommendation (to approve or deny your petition for reinstatement)
• if the panel recommends that your nursing license be reinstated, the board will send you an Agreed Order, which you need to sign and return to the BON office
• the Agreed Order is presented to the nursing board, which can approve or reject it (if the board rejects it, you can request a public hearing or re-petition for reinstatement)
• if the panel at the informal conference recommends that your reinstatement request be denied, you can request a public hearing before an Administrative Law Judge.

With so much riding on the outcome, the nursing license reinstatement process can be time-consuming, confusing, and overwhelming.

To successfully have your nursing license reinstated, you’ll need to adequately address any concerns that the board might have and be able to show that you can competently practice as a nurse. While you might be tempted to go it alone, you could benefit from having a nurses attorney on your side. We can help you with all of the steps in the license reinstatement process, from the petition reinstatement application to final resolution.

Kevin Keaney has more than 30 years experience as an attorney and is a member of The American Association of Nurse Attorneys (TAANA). Before becoming an attorney, Kevin earned his BSN from the University of Texas at Austin and worked as a nurse for four years.

For more information about a petition for reinstatement of a nursing license, or to schedule a free consultation with a nurses attorney, please call (512) 829-5619.

Note that a reinstatement of a nursing license is different than a reactivation of a nursing license (which needs to be done if your license has been inactive).

Located in the Austin area, our law office represents nurses from all across Texas, including: Houston, Dallas, El Paso, San Antonio, Lubbock, and Amarillo.