Kansas City Star: Kansas Nursing Board punished me for speaking about dementia. That’s unjust
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 State Board of Nursing punished me for giving public talks 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. That short break 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 noticed it had expired five months earlier. In 32 years of nursing, this was the first time ever my license had not been current.
Although my educational hours were up to date, I had failed to pay the fees on time. I immediately filed to renew my license — but to my surprise, the board had other ideas. Instead, it opened an investigation against me and eventually cited me for “unprofessional conduct.”
The board decided to punish me for 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, I was accused of acting unprofessionally.
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 only $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 older 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 equip caregivers of 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 Legislature that improved access to and freedom in medical care. Yet my nursing career is threatened by the draconian actions of the Kansas State 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? Our state needs nurses, and unless the board gets its 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 I’m experiencing feels like public shaming, not a fair or proportionate response. A brief license lapse should not carry a permanent disciplinary mark. And sharing my knowledge at public events is not “practicing without a license” — it is speech fully protected by the First Amendment. Punishing a nurse for talking about dementia doesn’t make patients safer. It undermines the very freedoms that allow us to educate and support our communities.
Unfortunately, my story isn’t unique. Hundreds of nurses are disciplined every year for minor mistakes, and it’s our patients who ultimately suffer. 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 unconstitutional actions taken against me. State boards cannot censor professionals for speaking publicly about their knowledge and experience in a particular field.
I will keep sharing my knowledge to help my community care for patients with illness and disability, and I will not let the Kansas State Board of Nursing silence or deter that work.
This op-ed was originally published in The Kansas City Star on December 8, 2025.
