Alabama nursing board turns to paper applications after cyberattack

The Alabama Board of Nursing has been processing applications on paper since a cyberattack knocked its online licensing system offline starting Sept. 1, disrupting service during one of the year’s busiest periods for the agency.

The board said about 80,000 registered nurses are due to renew their licenses around this time of year, while new graduates are also trying to get licensed and begin working.

The board first developed a paper application process, along with external primary source reviews, for advanced practice nurses affected by the outage, covering initial advanced practice approval, reinstatements and new collaborations. By the following Wednesday afternoon, new RN and LPN graduates were also able to apply on paper, as were nurses already licensed in another state who want to work in Alabama.

The board said applications that are incomplete or missing requested information will not be processed.

Beginning the week of Sept. 21, the board said paper applications for advanced practice nurses, LPNs and RN graduates may be dropped off at several community college campuses across the state or delivered to its Montgomery office. Drop-off locations include Calhoun Community College’s Decatur campus, Jefferson State Community College’s Hoover campus and Coastal Alabama Community College’s Bay Minette campus on Sept. 21, and Gadsden State Community College, Shelton State Community College’s Martin campus and Wallace Community College’s Dothan campus on Sept. 22.

The board said applicants who submitted payment with their original electronic application should include a receipt with their paper submission, while those who did not should provide a certified check or money order.

No timeline has been given for restoring all of the board’s systems, but the agency said it is working with cybersecurity professionals and state agencies to investigate the incident.

Honor Ingels, the board’s policy and chief communications officer and administrative director of its Center for Nursing Excellence, said the agency recognizes the difficulty the disruption has caused for nurses. "We do understand this is a frustrating process," Ingels said. "I think everybody needs to understand that our first priority is to secure our licensees’ data and to prevent the breach from causing greater problems than it already has."