STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

STATE OF FLORIDA, DEPARTMENT OF ) PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL ) REGULATION, BOARD OF NURSING, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 78-1641

)

ANITA J. SHEAR, R.N., )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held before Charles C. Adams, a Hearing Officer with the Division of Administrative Hearings, at 1:00 p.m., December 6, 1978, in Room 360, State Office Building, 1350 N.W. 12th Avenue, Miami, Florida.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Julius Finegold, Esquire

1107 Blackstone Building

Jacksonville, Florida 32202

For Respondent: Anita J. Shear, pro se

Post Office Box 215 Buena Vista Station Miami, Florida 33137

ISSUE

Whether or not the Respondent, Anita J. Shear, R.N., is entitled to have her terminated license No. 27650-2 reinstated, in view of the alleged allegations that the Respondent has been found guilty of the conviction of a felony in the course of the State of Florida. (See Section 464.151(1)(b) and Section 464.21(1) Florida Statutes.)

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. This cause comes on for consideration based upon the Administrative Complaint presented by the Petitioner, Florida State Board of Nursing, against the Respondent, Anita J. Shear, R.N. The case is presented as Docket No. FSBN 78-70. The Administrative Complaint seeks to deny the re-registration of the terminated license of Anita J. Shear, who held license No. 27650-2 (terminated). The alleged grounds for the denial of the re-registration are based upon the alleged plea of guilty to the felony charges of unlawfully obtaining services, goods, wares or other things of value by means of a worthless check or draft in the amount of $187.00 in a case in the Circuit Court in and for Dade County, Florida, Case No. 77-2285. The allegation is that the Respondent entered the plea on or about March 14, 1978, and was adjudicated guilty of the felony by the

   Court and sentenced to serve a term of one year in jail upon certain terms and conditions. There is an additional ground stated in the Administrative Complaint for denying the re-registration, which is to the effect that the Respondent on or about March 14, 1978, entered pleas of guilty to the felony charges of uttering a forged instrument (three counts); grand larceny (three counts) and intentionally receiving, retaining, disposing or aiding in the concealment of stolen property, well knowing the same to be stolen (three counts). This series of pleas were allegedly presented in the Circuit Court in and for Dade County, Florida, in Case No. 77-2304, for which the Respondent was allegedly adjudicated guilty of all those aforementioned felonies in Case No.

   77-2304.

   
   

2. At a time prior to March 31, 1978, the Respondent, Anita J. Shear, R.N., was a holder of license No. 27650-2, held with the Florida State Board of Nursing. That license was to practice as a Registered Nurse in the State of Florida. The Respondent, prior to March 31, 1978, had failed to timely renew her license and had terminated according to the terms and conditions of Section 404.151(1)(b), Florida Statutes. The timely renewal spoken of meant that the Respondent had failed to renew her license before the expiration date of the current license under which she was allowed to practice her profession in the State of Florida.

   
   

3. On March 31, 1978, the petitioner received an application for reinstatement of the Respondent's license, filed by the Respondent. The Petitioner failed to re-register the Respondent for reasons as set forth in the summarization of the Administrative Complaint. The Respondent was advised of this denial of re-registration on May 1, 1978. This in turn led to the consideration of the case by formal hearing with the State of Florida, Division of Administrative Hearings. The facts revealed that the Respondent, Anita J. Shear, in the Circuit Court in and for Dade County, Florida, in Case No. 77- 2285, entered a plea of guilty to unlawfully obtaining services, goods, wares or other things of value by means of a worthless check or draft in the amount of

   $187.00, for which she was adjudged guilty and sentenced to a term of one year in the Dade County Jail with the provision that after nine months served, the remaining three months should be stayed and withheld and the Respondent be placed on probation for a period of two years, subject to the terms and conditions of the Court. This plea and sentence were entered on March 14, 1978. This offense for which the Respondent entered her plea is a felony under the laws of the State of Florida, in particular, Section 832.05(3), Florida Statutes.

   
   

4. On March 14, 1978, in the Circuit Court in and for Dade County, Florida, in Case No. 77-2304, the Respondent entered a plea of guilty to uttering a forged instrument (three counts), felonies under the provisions of Section 831.02, Florida Statutes; grand larceny (three counts), felonies under the provisions of Section 812.021, Florida Statutes, and intentionally receiving, retaining, disposing or aiding in the concealment of stolen property, well knowing the same to be stolen (three counts). The latter plea was made in accordance with the provisions of Section 812.031, Florida Statutes, but it is unclear from the evidence presented whether or not those pleas were to the misdemeanor offenses of receiving stolen property or to the felony offenses.

   The Respondent was adjudicated guilty of those offenses found in Case No. 77- 2304 and was given a period of probation of two and one-half years beginning at the expiration of the sentence in Case No. 77-2285.

   
   

5. A statement of Court action in cases Nos. 77-2285 and 77-2304 may he found in the Petitioner's Composite Exhibit No. 1 admitted into evidence.

6. After discovering the existence of the felony conviction stated above, placed against the Respondent, the Petitioner has denied the Respondent's application for re-registration. The Petitioner may deny the license to the Respondent in view of the felony convictions under the authority established in Section 464.21, Florida Statutes, which states:

   
   

   "464.21 Disciplinary proceedings.--

   1. GROUNDS FOR DISCIPLINE.--The board shall have the authority to deny a license to any applicant or discipline the holder of a license or any other person temporarily authorized by the board to practice nursing in the state whose default has been entered or who has been heard and found guilty by the hoard of:

      * * *

      "Conviction of a felony in the courts of this state . . ."

      
      

7. Therefore, the Petitioner was correct in denying the Respondent's application for re-registration as a Registered Nurse.

   
   

   CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

   
   

8. The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction in this cause.

   
   

9. Based upon a full consideration of the facts herein, the Petitioner, as a matter of law, is empowered to deny the re-registration of the Respondent as a Registered Nurse in the State of Florida, based upon the fact that the Respondent has been convicted of felonies under the laws of the State of Florida, at a time when the Respondent had failed to renew her license and it had terminated due to tee failure to make the timely renewal.

RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that the Respondent, Anita J. Shear, R.N., have her application to re-register as a licensed Registered Nurse in the State of Florida, DENIED.

DONE and ENTERED this 3rd day of January, 1979, in Tallahassee, Florida.

CHARLES C. ADAMS, Hearing Officer Division of Administrative Hearings Room 101, Collins Building Tallahassee, Florida 32301

(904) 488-9675

COPIES FURNISHED:

Julius Finegold, Esquire 1107 Blackstone Building

233 East Bay Street Jacksonville, Florida 32202

Anita J. Shear

Post Office Box 215 Buena Vista Station Miami, Florida 33137

Geraldine B. Johnson, R.N. Investigation and Licensing

Coordinator

Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, Board of Nursing

6501 Arlington Expressway

Jacksonville, Florida 32211

Docket for Case No: 78-001641

Orders for Case No: 78-001641