Jenny Barnhouse, Executive Director
Oklahoma Board of Nursing
P.O. Box 52926
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73152
Re: Destories, Case No. 10.2024020349.25
Dear Executive Director Barnhouse:
This office has received your request for a written Attorney General Opinion regarding action that the Oklahoma Board of Nursing intends to take in case 10.2024020349.25. Applicant applied for an Oklahoma endorsement/single state RN license after her Georgia multistate license was converted to a single-state registered nurse license.
The Oklahoma Nursing Practice Act authorizes the Board to deny when a nurse “[i]s guilty of unprofessional conduct . . . .”1 On or about May 23, 2023, Applicant executed a consent order with the Tennessee Nursing Board, stipulating and admitting to a 2022 preemployment urine screen positive for amphetamines and benzodiazepines. Pursuant to the consent order, Applicant agreed to voluntarily surrender her Tennessee practice privilege under another state’s license, and acknowledging surrender was effectively a revocation.
On or about January 10, 2024, the Georgia Nursing Board converted Applicant’s Georgia multistate registered nurse license to a single-state registered nurse license. Applicant subsequently submitted her Oklahoma application for endorsement on January 19, 2024. In it, she disclosed these disciplinary actions. During a phone call between Applicant and Board staff, Applicant asked to withdraw her application, indicating that she no longer intended to move to Oklahoma.
Based on the information provided in the Tennessee consent order and Respondent’s representations that she no longer planned to relocate to Oklahoma and wished to withdraw her application, the Board, pending this review, denied the Applicant’s RN endorsement application for a single-state license to practice registered nursing. The Board may reasonably believe that the proposed action is necessary to deter future violations.
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 meet minimum standards of professional conduct.
ROB JOHNSON
General Counsel
1Unprofessional conduct includes “conduct detrimental to the public interest.” 59 O.S.2021, § 567.8 (A)(1) and (B)(7); OAC 485:10-11-1(b)(3)(A)(H).
