Ala. (WAFF) – A cyberattack has taken Alabama’s nursing license system offline, preventing nurses from applying for or renewing their licenses online
Natalie Baker, executive officer of the Alabama Board of Nursing, said the attack happened earlier this month.
“So we experienced a cyber security incident on September the 1st that rendered all of our servers inoperable,” Baker said.
Baker said nurses have not been able to apply or renew their licenses online since the attack.
“It is definitely slowing things down. You know, we are now in an age of everything being on the computer. So we had to go back to the old fashioned paper applications, which we implemented last week,” Baker said.
Baker said the board decided to travel Monday and Tuesday to schools across the state to collect paper applications.
“So that is one reason why we’re going out into the communities across the state and also letting people know that they can drive their application to Montgomery. Because as we know, once you put something in the mail, it may take up to a week or so to receive,” Baker said.
Tameka Similton finished her Licensed Practical Nurse program in August. Similton submitted her application in person on Monday.
“It’s kind of sad because it’s not, it’s people missing out. The patients are missing out on having that, the ratio, the nurse-to-patient ratio right, you know what I mean? And just keep everybody safe that we can get the nurses out there and everybody can be safe,” Similton said.
At last check the nursing board is currently only taking applications for new nurses. Baker said existing licenses will not expire until the end of the year.
For a full list of where to drop off or mail in your application click here.
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