Authority and scope
Check the professional and concern
The Board's regulated nursing categories include RNs, LPNs, APRNs, certified and advanced certified nurse aides, and registered and advanced registered medication aides. It also regulates licensed certified midwives and massage therapists. DHP enforcement handles complaints about its regulated professionals and nursing education programs.
Supporting guidance: Board's regulated professions ↗Enforcement jurisdiction ↗
How the official source says to file
- File online or use the complaint form linked from DHP's instructions. Identify the practitioner and license type and provide a detailed summary with copies of supporting documents.
- Written complaints may be emailed to enfcomplaints@dhp.virginia.gov, faxed to 804-212-2174, or delivered to DHP, Perimeter Center, 9960 Mayland Drive, Suite 300, Henrico, VA 23233-1463.
- DHP also takes complaints by telephone at 800-533-1560 or 804-367-4691. Include your contact information unless you intend to complain anonymously.
- Retain your own copy: DHP says it cannot provide a copy of a submitted complaint, and complaints cannot be withdrawn.
Supporting guidance: File a complaint ↗
What this route may not provide
DHP cannot recover money or provide personal remedies. Complaints about hospitals, nursing facilities, hospice and home care organizations go to the Virginia Department of Health; assisted living facilities fall under Social Services.
Supporting guidance: Enforcement jurisdiction ↗Enforcement FAQs ↗
Do not guess about confidentiality
Anonymous complaints are possible, but DHP does not guarantee anonymity. Its instructions advise removing identifying information from both the complaint and attachments if anonymity is intended. Limited information can restrict investigation; confidentiality and anonymity are separate questions.
Supporting guidance: File a complaint ↗
Ask promptly; DHP sets no fixed processing timeframe.
This guide does not establish a deadline for filing a nursing complaint. Ask the Board promptly about the rules that apply to your situation. The FAQ's discussion of variable investigation duration is not an incident-to-filing rule.
Supporting guidance: Enforcement FAQs ↗
What may happen after filing
DHP processes the complaint and generally acknowledges it by letter. Investigation gathers information for the relevant Board. A matter can close for insufficient evidence or proceed through disciplinary review when the evidence supports a possible violation.
Supporting guidance: Enforcement FAQs ↗
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.
Board's regulated professions ↗
Exact Board credential categories.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
Enforcement jurisdiction ↗
Professional versus facility jurisdiction and limits.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
File a complaint ↗
Actual delivery routes, preparation, anonymity and retention cautions.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
Enforcement FAQs ↗
Acknowledgment, investigation, disposition, processing and remedies.
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.