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Massachusetts · Nursing

Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing / Bureau of Health Professions Licensure

Complaint instructions checked against the linked sources, with limitations and known conflicts. Confirm that the authority covers your concern.

Authority and scope

Check the professional and concern

Use this route for complaints about nurses regulated by the Board of Registration in Nursing, including RN and LPN licenses and APRN authorization. The Board lists negligence, practice beyond scope, impairment, fraud, sexual misconduct, and unlicensed or expired-license practice as examples of reportable conduct.

Supporting guidance: File a complaint about a nurseNursing licensesBoard of Registration in Nursing

Submission

How the official source says to file

  • Use the state's health professional complaint portal. Make a separate complaint for each nurse and provide the nurse's name and license number if known.
  • Describe the events with dates and locations; provide your contact information, witness details, and copies of relevant records or correspondence. The portal guidance includes an electronic records release.
  • Prepare your attachments before submitting: the bureau says you cannot return to the complaint after submission. If you need a paper form, request one using the contact information on its complaint page.

Supporting guidance: File a complaint about a nurseHealth professional and facility complaints

Limits

What this route may not provide

The nurse complaint page excludes billing and fee disputes. The broader bureau guidance also distinguishes personality conflicts from conduct that is unprofessional. Complaints about a health care facility use the separate facility complaint route identified by the state.

Supporting guidance: File a complaint about a nurseHealth professional and facility complaints

Anonymity

Do not guess about confidentiality

Anonymous nurse complaints may be accepted at the Board's discretion when sufficient evidence permits review without the complainant's identity or testimony. A named complaint is not confidential from the nurse: the state says the licensee receives a copy. Anonymous filers cannot receive the bureau's outcome notification.

Supporting guidance: File a complaint about a nurseHealth professional and facility complaints

Complaint timing

No filing deadline established by this guide; contact the Board promptly.

The reviewed pages do not specify a general nursing complaint filing deadline. Investigation and disciplinary processing can vary substantially; those duration estimates are not deadlines for bringing a complaint.

Supporting guidance: File a complaint about a nurseHealth professional and facility complaints

Process

What may happen after filing

Staff screen the complaint for jurisdiction and evidence. Review may include interviews, records, and site visits. A matter can be closed, investigated, dismissed after formal review, or lead to nondisciplinary action or discipline. The bureau prioritizes matters involving potential or immediate patient harm.

Supporting guidance: File a complaint about a nurseHealth professional and facility complaints

Evidence

Prepare a reviewable submission

State the concern you want reviewed, then add a short chronology, best supporting records, factual consequences, and a specific request for review.

Read the linked authority and process information ↗

Sources and scope

Some agency-linked forms and destinations could not be read. Source-check dates apply to the material listed below; they do not establish that every linked portal was inspected or a complaint submitted.

File a complaint about a nurse

Nursing violations, complaint contents, anonymous acceptance, fee exclusions, and investigation. Official page retrieved directly.

Source checked: September 19, 2026

Nursing licenses

Nursing licenses and APRN authorization. Official page retrieved directly.

Source checked: September 19, 2026

Source check: September 19, 2026. This records a review of the linked material, not a decision about your case. No clinical or legal reviewer is identified for this guide. Confirm current instructions with the receiving authority.

A state authority is one checkpoint—not the entire accountability system.

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