Being a trained respiratory care practitioner in California is not enough to discharge your services within the state. You need a professional license from the Respiratory Care Board. When issuing these licenses, the board considers several factors, including your training, education qualifications, and understanding of the law and professional ethics. A license is a legal permit to offer legal services. It shows that you are fully qualified to serve patients in hospitals, homes, and anywhere else where your services are required.
Sadly, losing that license and your ability to work legally in the state is possible if you face accusations of negligence, sexual harassment, or any other form of unprofessional behavior. The board takes these matters seriously and will not hesitate to revoke or suspend your license if compelling evidence is presented against you.
However, facing accusations in Oakland County does not necessarily mean you are guilty. You could make a genuine mistake or be falsely accused of a mistake you did not make. Instead of waiting for the board’s final decision, we can support you in fighting your allegations to protect your livelihood in Oakland License Attorney. Together, we can develop a solid defense to avoid severe consequences that could impact your career.
Your Career as a Respiratory Care Practitioner
The healthcare industry comprises professionals who offer various services needed by people suffering from different illnesses, diseases, and health conditions. These professionals are essential in their unique way. Some are general practitioners, like physicians, and others offer specialized care, like respiratory care practitioners. The latter work alongside general physicians in treating and managing patients experiencing various kinds of breathing problems like chronic bronchitis, asthma, coronary heart disease, and cystic fibrosis. Although these are conditions that general physicians treat or manage, respiratory care practitioners have specialized training. Thus, their services are crucial for patients who require specialized treatment and care.
Building a career in this profession is an excellent idea. It helps you offer crucial services to people who need them the most. Remember that breathing difficulties can affect a person’s ability to work or perform essential duties. Thus, your services are invaluable to people who must overcome breathing difficulties to resume work or care for themselves and others. Therefore, your services go beyond diagnosing and administering treatment. You are responsible for operating ventilators, respirators, and other medical gadgets to save patients’ lives.
You can work in a hospital setting, hospice, or at home as a respiratory care practitioner. You must be flexible enough to avail yourself of your services where they are most needed. You are also required in emergencies to save lives. Your services are critical for all ages, including infants and older people. People with chronic conditions like asthma and bronchitis require continuous support and emergency care whenever their condition worsens. Those recovering from strokes or heart attacks require your care from time to time. Here are some of the services you render as a respiratory care practitioner in California:
- You can administer life support through mechanical ventilation
- Running tests, diagnosing, and monitoring patients on life support
- Maintaining various kinds of artificial airwaves, including tracheostomies
- Treatment of chronic respiratory problems
- Administering aerosol treatments
- Assisting patients through rehabilitation and education
- Assessing how patients are responding to a particular therapy over a given period
- Determining a patient’s oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in their blood
- Analyzing patients’ X-rays and sputum samples for lung-related illnesses
- Educating people on how to manage various conditions, like asthma
Thus, your job as a licensed respiratory care practitioner is intense. You must make critical decisions and act swiftly to save lives or prevent a patient’s condition from worsening. You must also involve your patients and their families in decision-making. A mistake or omission on your part can result in severe consequences for the patient, their family, or your employer. This could also result in discipline by your licensing board. It also puts you at risk of endless lawsuits and criminal charges. You must always be prepared to defend your career and reputation to continue discharging your service and earning a livelihood in this profession.
When the Respiratory Care Board learns about a complaint about your unprofessionalism, it will start an investigation. The result of that investigation can hurt a career that has taken you years to build. Hence, you need to seek the assistance of a skilled attorney to understand your allegations, options, and rights. Your attorney will also help you push for the best outcome for your case.
Allegations That Can Trigger Investigation By the Respiratory Care Board
Licensed respiratory care practitioners understand the importance of caution when diagnosing, treating, or caring for patients. They know how vital competence and professionalism are, as this is what enables you to keep your license for years. However, mistakes or misunderstandings happen along the way, and you face grave accusations that could result in losing your license. However, you still deserve to hold that license. A single mistake does not render you incapable of discharging your services. Thus, you must fight to protect your livelihood.
Regardless of your essential services and reputation, you can face allegations as a respiratory care practitioner. The fact that you handle patients directly, are involved in critical decision-making, and work alongside other professionals puts your career and license at risk. A dissatisfied customer can accuse you of negligence or failure to render services. A jealous colleague can also accuse you of harassment or incompetence. A family member can accuse you of sexual misconduct. All these are grave accusations that could cause the Respiratory Care Board to act against you.
The board receives all kinds of accusations involving respiratory care practitioners. Since some accusations are lenient, the board does not pursue them. It only pursues grave accusations that put the public at risk. For example, if you commit a crime that affects your ability to offer safe services to your patients, the board must take action. It is hard to tell how the board will react once it receives a complaint against you. Thus, you must act quickly to defend your livelihood effectively. A skilled license attorney will help you understand the gravity of your allegations and the possible actions the board can take against you.
