STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

FLORIDA STATE BOARD OF NURSING, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 77-495

)

HARLAN COHN, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

This matter came on for hearing in Miami , Florida, before the Division of Administrative Hearings by its duly designated Hearing Officer, Robert T. Benton, II, on November 2, 1977. The parties were represented by counsel:

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Julius Finegold, Esquire

1005 Blackstone Building

233 East Bay Street Jacksonville, Florida 32202

For Respondent: Mr. Roger J. Schindler

1492 South Miami Avenue, Suite 101

Miami, Florida 33130

By administrative complaint dated February 12, 1977, petitioner alleged that respondent "[o]n or about October 1, 1974, . . . fondled an incapacitated teenage female who was a patient in his charge at Jackson Memorial Hospital;" and that respondent resigned from "the professional nursing program at Jackson Memorial Hospital School of Nursing . . . at the request of the director of the program for several reasons including inappropriately placing his hands upon a fellow female student." In another count, petitioner alleged that respondent fondled two other female patients, but petitioner withdrew these allegations at the hearing.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Respondent, already licensed as an L.P.N. , enrolled in a training program at Jackson Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in order to prepare for licensure as a registered nurse. As part of his training, he cared for patients at Jackson Memorial Hospital, under the supervision of the regular nursing staff.

   
   

2. One morning between September 30, 1974, and October 2, 1974, inclusive, Betty Jean Gabriel, an employee of Jackson Memorial who had finished her training to be an L.P.N., but who was not yet licensed as an L.P.N., walked into a room on a rehabilitation ward (Room 340 or 346) and began helping one of the three women patients in the room to get dressed. She had finished with one

   patient and started with another before she noticed respondent standing behind a curtain at the bedside of a teenaged patient named Ann. Ann, a brain-damaged quadriplegic, who was unable to speak or to control her drooling, lay supine on her bed completely undressed, while respondent fondled her breasts. When Ms.

   Gabriel noticed this, she asked rhetorically whether something was wrong or said something similar, in order to alert respondent that he had been seen, thinking he would desist. She then turned back to the patient she had been helping and quickly finished dressing her. When she reached Ann's bed the second time, she discovered that respondent was still caressing Ann's breasts.

   
   

3. In the summer of 1975, respondent was summoned to the office of the director of nursing at Jackson Memorial. The director accused him of molesting two female patients the preceding Sunday and told him that he would be expelled if he did not resign from the training program. Respondent wrote out his resignation and tendered it before leaving the director's office.

   
   

   CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

   
   

4. Petitioner established that respondent bias guilty of unprofessional conduct within the meaning of Section 464.21 (1)Florida Statutes (1975). Petitioner proved that respondent "fondled an incapacitated teenage female who was a patient in his charge" and proved that respondent resigned from the training program but failed to prove that one reason for the resignation was that respondent had inappropriately placed his hands on a female student.

RECOMMENDATION

Upon consideration of the foregoing, it is RECOMMENDED:

That petitioner suspend respondent's license for a period of six (6) months.

DONE and ENTERED this 13th day of December, 1977, in Tallahassee, Florida.

ROBERT T. BENTON, II

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings Room 530, Carlton Building Tallahassee, Florida 32304

(904) 488-9675

COPIES FURNISHED:

Mr. Julius Finegold, Esquire 1005 Blackstone Building

233 East Bay Street Jacksonville, Florida 32202

Mr. Roger J. Schindler, Esquire Suite 101

1492 South Miami Avenue Miami, Florida 33130

================================================================= AGENCY FINAL ORDER

=================================================================

BEFORE THE FLORIDA STATE BOARD OF NURSING

IN THE MATTER OF:

HARLAN JULES COHN CASE NO. 77-495 851 80TH STREET

MIAMI, FLORIDA 33141

As a Licensed Practical Nurse License Number 28198-1

/

FINAL ORDER

The above entitled cause came on to be heard by the Florida State Board of Nursing on the 17th day of January, 1978, in the Board of Construction Industry Conference Room, 6501 Arlington Expressway, Building B, Jacksonville, Florida 32211.

The Board, having reviewed the entire record, including all pleadings, exhibits admitted into evidence, the transcript of hearing proceedings, the Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Recommended Order of the Hearing Officer, adopts the Findings of Fact of the Hearing Officer, Based upon the Findings of Fact, the Board concludes that the Respondent is guilty of unprofessional conduct in violation of Florida Statutes, Chapter 464.21(b) and IT IS THEREFORE:

ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the Respondent's license to practice nursing as a licensed practical nurse license number 28198-1 be placed on probation for a period of one year with the following terms and conditions:

1. That the Respondent refrain from violating any law, Federal, State or Local.

   
   

2. That the Respondent send to the Florida State Board of Nursing in writing every three months, a report of his current address and place of employment.

   
   

3. That the Respondent inform the Florida State Board of Nursing immediately of any change of address or change of employment.

   
   

4. That the Respondent request his employer to provide this office with an evaluation of her nursing performance every three months.

DONE AND ORDERED this 3rd day of February, 1978, at Jacksonville, Florida.

Dorothy C. Stratton, R.N., President

BOARD SEAL

ccs: Mr. Harlan Jules Cohn 851 80th Street

Miami, Florida 33141

Mr. Roger J. Schindler, Esquire Suite 101

1492 South Miami Avenue Miami, Florida 33130

Mr. Julius Finegold, Esquire

Docket for Case No: 77-000495

Orders for Case No: 77-000495