At a Kansas Senate hearing over an amendment to the Kansas Constitution that would provide legislative oversight over rules and regulations promulgated by Kansas executive branch agencies, a highly qualified nurse practitioner said she is facing disciplinary action from the Kansas State Board of Nursing for simply speaking out.
Speaking in favor of House Concurrent Resolution 5008, which would allow the Legislature to review or revoke agency administrative rules, Amy Siple said she took a pause in her practice to care for her husband who had been diagnosed with metastatic cancer.
“I was terrified and devastated,” she told the Kansas Senate Judiciary Committee. “I had ttheaken a step back from practice and just focused on living this journey with him. After his surgery and stabilization, I was ready to go back to work. I got on the State Board of Nursing website, and much to my dismay, I saw that my license had expired four and a half months earlier.”
Siple said in her 32 years of practice, she had never before been late in renewing her license; she had also never been sued or investigated for disciplinary action.
According to Siple, in order for a nurse practitioner to renew their license in Kansas, they must meet three criteria: they must be current on their malpractice insurance, current on their continuing education hours, and pay their dues.
“Fortunately for me, I always have way more education than I need, and all of my hours were current prior to the expiration deadline, and I’ve never let my malpractice insurance expire,” Siple said. “I submitted evidence of this, and I paid my dues, and I expected to pay a fine, a late fee.
“I did not anticipate the discipline that was coming my way.”
In a phone interview, Siple said that shortly after sending in her information to renew her license, she received calls from officials at the Board of Nursing asking questions about her activities. Siple said she did not realize that she was under investigation.
“I didn’t realize this, and I wasn’t even practicing; you will find no billing under my NPI number during those four and a half months,” she said. “But I was speaking at conferences and to Senior Centers. A lot of it was (gratis). I will have a senior center call me and say, you know, we want to learn more about dementia. We’ve got a lot of adult care or caregivers who want to keep their loved ones at home, and so I will go and freely provide this education to them and help give them tips and pointers on understanding dementia, how to care for people who have it, how to communicate.”
According to Siple, the board of nursing informed her that she was “not qualified” to provide that information because her license had lapsed.
The Board of Nursing has “asked” — while threatening dire consequences should she refuse — Siple to sign a consent agreement that would label her as “unprofessional” in three separate nursing databases for “practicing without a license” in perpetuity.
This was despite the fact that she gave no care or administered medication or treatment to any patient and despite the fact that her malpractice insurance was current, as were her continuing education hours.
Simply because her license had lapsed.
For Siple, this would be a career-ender. Siple said that “unprofessional” was the worst label a nurse could receive and that just being under investigation has already cost her employment opportunities.
“What they did is they went to the definitions of what a nurse practitioner is, and it says, ‘education,'” Siple said. “So they say that … I can’t educate anyone unless I’m licensed by the state — but they fully acknowledge that all my education and everything was up to date.”
Siple said she was told she couldn’t even speak at the most recent meeting of the State Board of Nursing.
Siple said she believes this is retaliation for her outspoken stance on COVID lockdowns.
“The State Board of Nursing expressed a desire to come after nurses who spoke against the mandates; what I spoke out primarily against was the lockdown of senior citizens in long-term care facilities,” Siple said. “I was vocal. I spoke in the House. I spoke in the Senate. I talked about the unintended, I hope, the unintended consequences of solitary confinement, isolation, and immobility in older adults.”
Siple said her stance on the COVID vaccines also embarrassed the state board.
“The National Council of State Boards of Nursing wanted me to come and speak at their meeting,’ Siple said. So that honored KSBN. They were thrilled to have me go. Well, then you had to show proof of your vaccine passport, which I did not have, and so I was canceled.
“I can’t prove that this is personal, but…I think it is. They didn’t come after me for, you know, that issue, but I suspect that’s what this is really about.”
The Sentinel contacted several officials at the State Board of Nursing to ask about Siple’s case, but as of publication, it had not received a relevant response.
Siple not the first nurse targeted by State Board of Nursing
Siple’s case, in many ways, mirrors that of one of her colleagues in 2024.
Registered Nurse Elaine Gebhardt, in October 2024, received notice she was under investigation by the State Board of Nursing, alleging she had been using social media to attack the transgender population and to debase healthcare processes.
Despite the fact that her employer had not raised any objection to her social media postings, the State Board of Nursing stepped in.
“The Board of Nursing got involved because people from X had submitted a report stating I was being transphobic, racist, discriminatory, and was refusing patient care,” Gebhardt said. “None of which I had done.”
After reporting by The Sentinel, the Board declined to take any action.
It concluded its probe, which included an interview with Gebhardt, with a one-sentence decision: The Kansas State Board of Nursing (KSBN) decision was to inactivate (close) the case.
Gebhardt announced the end of the investigation of her and celebrated its conclusion with a post on X.
Later, in a statement to The Sentinel, the registered nurse said she was proud to have taken a stand for her First Amendment rights:
“This investigation has shown that there is so much government overreach for people just standing and speaking the truth. I am so glad that the decision has been made to protect the First Amendment. No nurse or licensed professional should have to go through this. But I am glad that I was able to bring to light how far this has gone and what the government is trying to do to censor so many people.”
Siple hopes HCR 5008 amends the State Constitution so the Legislature has more oversight of unelected administrators like those at the State Board of Nursing.
