Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A) The board of nursing, by the vote of a
quorum, may impose one or more of the following sanctions if it finds that a
person committed fraud in passing an examination required by a community health
worker training program, or committed fraud, misrepresentation, or deception in
applying for a community health worker certificate: deny, revoke, suspend, or
place restrictions on a certificate issued by the board; reprimand or otherwise
discipline a certificate holder; or impose a fine of not more than five hundred
dollars per violation.
(B) By the
vote of a quorum, the board may impose one or more of the following sanctions
on an individual who applies for or holds, a community health worker
certificate: deny, revoke, suspend, or place restrictions on a community health
worker certificate, or reprimand or otherwise discipline a holder of a
community health worker certificate. The sanctions may be imposed for any of
the following:
(1) Denial, revocation,
suspension, or restriction of authority to engage in a licensed profession or
practice a health care occupation, in Ohio or another state or jurisdiction,
including but not limited to nursing, practice as a dialysis technician, nurse
aide, community health care worker or medication aide, for any reason other
than a failure to renew;
(2)
Performing a nursing task as a certified community health worker having failed
to renew a community health worker certificate issued under Chapter 4723. of
the Revised Code, or while a community health worker certificate is under
suspension or inactive;
(3)
Conviction of, a plea of guilty to, a judicial finding of guilt of, a judicial
finding of guilt resulting from a plea of no contest to, or a judicial finding
of eligibility for a pretrial diversion or similar program or for intervention
in lieu of conviction for, of a misdemeanor committed in the course of
performing care as a certified community health worker;
(4) Conviction of, a plea of guilty to, a
judicial finding of guilt of, a judicial finding of guilt resulting from a plea
of no contest to, or a judicial finding of eligibility for a pretrial diversion
or similar program or for intervention in lieu of conviction for, any felony or
any crime involving gross immorality or moral turpitude;
(5) Selling, giving away, or administering
drugs or therapeutic devices for other than legal and legitimate therapeutic
purposes; or conviction of, a plea of guilty to, a judicial finding of guilt
of, a judicial finding of guilt resulting from a plea of no contest to, or a
judicial finding of eligibility for a pretrial diversion or similar program or
for intervention in lieu of conviction for, violating any municipal, state,
county, or federal drug law;
(6)
Conviction of, a plea of guilty to, a judicial finding of guilt of, a judicial
finding of guilt resulting from a plea of no contest to, or a judicial finding
of eligibility for a pretrial diversion or similar program or for intervention
in lieu of conviction for, an act in another jurisdiction that would constitute
a felony or a crime of moral turpitude in Ohio;
(7) Conviction of, a plea of guilty to, a
judicial finding of guilt of, a judicial finding of guilt resulting from a plea
of no contest to, or a judicial finding of eligibility for a pretrial diversion
or similar program or for intervention in lieu of conviction for, an act in the
course of practice in another jurisdiction that would constitute a misdemeanor
in Ohio;
(8) Self-administering or
otherwise taking into the body any dangerous drug, as defined in section
4729.01 of the Revised Code, in
any way not in accordance with a legal, valid prescription issued for that
individual, or self-administering or otherwise taking into the body any drug
that is a schedule I controlled substance;
(9) Habitual or excessive use of controlled
substances, other habit-forming drugs, or alcohol or other chemical substances
to an extent that impairs the individual's ability to comply with the standards
of safe care established in rule
4723-26-10 of the Administrative
Code;
(10) Impairment of the
ability to comply with standards of safe care established in rule
4723-26-10 of the Administrative
Code because of the use of drugs, alcohol or other chemical
substances;
(11) Impairment of the
ability to comply with standards of safe care established in rule
4723-26-10 of the Administrative
Code because of a physical or mental disability;
(12) Assaulting or causing harm to a patient
or depriving a patient of the means to summon assistance;
(13) Misappropriation or attempted
misappropriation of money or anything of value in the course of performing care
as a certified community health worker;
(14) Adjudication by a probate court of being
mentally ill or mentally incompetent.
The board may restore the person's community health worker
certificate upon adjudication by a probate court of the person's restoration to
competency or upon submission to the board of other proof of competency;
(15) The suspension or termination
of employment by the department of defense or the veterans administration of
the United States for any act that violates or would violate his
chapter;
(16) Violation of Chapter
4723. of the Revised Code or any rules adopted under it;
(17) Violation of any restrictions placed on
a community health worker certificate by the board;
(18) Failure to use universal and standard
precautions including those set forth in Chapter 4723-20 of the Administrative
Code;
(19) Engaging in activities
that exceed those permitted under sections
4723.81 to
4723.88 of the Revised Code or
this chapter;
(20) Failure by a
certified community health worker to conform to the standards of safe care
established in rule
4723-26-10 of the Administrative
Code;
(21) Aiding and abetting a
person in that person's practice of nursing without a license, or practice as a
dialysis technician or certified medication aide without a certificate issued
under this chapter;
(22) Regardless
of whether the contact or verbal behavior is consensual, engaging with a
patient other the spouse of the certified community health worker in any of the
following:
(a) Sexual contact, as defined in
section 2907.01 of the Revised
Code;
(b) Verbal behavior that is
sexually demeaning to the patient or may be reasonably interpreted by the
patient as sexually demeaning; or
(23) Assisting suicide as defined in section
3795.01
of the Revised Code.
