STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

BOARD OF NURSING, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 76-740

)

DANNY L. PRESSLER, L.P.N., )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to notice, an administrative hearing was held before Diane D. Tremor, Hearing Officer with the Division of Administrative Hearings, at 2:30

1. on July 13, 1976, in the Conference Room of the Manhattan Convalescent Center, 4610 South Manhattan Avenue, Tampa, Florida.

   
   

   APPEARANCES:

   
   

   For Petitioner: Mr. Juluis Finegold

   1130 American Heritage Life Building Jacksonville, Florida 32202

   
   

   For Respondent: No appearance

   
   

   INTRODUCTION

   
   

   By an administrative complaint dated March 24, 1976, petitioner seeks to suspend respondent's practical nursing license upon the grounds that the allegations of the complaint show him to be guilty of unprofessional conduct and in violation of F.S. ss. 464.21(1)(b), 464.081 and 464.24(4). Specifically, the complaint alleges that:

   
   

   1. on or about June 13, 1974, respondent applied for a position as a registered nurse at the Bryan Cameron Community Hospital, Inc., in Bryan Ohio, signing a certificate stating that he was a licensed registered nurse in the State of Florida holding license number 26892-1, when, in truth and fact, he has never been a licensed registered nurse in Florida;

      
      

   2. On or about November 20, 1975, while employed as a practical nurse at the Manhattan Convalescent Center in Tampa, respondent was entrusted with $35.00 of patient Gloria Adams' money and failed to properly deposit and account for such trust fund; and

      
      

   3. on or about November 20, 1975, while employed as a practical nurse at the Manhattan Convalescent Center in Tampa, respondent was entrusted with $15.00 of patient Doris Clark's money and failed to properly deposit and account for such trust fund.

Respondent signed the Election of Rights form attached to the complaint, indicating that the complaint contained disputed issues of material fact and requesting an administrative hearing. Thereafter, on June 22, 1976, the undersigned Hearing Officer issued a notice of hearing for 2:30 P.M. on July 13, 1976. At said time and date, the respondent called the undersigned and telephonically requested a continuation of the hearing. Upon consideration of the lateness of the request and the Board of Nursing attorney's objection thereto, the motion for continuance was denied. The hearing thus commenced as scheduled and the Board of Nursing presented the testimony of five witnesses, as well as documentary evidence.

It was announced by the undersigned at the beginning of the hearing that respondent would be permitted ten days within which to submit in writing a motion showing good cause why the hearing should be reopened so as to afford him the opportunity to present evidence in his own behalf. This was confirmed by letter to respondent dated July 16, 1976. Having received no response or motion from respondent, this recommended order ensues.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Upon consideration of the oral and documentary evidence adduced at the hearing, the following relevant facts are found:

1. At all times pertinent to these proceedings, respondent was a licensed practical nurse holding license number 26892-1. The designation of "-1" in the license number is the Board's designation for a licensed practical nurse, and the designation "-2" is for a registered nurse. Respondent is not now and has never been a licensed registered nurse in the State of Florida.

   
   

2. In June of 1974, respondent went to the nursing director's office of the Bryan Cameron Community Hospital in Bryan, Ohio, and applied for a position as a registered nurse in the operating room. Respondent could not substantiate that he was a licensed registered nurse. On the day that respondent was to report to work, the hospital administrator, Mr. Rusty O. Brunicardi, told respondent that he was having a problem verifying his registry and asked respondent if he would fill out a form saying that he was a registered nurse. Respondent then filled out and signed a form, witnessed by two persons, certifying that he was a licensed registered nurse in the State of Florida and that, his license number is 26892-1. Mr. Brunicardi also informed respondent that he should contact the Florida State Board of Nursing and have them call him and that, upon Brunicardi's receipt of a call from the Board, respondent could start to work. Respondent indicated to Brunicardi that there was some kind of mixup in the Board's files and that he would straighten it out. Respondent then left and Brunicardi never heard from him again.

   
   

3. Respondent began his employment with the Manhattan Convalescent Center in Tampa, Florida, on October 17, 1975. As a part of the orientation procedure for new employees, respondent was made aware of the Center's policy or procedure with respect to patient trust funds. The policy was that when patients with money in their possession are admitted to the Center, the money was to be taken by the admitting nurse to the business office and put into a trust fund account for the patient. After the money had been turned in, the nurse would give the patient a receipt. The business office kept a ledger card for each patient. when a patient requested money, the nurse was to write it down in the trust fund book on the station, take it to the office and deliver the money requested to the patient on the following day.

4. On or about November 20, 1975, Gloria Elizabeth Adams was admitted as a patient to the Manhattan Convalescent Center having in her possession $44.00 in cash. She gave $35.00 of this amount to her admitting nurse, respondent herein, for the purpose of putting it into a trust fund for her. Respondent wrote in his nursing notes on Adams' admission that she had brought money in and that it had been put in her trust fund. A day or two thereafter, respondent asked her to write a check for the trust fund. She asked respondent what had happened to the $35.00 she had previously given him and, not receiving a satisfactory answer, she refused to give him a check. Ms. Adams then went to the desk and asked to withdraw $5.00 from her account. She was told she would receive it the following day. She then saw respondent, who again asked her to write a check for $35.00 for the trust fund. She again refused and told him she had asked to withdraw $5.00 from her account. He then brought her $5.00, and she never saw him again.

