My answer is a flat no. Justice is not their aim. Truth is lost within the process. In criminal matters how the Board forces a nurse to a finding of guilty would be considered prosecutorial misconduct. Civil rights and due process are ignored.
First after notifying you of complaints the Board will take months to review the evidence. Holding you in a constant state of anxiety. If at an informal hearing the Board representatives based on the evidence decide together your charges should be dropped, the formal Board may disrespect this fairly arrived at decesion and insist you be charged. This decision will be made in your absence. Denying you the right to represent the evidence to those unfamiliar with your file who are unilaterally deciding the fate of your career.
You will then be strongarmed into either signing an order that contains false charges or be tried before a Judge. Most nurses cannot afford a trial so they give in to harsh stipulations. Most hospitals wont hire a nurse with stipulations even if they are concealed under the guise of a warning.
If you cant bring yourself to confess to false charges then all fairness goes out the window. It's now about the Board winning at any cost. (Sound familiar to the documentary THE STAIRCASE, it is.) Even though your case has not been adjudicated formal charges will be published. And that they will do in no time flat
They will be worded as fact. You can be sure no one will hire you now. And as for even setting your case for trial you can forget about a speedy trial. The Board wont even docket your case for weeks or even months. And when they do docket your case they will extend the time of your trial likely several times. By now you and your family are ruined. The stress has injured your marriage, hurt your kids and destroyed your health. I know of nurses who lost their homes and marriages over the years of fighting for the truth.
If new evidence comes forward during your pre trial waiting period the Board will not consider it. You are going to be prosecuted no matter what the evidence shows. Then comes the real evidence of the Board operating with impunity. If the Judge finds in your favor the Board can disregard the Judge's decesion. Why, because they are going to win and answer to no one.
Isn't it about time the process becomes fair and just? Shouldn't Investigators be non partial nurses who complete a thorough investigation? Shouldn't you be offered a settlement hearing if the formal Board found you guilty on the same evidence their informal hearing panel found the charges without merit? And shouldn't the Board be held accountable when they bulldoze lives and cause such harm? Yes, to them all. Truth is you will have no recourse. Your career is over. You have lost much and you were INNOCENT. In Texas this is happening. Something must be done.