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John v. Department of Professional Regulation6/17/1999
Appeal from the Circuit Court of Cook County Honorable Thomas Durkin, Judge Presiding.
Defendant, the Department of Professional Regulation ("Department"), appeals from the circuit court's reversal of its decision denying plaintiff, Aleyamma John ("plaintiff"), a nursing license by endorsement. The trial court remanded the matter to the Department with instructions to issue a license to plaintiff. On appeal, the Department contends: (1) the 1990 amendment (Pub. Act 86-596, eff. January 1, 1990) to the Illinois Nursing Act of 1987 ("Act") (225 ILCS 65/15 (West 1996)), which requires applicants to pass the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) within a three-year period, applies to candidates for licensure by endorsement; and (2) the 1990 amendment to the Act was not retroactively applied to plaintiff. For the following reasons, we reverse and remand the judgment of the circuit court.
The following facts are relevant to this appeal. Plaintiff was licensed as a registered nurse in Florida in September of 1993. As a prerequisite for licensure, plaintiff was required to successfully complete the NCLEX within three years. Plaintiff failed the NCLEX in the State of Illinois in February 1987, July 1987, February 1988, July 1988 and February 1989. Plaintiff failed the NCLEX in the State of Florida in July 1992 and February 1993.
On her eighth attempt, plaintiff passed the NCLEX in the State of Florida in July 1993. Plaintiff filed an application for licensure by endorsement of her Florida registered nurse's license in December 1996 with the State of Illinois. The Department denied plaintiff's application in March 1997. The Department explained that in order to be eligible for licensure by endorsement, plaintiff must have been licensed under a statute that was substantially equal to the statute in force in Illinois at the date of her licensure in another state. The Florida statute under which plaintiff was licensed was not substantially equal to the licensing requirements in effect in Illinois. Specifically, the statute in Illinois requires an applicant to pass the NCLEX within three years. The Florida statute contained no such provision.
Plaintiff did not successfully complete the NCLEX within three years. In addition, because plaintiff graduated from a nursing program in India , the Department requested she provide evidence that she passed the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) examination. Plaintiff failed to comply. For these reasons, the Department denied plaintiff's application for licensure by endorsement.
Plaintiff filed a complaint for administrative review of the Department's final decision. The circuit court reversed the Department's decision denying plaintiff licensure by endorsement and remanded the matter for action consistent with its ruling. The circuit court held: (1) the three-year rule applied to applicants for licensure by endorsement; and (2) the "cut-off" date for the passage of the NCLEX for those applicants who had taken the examination prior to the 1990 amendment of the Act was March 1993. Although plaintiff had not complied with the licensing requirements of the State of Illinois, the trial court reasoned that plaintiff should be issued a license since she passed the exam "only a few months after the March 1993 cut-off date."
The circuit court stayed its order for 30 days, pending appeal. The Department's timely appeal followed. This court entered a stay of the circuit court's order pending resolution of the appeal.
Initially, we note that the Department's decision to deny a professional license is subject to judicial review under the Administrative Review Law (735 ILCS 5/3-10
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