South Carolina Code 40-33-1325. Additional authorities invested in party state licensing boards
(1) Take adverse action against a nurse‘s multistate licensure privilege to practice within that party state, provided:
Terms Used In South Carolina Code 40-33-1325
- Administrator: means the individual to whom the director has delegated authority to administer the programs of a specific board or of a professional or occupational group for which the department has regulatory authority or has delegated authority to administer the programs of a specific board;
(2) "Authorization to practice" or "Practice authorization" means the approval to practice the specified profession, engage in the specified occupation, or use a title protected under this article, which has been granted by the applicable board. See South Carolina Code 40-1-20 - Adverse action: means any administrative, civil, equitable, or criminal action permitted by a state's laws which is imposed by a licensing board or other authority against a nurse, including actions against an individual's license or multistate licensure privilege such as revocation, suspension, probation, monitoring of the licensee, limitation on the licensee's practice, or any other encumbrance on licensure affecting a nurse's authorization to practice, including issuance of a cease and desist action. See South Carolina Code 40-33-1310
- Alternative program: means a nondisciplinary monitoring program approved by a licensing board. See South Carolina Code 40-33-1310
- Coordinated licensure information system: means an integrated process for collecting, storing, and sharing information on nurse licensure and enforcement activities related to nurse licensure laws that is administered by a nonprofit organization composed of and controlled by licensing boards. See South Carolina Code 40-33-1310
- Encumbrance: means a revocation or suspension of, or any limitation on, the full and unrestricted practice of nursing imposed by a licensing board. See South Carolina Code 40-33-1310
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Home state: means the party state which is the nurse's primary state of residence. See South Carolina Code 40-33-1310
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Licensing board: means a party state's regulatory body responsible for issuing nurse licenses. See South Carolina Code 40-33-1310
- Multistate license: means a license to practice as a registered or a licensed practical/vocational nurse (LPN/VN) issued by a home state licensing board that authorizes the licensed nurse to practice in all party states under a multistate licensure privilege. See South Carolina Code 40-33-1310
- Multistate licensure privilege: means a legal authorization associated with a multistate license permitting the practice of nursing as either a registered nurse (RN) or LPN/VN in a remote state. See South Carolina Code 40-33-1310
- Nurse: means RN or LPN/VN, as those terms are defined by each party state's practice laws. See South Carolina Code 40-33-1310
- Party state: means any state that has adopted this compact. See South Carolina Code 40-33-1310
- Remote state: means a party state, other than the home state. See South Carolina Code 40-33-1310
- State: means a state, territory, or possession of the United States and the District of Columbia. See South Carolina Code 40-33-1310
- Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
(a) only the home state has the power to take adverse action against a nurse’s license issued by the home state; and
(b) for purposes of taking adverse action, the home state licensing board shall give the same priority and effect to reported conduct received from a remote state as it would if such conduct had occurred within the home state, and in so doing, the home state shall apply its own state laws to determine appropriate action.
(2) Issue cease and desist orders or impose an encumbrance on a nurse’s authority to practice within that party state.
(3) Complete any pending investigations of a nurse who changes primary state of residence during the course of such investigations. The licensing board also has the authority to take appropriate action and shall promptly report the conclusions of such investigations to the administrator of the coordinated licensure information system. The administrator of the coordinated licensure information system shall promptly notify the new home state of any such actions.
(4) Issue subpoenas for both hearings and investigations that require the attendance and testimony of witnesses, as well as the production of evidence. Subpoenas issued by a licensing board in a party state for the attendance and testimony of witnesses or the production of evidence from another party state must be enforced in the latter state by any court of competent jurisdiction, according to the practice and procedure of that court applicable to subpoenas issued in proceedings pending before it. The issuing authority shall pay any witness fees, travel expenses, mileage, and other fees required by the service statutes of the state in which the witnesses or evidence are located.
(5) Obtain and submit, for each nurse licensure applicant, fingerprint or other biometric-based information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for criminal background checks, receive the results of the Federal Bureau of Investigation record search on criminal background checks, and use the results in making licensure decisions.
(6) If otherwise permitted by state law, recover from the affected nurse the costs of investigations and disposition of cases resulting from any adverse action taken against that nurse.
(7) Take adverse action based on the factual findings of the remote state, provided that the licensing board follows its own procedures for taking such adverse action.
(B) If adverse action is taken by the home state against a nurse’s multistate license, the nurse’s multistate licensure privilege to practice in all other party states must be deactivated until all encumbrances have been removed from the multistate license. All home state disciplinary orders that impose adverse action against a nurse’s multistate license must include a statement that the nurse’s multistate licensure privilege is deactivated in all party states during the pendency of the order.
(C) Nothing in this compact may override a party state’s decision that participation in an alternative program may be used in lieu of adverse action. The home state licensing board shall deactivate the multistate licensure privilege under the multistate license of any nurse for the duration of the nurse’s participation in an alternative program.