F0839

D

Failure to Verify and Maintain Appropriate Nursing Licensure for Supervisory Role

Baltimore, Maryland Survey Completed on 02-24-2026

Penalty

Fine: $55,890

Summary

The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to ensure that employed nursing staff held active professional licenses consistent with state law and their job descriptions. A complaint alleged that a registered nurse was employed as an RN supervisor without an active license over a defined period. Review of this staff member’s personnel file showed that the individual held an RN license issued in Virginia with compact designation, but that license was suspended several months after issuance. The personnel file also listed Maryland as the staff member’s primary address. The Maryland Board of Nursing did not recognize this nurse’s license because the nurse graduated from a program that was not approved by the Board.

Further review and interviews revealed that the nurse had an active Maryland LPN license and that her role at the facility was changed from RN to LPN supervisor, but the human resources representative could not recall or provide documentation of when this role change occurred. The HR representative stated that all RNs licensed from Florida had to either sit for the Maryland Board of Nursing exam or forfeit their license, and that this nurse forfeited the RN license, but HR could not provide documentation of when this occurred. In an interview, the nurse reported graduating from VMT Education Center and later sitting for the Maryland LPN boards, stating that she delayed testing because the school would not release her transcript due to unpaid tuition. Review of the Maryland Board of Nursing and VMT Education Center information showed that VMT was not recognized by the Board and had been removed from the approved list because it did not meet LPN qualifications, and that the nurse’s LPN license was issued months after the school’s removal from the approved list.