Jenny Barnhouse, Executive Director
Oklahoma Board of Nursing
P.O. Box 52926
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73152
Re: Gann, Case No. 3.042.27
Dear Executive Director Barnhouse:
This office has received your request for a written Attorney General Opinion regarding the action that the Oklahoma Board of Nursing (“Board”) intends to take against the license of Amanda Catherine Gann (“Respondent”). Respondent holds a single-state registered nurse (“RN”) license in the State of Oklahoma, License No. R0117033, issued by the Board.
The Oklahoma Nursing Practice Act (“Act”) authorizes the Board to impose discipline when a nurse “[f]ails to adequately care for patients or to conform to the minimum standards of acceptable nursing or . . . unnecessarily exposes a patient or other person to risk of harm,” “[i]s guilty of unprofessional conduct as defined in the rules of the Board,”1 or “[i]s guilty of any act that jeopardizes a patient’s life, health or safety as defined in the rules of the Board.”2 59 O.S.Supp.2023, §§567.8(B)(3), (B)(7), and (B)(8).
On September 7, 2019, while working as a charge nurse at a jail, Respondent failed to care for a patient adequately or to conform to the minimum standards of acceptable nursing practice. Respondent also failed to advocate for a patient when she failed to notify a provider of a patient’s complaints of left-sided numbness and/or weakness. Thereby delaying diagnosis and urgent, time-sensitive treatment for a patient.
On September 12, 2019, Respondent provided a signed statement regarding the events that occurred on September 7, 2019. On or about September 16, 2019, Respondent was terminated for failing “to display expected degree of professionalism in interactions with patient and detention staff.” On September 7, 2021, a Complaint and Jury Demand was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, Case No. 21-cv-365-GKF-JFJ, with Respondent listed as a Defendant, claiming that Respondent denied, delayed, and obstructed the patient from immediate and emergent evaluation and treatment. On February 9, 2024, a Stipulation of Dismissal was filed in that case dismissing the claims against Respondent with prejudice after a settlement was reached.
After a hearing on September 24, 2026, the Board proposes to severely reprimand Respondent’s single-state RN license and place Respondent’s license on probation for employment as a registered nurse for 1440 cumulative worked hours to be completed in 2 years. The employment of Respondent during such probationary period shall be under supervision. Respondent shall pay an administrative penalty of $2,000.00 and pay investigative costs of $1,775.34 within 60 days. Respondent must complete the Education courses Nursing Jurisprudence, Nursing Documentation, Critical Thinking, Nursing Ethics, Roles and Responsibilities of the RN, and Physical Assessment.
It is, therefore, the official opinion of the Attorney General that the Oklahoma Board of Nursing has adequate support for the conclusion that this action advances the State’s policy to protect public health, safety, and welfare by ensuring nurses comport themselves with the standards of professional conduct at all times.
Cheryl Dixon
Deputy General Counsel
[1]Unprofessional conduct means “conduct detrimental to the public interest; or” (“discriminating in the rendering of nursing services or patient care assignment[.]” OAC 485:10-11-1(b)(3)(H) and (I).
[2]Conduct which jeopardized a patient’s life, health, or safety includes “[f]ailure to utilize appropriate judgment in administering safe nursing practice or patient care assignment based upon the level of nursing for which the individual is licensed or recognized[.]” OAC 485:10-11-1(b)(4)(D).
