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Report says New York behind other states in nurse oversight

Apr 08, 2016 12:02 am
Jessica Huseman, Rosalind Adams and Daniela Porat report for ProPublica in The Albany Times-Union that New York is an exception to the rule in nursing. "Over the past 15 years nursing boards across the country have taken steps to tighten oversight of nurses, screening applicants more extensively before issuing licenses and instituting swifter, tougher sanctions for problem licensees. Not New York," they write in a long investigation. Nursing applicants do not undergo simple background checks or submit fingerprints in New York like many other states. The Office of the Professions, the regulating body, often takes no action when it finds out that other states or other New York agencies have disciplined New York nurses. New York does not do much disciplining of nurses either. In 2014, fewer than 350 licensees, which works out to 1 in 1,190 were penalized, while Ohio disciplined 1 in 167, and California 1 in 325. Read the full story from ProPublica in The Albany Times-Union.