By Ashley Barnes, M.S.
BRN Evaluation
As part of a California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) Investigation, a notice called an “Order to Compel a Psychological Evaluation” is sent to the nurse being investigated. These orders can be issued if there has been an alleged complaint of alcohol, drug, or substance abuse. Orders can also be issued if there has been perceived erratic behavior at work. Failure to comply with the order can result in disciplinary action, even a nurse’s license being revoked.
Specific requirements for the examiner, which is often a psychiatrist, include: holding a valid, unrestricted license (which includes scope of practice to conduct a clinical diagnostic evaluation), have at least 3 years of experience in providing evaluations of health professionals with substance abuse disorders, and must be pre-approved by the Board.
The Psychological Evaluation itself is extensive, often consisting of the chosen medical professional reviewing the Board Decision or Stipulated Settlement and the Accusation or Statement of Issues, administering a drug test to the nurse, evaluating for the presence of a DSM 5-recognized disorder if present, administering psychological tests, obtaining information about the nurse (background, current mental health status, symptoms characteristic of sociopathic/violent behavior), describing any restrictions recommended in the nurse’s work environment, describing prognosis and treatment(s) (including medications), and providing an opinion “as to the probationary nurse’s capability to perform the functions of a registered nurse in a safe and competent manner.”
Mark Hrymoc, MD
Dr. Hrymoc meets all the BRN’s requirements for an evaluator.
Additionally, he is an expert in the psychopharmacology of addiction and other mental health disorders. He is board-certified in General Psychiatry, Addiction Psychiatry, and Addiction Medicine and holds an appointment as Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA, where he supervises training psychiatrists at their Addiction Psychiatry Clinic. He obtained his subspecialist training in Addiction Psychiatry at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Dr. Hrymoc is a consulting physician to several prestigious drug and alcohol treatment centers in Los Angeles.
Dr. Hrymoc completed his psychiatric residency training at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and also trained at UCLA Medical Center and the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Hospital. He obtained an MD degree at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and did his undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He has worked in a variety of treatment settings, from non-profit community mental health clinics to federally-sponsored multi-site medication development studies.
In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Hrymoc continues to be active in the local addiction treatment community. In September 2008, he founded Perspectives on Addiction, an interdisciplinary educational group for addiction professionals in Los Angeles. Dr. Hrymoc has served as the representative of the states of California, Alaska, and Hawaii to the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry and was a member of the education committee of the California Society of Addiction Medicine. Dr. Hrymoc co-authored a chapter in Principles of Addiction Medicine, the main textbook of the American Society of Addiction Medicine and has been published in several academic journals.
BRN Evaluations at the Mental Health Center
Dr. Hrymoc offers BRN Evaluations and continued care if beneficial for patients seeking the evaluation. Total fees include a fee of $500 for a 60-minute telehealth evaluation and an additional fee of $1900 for writing the required “Physical Health Examination” and “Mental Health Examination” reports.
For more information and sensitive, attentive care, please contact the Mental Health Center today!
About the Mental Health Center
Ellie Mizani MD and Mark Hrymoc MD are the husband-and-wife team that founded MHC in 2011. They sought to create a psychiatric practice that was kind, compassionate, efficient, intelligent, and focused on delivering the best mental health treatment in Los Angeles, the kind they would send their own family and loved ones to. Because Dr. Mizani is a child psychiatrist and Dr. Hrymoc is an addiction psychiatrist, both specialties that involve helping not only patients but their families, they often collaborated with other therapists, physicians, and treatment programs.
They knew accessibility, communication and collaboration helped them treat their patients more effectively, and should be the rule, not the exception in mental health treatment. That is why these core values are practiced throughout MHC, from our administrative staff to our clinicians. They have also witnessed an unfortunate and undeserved stigma that people struggling with mental health issues or receiving treatment for it often encounter, hence why all our patients are treated with utmost respect and professionalism while receiving care at MHC.
To stay in the loop, learn more about the Mental Health Center, and get more information about mental health in general, please contact us here: Mental Health Center | Ketamine Therapy Center