Jenny Barnhouse, Executive Director
Oklahoma Board of Nursing
P.O. Box 52926
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73152
Re: Brown, Case No. 3.2023080054.25
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 intends to take in the above-referenced case. The respondent is licensed to practice licensed practical nursing in the State of Oklahoma and is the holder of a single-state license.
The Oklahoma Nursing Practice 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” in a way that “unnecessarily exposes a patient or other person to risk of harm[,]” “[i]s guilty of unprofessional conduct[,]”[1] or “[i]s guilty of any act that jeopardizes a patient’s life, health or safety[.]”[2] 59 O.S.2021, § 567.8(B)(3), (7-8).
In a December 2024 complaint, Board staff alleged that Respondent failed to adequately care for a patient or conform to the minimum standards of acceptable nursing practice and Respondent’s conduct unnecessarily exposed a patient or other person to risk of harm and jeopardized patients’ lives, health or safety; that Respondent lacked sufficient knowledge or reasonable skill by failing to adhere to the minimal standards of acceptable practical nurse practice; and unprofessional conduct. Specifically, on or about July 26-27, 2023, the Respondent, while working as a Charge Nurse on the 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. shift at a nursing home, abandoned his resident care assignment of twenty-five (25) residents when the Respondent was observed asleep at 3:00 a.m., by another nursing home licensed practical nurse (“LPN”).[3] The LPN unsuccessfully attempted to awaken the Respondent. The LPN called the on-call LPN to come to the nursing home and assume the Respondent’s resident care assignment. When the on-call LPN arrived at the nursing home, the Respondent left the nursing home without notifying the LPN, the on-call LPN, and/or the nursing home administration. Further, Respondent failed to administer multiple medications to three nursing home residents. Thereafter, Respondent admitted to nursing home administration and later to Board staff, during a telephonic investigative conference, that he had abandoned his resident care assignment by sleeping while on duty and leaving without giving a report to another licensed nurse.
Respondent accepted service of the Notice of Hearing and Complaint on February 7, 2025. On March 25, 2025, Respondent failed to answer the docket call at the Board hearing and was found in default for his failure to appear and for his failure to file a response under oath by the date specified in the Notice of Hearing. At a hearing held March 25, 2025, the Board proposed to order that Respondent is found to be in default and the allegations of the Complaint are deemed admitted. Respondent’s single-state license to practice licensed practical nursing remains in effect and will be disciplined as follows: Respondent’s single-state license to practice licensed practical nursing is hereby reprimanded. Respondent shall, within ninety (90) days before or after the receipt of the Board’s Order, successfully complete Board-approved courses on Nursing Jurisprudence and Critical Thinking, to include moral reasoning in accordance with the course requirements contained in the Board’s Order. Within sixty (60) days from receipt of the Board’s Order, Respondent shall pay, by certified check or money order only, an administrative penalty of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) payable to the Oklahoma Board of Nursing. Within sixty (60) days from receipt of the Board’s Order, Respondent shall pay, by certified check or money order only, the cost of the investigation and prosecution of the disciplinary action in the amount of Nine Hundred Seventy-Eight Dollars and Eighty-Six Cents ($978.86) payable to the Oklahoma Board of Nursing. Upon successful completion of the terms of the Board’s Order and any Supplemental Order(s), all encumbrances shall be removed from Respondent’s single-state licensed practical nursing license.
Further, prior to Respondent’s successful completion of the Board’s Order, any violations of the Oklahoma Nursing Practice Act by Respondent may require Respondent to appear before the Board and show cause why Respondent’s single-state licensed practical nurse license should not be revoked or other action taken as deemed necessary a proper. Failure to comply with submission of the administrative penalty and/or written documentation by the due date, including but not limited to proof of successful completion of education courses, will result in a three (3) month suspension of Respondent’s license. If Respondent’s license is suspended, all Board ordered classes must be successfully completed and payment of the administrative penalty and investigative/prosecution costs must be paid prior to reinstatement of Respondent’s license. Additionally, an administrative penalty of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) will be assessed for each violation of Respondent’s Board Order and shall be paid by certified check or money order only. Given the serious nature of the allegations the Board reasonably believes that this emergency action is necessary to protect public health, safety, and welfare.
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.
Cheryl Dixon
Deputy General Counsel
[1] Unprofessional conduct includes “leaving a nursing assignment or patient care assignment without properly advising appropriate personnel,” or “conduct detrimental to the public interest.” OAC 485:10-11-1(b)(3)(F),(H).
[2] Conduct that jeopardizes a patient’s life, health, and safety includes failing to utilize appropriate judgment in “administering safe nursing practice” and “patient care[.]” OAC 485:10-11-1(b)(4)(D).
[3] The Board’s Abandonment Statement provides Guidelines to specific situations that may constitute abandonment. It states that abandonment may include but is not limited to: “[l]eaving the employment site during an assigned patient care shift after the nurse has come on duty and accepted the assignment of patient(s) for the shift without properly advising appropriate personnel” and “[s]leeping while on duty without a supervisor’s approval that is consistent with written institutional policy.”
