As a licensed geriatric nurse practitioner and former tenured professor, I have served Kansans for more than three decades. I have seen thousands of patients and have never had a complaint filed against me.
But in November 2024, the Kansas Board of Nursing punished me for speaking at public events on dementia, claiming I was practicing nursing without a license. But the facts show a different story.
Earlier that year, I took a short break from practice to care for my husband as he recovered from cancer, which was the only time in my entire career that I was unemployed. After my husband’s surgery, I checked the board’s website to confirm my license and was shocked to learn it had expired five months earlier. In 32 years of nursing, this was the first time my license had ever lapsed. Although my educational hours were current, I had failed to pay them on time. I immediately filed for a renewed license, but to my surprise, the board opened an investigation against me and eventually cited me for “unprofessional conduct.”
The Board decided to punish me for the “crime” of listing public speaking events and my qualifications as a nurse practitioner on my website, while my license had briefly lapsed.
Rather than researching what was discussed at these events, who attended, and where they were held, they accused me of acting unprofessionally, which was the opposite of what I was doing.
I now have this “scarlet letter” on my record, and I am unemployable: No one wants to hire someone with a disciplinary action. Though I was fined $300, this situation isn’t about the money. I care about my patients, and this disciplinary action on my record not only hurts me but also hurts them.
Serving our elderly population is important to me — and I believe we need to make more resources available for caregivers, especially those caring for patients with dementia. Dementia can cause neurological and psychiatric effects, making it difficult for patients to respond to their nurses and caregivers We need practical, behavioral steps to care for these patients, rather than prescribing medications that increase morbidity rates.
I have devoted my life to serving the people of Kansas, including providing testimony on several bills before the Kansas legislature that improved access to and freedom in medical care. Yet my nursing career is threatened due to the Draconian actions of the Kansas Board of Nursing.
When I testified before the Kansas legislature last summer, I shared how 92 out of 105 counties in Kansas are considered medically underserved. If most Kansas communities need nurses, why is the board disciplining me for a lapsed license when I wasn’t practicing nursing at all? Our state needs nurses, and unless the board gets their act together, nurses will leave the state in droves. Many nurses have already left because they are aware of the board’s negative reputation.
What is happening to me is public shaming. I shouldn’t have a disciplinary action on my record for simply attending events with a lapsed license, and even if I spoke publicly, my right to speak is protected under the First Amendment. Hundreds of nurses are disciplined each year for minor mistakes, like my own, and practitioners and patients alike suffer as a result.
I have served my community for over three decades, and I am committed to continuing this service. But this disciplinary action on my record, which is blatantly unconstitutional, is harming my ability to serve patients in the future. And to make matters worse, it jeopardizes my ability to serve my community and run for public office.
With the help of Pacific Legal Foundation, I am challenging the board’s outrageous and unconstitutional actions taken against me. State boards cannot censor professionals for speaking publicly about their knowledge and experience in a particular field.
I will continue to educate people in my community as they serve patients with illnesses and disabilities, and I will not allow the Kansas Board of Nursing to hurt our patients and practitioners any longer.
Amy Siple
Sedgwick
