The statutory amendments to the Texas Nursing Practice Act as proposed by House Bill 3961 came into effect on September 1, 2009. The Amendments were largely suggested by the Texas Board of Nursing’s executive staff and attorneys in an effort to circumvent difficulties they were experiencing prosecuting disciplinary and licensure cases involving the nursing practice
Polygraph Testing
Texas Board of Nursing’s Pre-Approved Evaluator List: What Every Texas Nurse Should Know
In cases involving possible alcohol/controlled substance abuse or mental health issues, the Texas Board of Nursing frequently asks nurses to submit to a forensic psychological evaluation and polygraph examination. This standard letter also contains a list of pre-approved evaluators and polygraph examiners. Any nurse who receives such a request should immediately stop and call…
Board of Nursing Overreaches Mandate in Pursuit of Ancient Criminal History
As most Texas nurses are now aware, the Texas Board of Nursing has for several years been performing criminal background checks as part of the renewal process. Each year a certain number of nurses who are up for renewal are required to submit fingerprints for an FBI background check. Those persons who lack any…
Misuse of EtG Testing by the Texas Board of Nurse Exmainers & TPAPN
Recently I have had a flurry of cases where Texas nurses are accused of violating their Agreed Board Orders or their Texas Peer Assistance Program for Nurses (TPAPN) contracts due to positive Ethylglucuronide (EtG) tests in the 300 to 500 ng/ml range. In each case the Nurse denied consuming alcohol and corroborating evidence suggested they were sober; nevertheless, TPAPN expelled them from participation and a subsequent BNE investigation ensued against their nursing license.
This is clearly contrary to the admissibility of EtG testing in Court or as valid scientific evidence for the Board of Nurse Examiners to consider regarding these individuals knowing or intentional use of ethyl alcohol (ETOH). Please see my blog post: “What is EtG”. Moreover, it is a clear abuse of the power of both TPAPN and the BNE as they have decided their interpretations and determinations regarding EtG testing validity and use are superior to that of the Courts, SAMSHA and the scientific community at large.
Properly utilized, EtG testing can be an excellent screening tool to confront someone about a positive test. Oftentimes the initial confrontation will yield to an admission of a return to active drinking. However, when denied and all circumstances suggest that sobriety is in tact the EtG test in this range is insufficient in and of itself to prove alcohol consumption. Continue Reading Misuse of EtG Testing by the Texas Board of Nurse Exmainers & TPAPN
DWI & Nursing License Discipline by the Texas Board of Nurse Examiners
Although initial arrests and convictions for Driving While Intoxictated (DWI) will not ordinarily result in the imposition of a disciplinary sanction against a Texas Nurse, they often do give rise to a stressful and searching investigation by Staff of the Board of Nurse Examiners. This result is due to, on the one hand, the legal fact that under the Nursing Practice Act, many DWI’s do not relate to the practice of nursing, and on the other, the practical reality of the Nursing Board’s zealous policing of what it deems unprofessional conduct (Texas Occupation Code § 301.452(b)(10). A knowledgeable attorney can best secure a positive outcome by ensuring that the correct standard is applied and not substituted by the Board’s personal opinion(s) on what constitutes unprofessional or dishonorable conduct.
Under the Nursing Practice Act the Board can take disciplinary action against a licensee if a nurse has been convicted or placed on deferred adjudication for either a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude. (Texas Occupation Code § 301.452(b)(3)). An individual’s first two DWI’s are misdemeanors under the Texas Penal Code with the third and all those thereafter rising to felonies. From a legal standpoint, however, the Nursing Board’s broad discretion to take disciplinary action under the Nursing Practice Act is limited by the Texas Occupation Code’s prescription that discipline can only be imposed if the felony or misdemeanor “directly relates to the duties and responsibilities of the license holder.” (Texas Occupation Code § 53.021). In deciding this issue, the Board must weigh certain factors such as “the relationship of the crime to the purposes for requiring a license to engage in the occupation” and “the relationship of the crime to the ability, capacity, or fitness required to perform the duties and discharge the responsibilities of the licensed occupation.” (§ 53.022)
Board Staff’s policy, however, is to initiate an investigation into a nurse’s fitness and character if they have two or more criminal arrests for alcohol or drug related offenses in a lifetime. Board Staff does not seem to differentiate between arrests, deferred probations, regular probations, dismissals and final convictions with respect to opening an investigation. Once the investigation is initiated, Board Staff tries to force the nurse into a forensic psychological evaluation and polygraph test in an effort to determine if the license holder suffers from a DSM IV diagnosis of chemical abuse or dependence. Unfortunately, any other conduct or psychiatric disorder discovered through this battery of questionable discovery is then utilized to stipulate the nurse’s registration. Board Staff is successful in this less than admirable procedure as many nurses think they do not need or can not afford an attorney. Competent, experienced counsel however, can put a halt to this process and mount a successful defense against Board Staff’s position that all criminal conduct is unprofessional and therefore relates to the practice of nursing. Moreover, a knowledgeable attorney will know how to circumvent Board Staff’s insistence that the Nurse undergo an evaluation with a “Board Approved” expert and then submit to the rigors of a “qualifying” polygraph examination. Continue Reading DWI & Nursing License Discipline by the Texas Board of Nurse Examiners
The Polygraph Test: Just Say No to the BNE
The Board of Nurse Examiners for the State of Texas (BNE) evaluates applicant’s for RN and LVN licensure per the Nursing Practice Act and the Nursing Board’s Rules found in 22 Texas Administrative Code Sec. 217.11 et al. Per the Nursing Practice Act, Board Staff has the ability to investigate an applicant’s character and fitness to practice Nursing based on indications that an applicant may lack the "good professional character" to be a licensed nurse.
In an effort to weed out poor or marginal applicants Board Staff notifies individuals that due to their criminal, work, mental health or drug use history they must Petition the Board’s Executive Director for a Declaratory Order to practice nursing. Then Board Staff (through the Executive Director) requests that they undergo a forensic psychological evaluation with a polygraph test component. Although it is not explicitly stated in the request the implication is that a failure to submit to the "illegally requested" tests will result in a denial of the application for a license.
Although not legally authorized, Board Staff requests these evaluations for crimes that are often thirty (30) years old and that in and of themselves do not relate to the practice of nursing. Moreover, the forensic evaluation and polygraph tests are often nothing more than a fishing expedition to determine if a person has done something in their past to render them ineligible. Oftentimes what is dicovered is then used as the basis for denial even though it is often not legally admissible evidence. The simple truth is JUST Say No to the polygraph and call an attorney. Continue Reading The Polygraph Test: Just Say No to the BNE