The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) has been receiving complaints from nurses that they were being suspended or terminated by employers for lack of current registration. The reason for such action was that the nurse for a variety of reasons had not completed registration of professional licensure by the end date of the current registration period.
The facilities taking such action were concerned that if they let the nurses work that the facility would be found deficient in meeting the standard for nurse registration by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). NYSNA discussed this situation with both the State Education Department (SED) and the Department of Health (DOH).
Subsequently, DOH sent the attached communication (.pdf format; Adobe Acrobat Reader required) to JCAHO clarifying that it is unnecessary to remove nursing staff from duties due to any delay in the processing of the nurse’s registration.
For questions related to this alert, contact Education, Practice and Research: 518.782.9400, ext. 282