   
   

5. About a week after Ms. Adams was admitted, the Director of Nursing at the Center, Phyllis Hereford, learned that there was a problem with Ms. Adams' trust fund. Since respondent was Adams' admitting nurse, Ms. Hereford spoke to him about it. He at first told her that he had put the money in an envelope and put the envelope in a narcotic book for Sister Edna Mae, the next nurse coming on duty. Ms. Hereford suggested that he call Sister to see if she remembered. He did so and Sister was very adamant that she did not receive an envelope with money in it in the narcotic book, and that, had the envelope been there, she would have seen it when she was counting drugs.

   
   

6. Director Hereford told respondent that since he had mishandled Ms. Adams' money, he was responsible for it and should pay it back. He indicated that he would do so, but he did not return to work more than one day thereafter. The administrator of the Center determined that the missing $30.00 would be deducted from respondent's pay check and placed into the Adams' trust fund. The ledger card for Ms. Adams reveals that on December 9, 1975, a deposit was made for $30.00 "to cover mishandled monies on Station 2." There was nothing on the ledger to indicate that an earlier deposit had ever been made.

   
   

7. Ms. Hereford learned that another patient, Doris Clark, had $10.00 mishandled by respondent and the Center deducted $10.00 from respondent's paycheck and reimbursed Clark's trust fund by such amount.

   
   

8. No objection or complaint was received by the Center from respondent concerning the $40.00 deduction from his salary.

   
   

   CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

   
   

9. On the basis of the findings of fact recited above, the undersigned Hearing Officer concludes that there is clear and convincing evidence to support the allegations of conduct contained in paragraphs 1 and 2 of the administrative complaint. As to the remaining charge regarding the monies of Doris Clark, the undersigned finds insufficient evidence with regard thereto. Ms. Clark was no longer a patient at that Manhattan Convalescent Center, did not testify at the hearing and therefore the facts alleged in the complaint concerning this incident were not substantiated by competent evidence.

   
   

10. Section 464.081(1), F.S., provides that

    
    

    "Only persons who hold a license to practice as a registered professional nurse in this state shall have the right to use the

    title 'Registered Nurse' and the abbreviation 'R.N.'"

    
    

    It is unlawful for any person to "use in connection with his or her name any designation tending to imply that he or she is a licensed nurse, unless duly licensed to practice" under the provisions of F.S. Chapter 464. F.S. s.

    464.24(1)(d).

    
    

11. The evidence in this case is clear that respondent did hold himself out as the holder of a registered nursing license for the purpose of obtaining employment at the Bryan Cameron Community Hospital. Having been licensed as a practical nurse only, this conduct constitutes a wilful violation of F.S. ss. 464.081(1) and 464.24(1)(d).

    
    

12. While the evidence does not establish whether or not respondent actually converted the private money of Ms. Adams to his own use, it does establish that he mishandled such monies and failed to properly deposit the same in a trust fund for Ms. Adams. This was contrary to the established procedure and policies of the Manhattan Convalescent Center and contrary to the elements of trust and confidence which a patient is entitled to from a health care facility and its employees.

    
    

13. The Board of Nursing has the authority to discipline licensees found guilty of unprofessional conduct and willfully violating any of the provisions of Chapter 464. F.S. s. 464.21(b) and (g). Unprofessional conduct is defined by s. 464.21(b) as including any departure from, or failure to conform to, the minimal standards of acceptable and prevailing nursing practice, and actual injury need not be established. Employees of health care facilities are frequently called upon to handle the personal property of patients. This function is often as important to the patient as the administration of health care, and an employee's conduct when performing such a function should be as professional as when he is performing other nursing practices. The Manhattan Convalescent Center had established procedures and policies with regard to the handling of a patient's money, and respondent was made aware of such policy during his orientation procedure. It is concluded that respondent's conduct in the handling of Ms. Adams' personal money was unprofessional and constituted a grievous breach of duty, thus subjecting respondent to disciplinary action by the Board of Nursing.

RECOMMENDATION

Based upon the findings of fact and conclusions of law recited above, it is recommended that the Board dismiss that charge relating to the monies of Doris Clark; find respondent guilty of unprofessional conduct in his actions surrounding the monies of Ms. Adams; and find respondent guilty of willfully violating F.S. ss. 464.081(1) and 464.24(1)(d) in his actions surrounding his attempt at employment with the Bryan Cameron Community Hospital. It is further recommended that, for such offenses, the Board suspend respondent's license number 26892-1 for a period of one (1) year.

Respectfully submitted and entered this 5th day of August, 1976, in Tallahassee, Florida.

DIANE D. TREMOR, Hearing Officer Division of Administrative Hearings

Room 530, Carlton Building Tallahassee, Florida 32304

(904) 488-9675

COPIES FURNISHED:

Mr. Danny L. Pressler

3 Seashore Drive Ormand Beach, Florida

Mr. Danny L. Pressler

307 Southeast Avenue Montpelier, Ohio 43543

Ms. Geraldine Johnson

Florida State Board of Nursing 6501 Arlington Expressway

Jacksonville, Florida 32211

Julius Finegold

1130 American Heritage Life Building Jacksonville, Florida 32202

Docket for Case No: 76-000740

Orders for Case No: 76-000740