(C) The hearings of the board shall be
conducted in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code and Chapter
4723-16 of the Administrative Code. The board may appoint a hearing examiner,
as provided in section
119.09 of the Revised Code, to
conduct any hearing the board is authorized to hold under Chapter 119. of the
Revised Code.
(D) In any instance
in which the board is required under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to give
notice of an opportunity for a hearing and the applicant or certificate holder
does not make a timely request for a hearing in accordance with section
119.07 of the Revised Code:
(1) The board is not required to hold a
hearing, but may adopt, by vote of a quorum, a final order that contains the
board's findings; and
(2) In the
final order, the board may order any of the sanctions listed in paragraph (A)
or (B) of this rule.
(E)
If a criminal action is brought against a certified community health worker for
an act or crime described in paragraphs (B)(3) to (B)(7) of this rule and the
action is dismissed by the trial court other than on the merits:
(1) The board shall conduct an adjudication
to determine whether the certified community health worker committed the act
upon which the action was based.
(2) If the board determines on the basis of
the adjudication that the certified community health worker committed the act,
or if the certified community health worker fails to participate in the
adjudication, the board may take action as though the certified community
health worker had been convicted of the act.
(F) If the board takes action on the basis of
a conviction, plea, or a judicial finding as described in paragraphs (B)(3) to
(B)(7) of this rule that is overturned on appeal, the certified community
health worker may, on exhaustion of the appeal process, petition the board for
reconsideration of its action.
(1) On receipt
of the petition and supporting court documents, the board shall temporarily
rescind its action.
(2) If the
board determines that the decision on appeal was a decision on the merits, it
shall permanently rescind its action.
(3) If the board determines that the decision
on appeal was not a decision on the merits, it shall conduct an adjudication to
determine whether the certified community health worker committed the act on
which the original conviction, plea, or judicial finding was based.
(a) If the board determines on the basis of
the adjudication that the certified community health worker committed such act,
or if the certified community health worker does not request an adjudication,
the board shall reinstate its action.
(b) If the board determines that the
certified community health worker did not commit such act, the board shall
permanently rescind its action.
(G) The board may investigate an individual's
criminal background in performing its duties under this rule and sections
4723.81 to
4723.88 of the Revised Code. As
part of such investigation, the board may order the individual to submit, at
the individual's expense, a request to the bureau of criminal identification
and investigation for a criminal records check and check of federal bureau of
investigation records in accordance with the procedure described in section
4723.091 of the Revised
Code.
(H) During the course of an
investigation the board may compel any certified community health worker, or
applicant under section
4723.84 of the Revised Code, to
submit to a mental or physical examination, or both, as required by the board
and at the expense of the individual, if the board finds reason to believe that
the individual under investigation may have a physical or mental impairment
that may affect the individual's ability perform delegated nursing tasks.
Failure of any individual to submit to a mental or physical examination when
directed constitutes an admission of the allegations, unless the failure is due
to circumstances beyond the individual's control, and a default and final order
may be entered without the taking of testimony or presentation of
evidence.
(I) If the board finds
that an individual is impaired in accordance with paragraph (H) of this rule,
the board shall require the individual to submit to care, counseling, or
treatment approved or designated by the board, as a condition for an initial,
continued, reinstated, or renewed certified community health worker
certificate.
(1) The individual shall be
afforded an opportunity to demonstrate to the board that the individual can
begin or resume the performance of delegated nursing tasks in accordance with
standards established under rule
4723-26-10 of the Administrative
Code.
(2) For purposes of this
paragraph, any certified community health worker or applicant under this rule
shall be deemed to have given consent to submit to a mental or physical
examination when directed to do so in writing by the board, and to have waived
all objections to the admissibility of testimony or examination reports that
constitute a privileged communication.
(L) When the board
refuses to grant a community health worker certificate to an applicant, revokes
a certificate, or refuses to reinstate a certificate, the board may specify
that its action is permanent. An individual subject to permanent action taken
by the board is forever ineligible to hold a community health worker
certificate and the board shall not accept from the individual an application
for reinstatement of the certificate or for a new certificate.
