A count came up short, a patient filed a complaint, or a charge from your personal life followed you to work. Now the Department wants a written response, and the license you trained years for is the thing on the line.
Nursing discipline runs under its own statute, the Nurse Practice Act, not the general rules that cover other licensed professions. Our professional license defense page covers the process every licensee goes through. This page covers what is different when the license is a nursing license.
The difference matters most in one place. Under the Nurse Practice Act, a nurse can be suspended before any hearing happens at all.
Illinois can reprimand, fine, place on probation, suspend, or revoke an RN, LPN, or APRN license under 225 ILCS 65/70-5 (opens in a new tab), with fines of up to $10,000 per violation. Some suspensions take effect with no hearing first. Once a final decision is served, you have 35 days to file for review in the Circuit Court.
The Act licenses three kinds of nurse, and the allegations that reach each one are different.
| License | How the Act defines the practice | Where the exposure usually sits |
|---|---|---|
| LPN | Assisting in the nursing process under the guidance of an RN or APRN | Acting outside that guidance, charting, and impairment reports from a facility |
| RN | Full professional nursing practice | Medication counts, diversion, standard of care, charting, criminal charges |
| APRN | A licensed CNM, CNP, CRNA, or CNS, practicing in line with national certification | All of the above, plus prescribing and the limits of a collaborative agreement |
That last row is a ground for discipline on its own. Exceeding the prescriptive authority delegated under a collaborative agreement is listed in the statute, and it is an allegation only an APRN can face.
The grounds in Section 70-5 run past forty items. A handful produce most of the cases we see.
Two of those catch people out. A conviction counts even if you took court supervision or first offender probation. And the duty to self report sits with you, not with your employer.
If you are facing a charge too, the two cases have to move together. Our criminal defense team works both sides.
This is the part of the Nurse Practice Act that catches people. It is also why a nursing case moves faster than most license cases.
Once the Department shows a possible violation, it can order you to sit for a mental or physical examination. Refusing that examination is an automatic suspension, with no hearing. Substance related allegations also trigger a mandatory assessment, and refusing that one can suspend you too.
A second route sits in 225 ILCS 65/70-60 (opens in a new tab). Three state officials can write to say your practice is an immediate danger to the public. On that letter alone, the license is suspended at once. The hearing comes afterward.
If you have been told to appear for an examination, call before the appointment. Not going is the one response that ends the question without anyone hearing your side.
| What happens | The clock |
|---|---|
| Suspended for refusing a Department examination | Hearing within 15 days of the suspension |
| Suspended as an immediate danger to the public | Hearing within 30 days of the suspension |
| Board report served on you after a hearing | 20 calendar days to move for a rehearing |
| Final decision served on you | 35 days to file for review in the Circuit Court, under 735 ILCS 5/3-103 (opens in a new tab) |
The 35 day window runs from service, not from the day you opened the envelope. Miss it and the decision stands.
Illinois puts a reporting duty on nursing administrators. A nurse who runs a unit at a hospital, nursing home, facility, or nurse agency has to report an RN or LPN they reasonably believe is impaired. The same goes for a nurse taking the facility’s drugs.
One exception is written into the statute. No report is required if the nurse is in counseling or treatment, is actively pursuing it under monitoring, and is still employed there.
Once a report is filed, the Act sets the pace:
A finding of insufficient facts is itself a final action. That is a real outcome, and it is worth working toward early.
Some convictions take the decision out of the Department’s hands. Under 20 ILCS 2105/2105-165 (opens in a new tab), three categories revoke a health care worker’s license permanently, by operation of law and with no hearing: an offense requiring sex offender registration, criminal battery against a patient during care, and a forcible felony.
One group has a narrow path back. A forcible felony that does not require registration can be the subject of a petition to restore. That petition waits more than 5 years from the conviction, or more than 3 years from release, whichever is later.
This is why the two cases cannot be run apart. A plea that looks sensible on the criminal side can end the license.
A nursing case can move to suspension before a hearing, so the first few days carry more weight here than in most license matters.
Most nurses who call us have already drafted something. The useful moment is before it goes in.
We act for nurses across Chicago, Cook County, and the collar counties. This work happens in writing and in conferences rather than a courtroom, so where you practice does not limit who can defend you.
Tell us what the notice says, whether an examination has been ordered, and whether your facility has filed a report. Call Ktenas Law at (312) 800-1626 or request a case review. Conversations with us are confidential.
Yes. Two routes in the Nurse Practice Act do exactly that. Refusing an ordered examination is an automatic suspension. So is a written notice from a state official that your practice is an immediate danger to the public. The hearing follows, within 15 or 30 days.
It can. Any felony counts, and so does a misdemeanor tied to your practice or involving dishonesty. Court supervision and first offender probation are named in the statute. An outcome your criminal attorney treats as a win may still reach your license. Our DUI defense page covers the criminal side.
Yes, and the duty is yours. Adverse final action by another state, a hospital, a peer review body, or an employer all have to be reported. Failing to do so is its own ground for discipline, separate from whatever caused the action.
The Department has 60 days to decide in writing whether the facts warrant an investigation. If it goes forward, the investigation runs 60 days. Final action follows within 30 days of that. You and the person who reported you both get written notice within 15 days.
Refusing is treated as its own answer. Failing to submit to an ordered examination is an automatic suspension with no hearing. Substance related allegations carry a mandatory assessment on top of that. Decline nothing before speaking with an attorney.
35 days from the date the final decision is served on you, under the Administrative Review Law. There is an earlier step as well. You have 20 calendar days after the Board’s report is served to move for a rehearing, and that motion is often the better opportunity.
The same grounds apply, with more on top. An APRN can be disciplined for exceeding the prescriptive authority delegated under a collaborative agreement. Drug allegations also reach an APRN as a prescriber, not only as the nurse who gave the dose.
Usually, unless a suspension provision has already been triggered. Whether you keep working comes down to the gap between probation and suspension. That is the argument we are normally having. Our license defense page explains how it is decided.
This page is general information about Illinois nursing law and is not legal advice. What applies to you depends on your license type, the grounds alleged, and the stage the matter has reached. Speak with an attorney about your situation.
