Answering an Ohio Board of Nursing complaint: your response and options

The Notice of Opportunity for Hearing — and your 30 days

When the Board decides to proceed, it issues a Notice of Opportunity for Hearing setting out the specific charges and the statutes involved. You have 30 days to request a hearing in writing. Requesting the hearing preserves all your options; not requesting it can bar you from any defence, letting the Board decide on the investigative findings alone. So the first response is almost always to request the hearing in time, even if you later resolve the case another way.

Option one: a Consent Agreement

Many cases resolve through a Consent Agreement — a negotiated resolution entered in lieu of a hearing. Its terms can span a reprimand, probation or suspension, and conditions such as fines, continuing education, drug screens, evaluations, employer reports and practice or narcotic restrictions. Importantly, there is often room to negotiate the terms, and to check they are in line with similar cases — which is exactly why you should have counsel review any Consent Agreement before signing.

Option two: the hearing

If there is no agreement, the case goes to a hearing under ORC Chapter 119 before a hearing examiner (an attorney). It is trial-like: evidence, witnesses and cross-examination. The Board must prove the violation by a preponderance of the evidence — “more likely than not.” The examiner then issues a Report and Recommendation; you can file objections; and the Board votes on the final order, which can adopt, modify or reject the recommendation.

The range of penalties

Under ORC 4723.28, the Board’s sanctions include:

• A reprimand.
• Fines and required continuing education.
• Probation with monitoring, or practice and narcotic restrictions (which can be permanent).
• Suspension — including automatic suspension (for certain criminal convictions) and immediate suspension where there is a danger.
• Permanent revocation of the licence.

Health and practice concerns: the confidential routes

Where health or a practice deficiency underlies the case, Ohio has non-disciplinary options: a confidential safe haven programme (administered with OhioPHP) for burnout, mental-health and substance-use issues, and the Practice Intervention and Improvement Program (PIIP) for practice deficiencies. These can be alternatives to discipline — but note that enrolling in a health programme deactivates a multistate (compact) licence for its duration, so take advice on the trade-offs.

Appeals — and the reach beyond Ohio

You can appeal the Board’s final order to the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas within 15 days. And keep the wider picture in view: since Ohio joined the Nurse Licensure Compact in 2023, an RN or LPN may hold a multistate licence — and any discipline deactivates that multistate privilege across all compact states and is reported through Nursys. (Certified nurse-midwives and other APRNs hold Ohio-only licences.)

Where mitigation moves the outcome

Across every route, mitigation matters: prompt insight, completed continuing education and remediation, corrective changes to your practice, and appropriate engagement with treatment can move a case toward a reprimand or probation and away from suspension. Build that record early, during the investigation, not after the Notice lands.

Earlier in the process? See what happens when a complaint is filed and the stages, timeline and your rights.

This article is general information for education purposes and is not legal advice. If you have received notice of an investigation, a request to speak with an investigator, or a Notice of Opportunity for Hearing from the Ohio Board of Nursing, seek advice from an Ohio attorney experienced in nursing licence defence and notify your professional liability insurer. Healthcare Ethics Courses is an independent education provider and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the Ohio Board of Nursing or any state agency; names are used for reference only.