California: Nursing Board Tracker
This page has information and updates on nursing boards and regulation specific to California. Read our recipe for investigating nursing boards' oversight.
Contact Info
California Board of Registered Nursing
1625 North Market Boulevard, Suite N-217
Sacramento, CA 95834-1924
Phone: 916.322.3350
Fax: 916.574.8637
Online: http://www.rn.ca.gov/
Contact Person: Louise Bailey, MEd, RN, Interim Executive Director
California Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians
2535 Capitol Oaks Drive, Suite 205
Sacramento, CA 95833
Phone: 916.263.7800
Fax: 916.263.7859
Online: http://www.bvnpt.ca.gov/
Contact Person: Teresa Bello-Jones, JD, MSN, RN, Executive Officer
ProPublica Analysis: Access to License Info
| Does this state allow users to look up nurses licenses for free online? | Yes |
| Does this state provide free disciplinary documents online? | Yes |
| In publicly available national database? | No |
- License lookup page
- How to request records: Disciplinary documents can be accessed on each nurse's license verification page.
- ProPublica's list of California nurses disciplined from 2002 to September 2009
A list of recently disciplined nurses
Serious Disciplinary Actions
States are required to report sanctions against health providers to the federal government. Below are the number of serious actions against registered nurses that California reported in recent years, based on a ProPublica analysis of data from the Health Resources and Services Administration (see caveats).
Actions, Cumulative by Year
| 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 223 | 139 | 250 | 141 | 255 | 408 | 282 | 407 | 354 | 343 |
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Actions, by Year and Type
| Year | Revocations | Probation | Suspension | Voluntary Surrender |
Renewal Denial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 106 | 104 | 4 | 9 | N/A |
| 2000 | 44 | 72 | 2 | 21 | N/A |
| 2001 | 115 | 93 | 2 | 40 | N/A |
| 2002 | 57 | 57 | 1 | 26 | N/A |
| 2003 | 91 | 123 | 3 | 38 | N/A |
| 2004 | 112 | 243 | 3 | 50 | N/A |
| 2005 | 65 | 176 | 4 | 37 | N/A |
| 2006 | 115 | 225 | 5 | 62 | N/A |
| 2007 | 112 | 183 | 7 | 52 | N/A |
| 2008 | 107 | 149 | 6 | 81 | N/A |
Note on the Data
This data should not be used to compare one state against another, because it may not be accurate and it is not adjusted for the number of nurses in each state. Another caution: Since September 2009, some states may have gone back and entered old actions they took against nurses. Check with each state before using these figures in a story.
Contact Us
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Quick Links
Podcast: Reporters Charlie Ornstein and Tracy Weber discuss their reporting on delinquent nurses.
Our Recipe: Investigate Your State's Oversight of Health Care Professionals
Editor's Note: Why We're Sharing Our Recipe
Chart: Serious Actions Reported Nationwide
When Caregivers Harm - Our complete coverage of flawed regulation of healthcare workers California and nationwide
National Database Flawed - A long-awaited federal database of disciplined healthcare workers had significant gaps in records. Following our investigation found, the database's management team was replaced.
Tracking Nurses Nationwide - This interactive map and chart shows the state of nursing records access nationwide.
California Discipline Delayed - Our analysis found that California took three years, on average, to discipline errant nurses. After our report, most of the board and its executive officer either resigned or were removed.
Database of Sanctioned California Nurses - We assembled a database of nearly 2,400 California registered nurses facing discipline between 2002 and Sept. 2009. We also analyzed the gap in time between the board's public accusation and disciplinary decision.