Examples of other allegations that could result in discipline by the Respiratory Care Board include the following:
- Sexual misconduct with a patient or colleague
- Incompetence
- Gross or ordinary negligence
- Practicing without a legal license
- Insurance fraud or any other fraudulent act
- Obtaining your license through fraud
- Failing to refer a patient in need of specialized care
- Failing to provide patients’ records upon request
- Failing to maintain proper treatment records
- Allowing untrained assistants to work in capacity that requires adequate training
If the board decides to pursue your allegations, it will appoint judges to investigate the matter, review evidence, and provide the final ruling. You will attend a hearing to review the judge’s findings and any other evidence against you. Your attorney can gather and present evidence during the hearing to counter the allegations or to fight for a favorable outcome. If the judges find you guilty of the accusations against you, the board will take disciplinary action against you, according to the guidelines on its website.
The discipline you receive mainly depends on the severity of the allegations and your performance record. If you face the second or subsequent allegation within a particular period, the board can take stringent action against you, like suspending your license.
Possible Penalties You Can Receive from the Respiratory Care Board
The board disciplines respiratory care practitioners mainly to protect the public. The board’s mission is to protect public interests by ensuring licensed professionals always offer safe, professional, and quality services. When you make a mistake affecting a patient, the board will take action to protect them and your other patients. Discipline also serves as a warning to other practitioners against making the same mistakes that caused your discipline.
The Respiratory Care Board follows the disciplinary guidelines on its website when determining the proper discipline for anyone found guilty of professional misconduct. Here are common ways in which the board issues discipline:
Through Citations
The board issues citations in cases of minor allegations that do not require suspension or revocation. The citations are issued through its website. You could be charged a fine through a citation, which you must pay within a particular period. Citations are usually not serious, but they can destroy your reputation. If you have created a good name for yourself in the industry, you should worry about the effect of a public citation on your career. Some employers can take action against employees who the board has cited. Once you lose your job because of a citation, it could be challenging to find another one soon.
Through Public Reprimands
The Respiratory Care Board can publicly reprimand you for the action or inaction that led to the complaint. Public reprimands are usually warnings against similar conduct in the future. However, since they are issued publicly, they can affect your reputation, job, and future efforts to find employment. Although you can not lose your license due to a public reprimand, your reputation can be significantly affected.
Through Probations
Licensing boards also use probations to closely monitor professionals changing their behavior to serve patients or clients better. Being on probation means that the board will closely supervise your performance. Making a mistake during the probation period can result in the revocation of your license. Although you continue to work while on probation, you work under strict terms and conditions. These could affect your performance and relationships with your patients and colleagues. Once the probation is over, the board will allow you to continue discharging your duties.
Through License Suspension
A board can suspend your license for a particular period to allow you to reflect on your behavior and make changes. For example, if the complaints about you were due to drug use or abuse. The board can allow you time to undergo treatment and rehabilitation to serve your patients better. You will not be working during the suspension period, which could be challenging since you cannot earn a living. However, you can reinstate your license immediately after the suspension.
Through License Revocation
Revoking your license is the strictest discipline the board can take against you. If your actions caused a patient to suffer harm, or you are a repeat offender, the board can permanently remove your ability to practice as a respiratory care practitioner. Once your license is revoked, it could be challenging to have it reinstated again. Thus, you must engage an aggressive attorney who will not allow that to happen in the first place. Depending on the circumstances of your case, your attorney can fight for case dismissal or negotiate for a favorable outcome.
Additionally, you need an attorney for advice and guidance through the complex legal processes. Administrative hearings can be intimidating. You could implicate yourself if you attend these hearings by yourself. Your attorney will ensure that does not happen. They can attend the hearings on your behalf and only advise you to appear when required by the administrative judges to do so. Your attorney will also ensure you continue working and earning a living, regardless of the severity of your charges. They will fight any attempt by the board to suspend your license during the investigation process.
Find the Right Professional License Attorney Near Me
After working so hard in school and spending so much time and money to train as a respiratory care practitioner, you could lose it all after a complaint of professional misconduct. The Respiratory Care Board will not hesitate to take action if your actions caused or could have caused harm to a patient. However, you can fight your allegations to compel the board to dismiss them or rule reasonably in your case.
At Oakland License Attorney, we help professionals facing administrative hearings fight for their licenses. If you are passionate about your career and would like to continue serving, we can support you in fighting for your rights and license when someone files a complaint with the board against you. We use the best defense strategies, including introducing mitigating factors to obtain the board’s favor. Call us at 341-234-0408 if you are worried about losing your livelihood in Oakland. Let us review your case to determine the best fighting strategies to use.
