STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

BOARD OF NURSING, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 78-2375

)

GWENDOLYN RANDOLPH, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

This matter came on for hearing in Bartow, Florida, before the Division of Administrative Hearings, by its duly designated Hearing Officer, Robert T. Benton, II, on March 6, 1979. The Division of Administrative Hearings received a copy of the transcript on March 22, 1979. The parties were represented by counsel:

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Julius Finegold, Esquire

1107 Blackstone Building

Jacksonville, Florida 32202

For Respondent: Christy F. Harris, Esquire

Post Office Box 2451 Lakeland, Florida 33803

By administrative complaint dated November 13, 1978, petitioner alleged that respondent, beginning in "approximately November of 1970 . . . has suffered periodic attacks of psychotic episodes resulting in . . . treatment . . . and being hospitalized . . .;" that fellow workers at Polk General Hospital observed that she was "deteriorating emotionally and mentally to the point where she is no longer capable of carrying out her normal duties . . . as a registered nurse and that respondent, "[o]n or about August 20, 1978, when asked to start a pitocin drip on a patient, a procedure [she] . . . had performed numerous times before, replied she was incapable of so doing and that she did not remember how to perform the procedure."

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Through counsel, respondent stipulated to the accuracy of the allegations of the first and third paragraphs of the administrative complaint; and, in addition, that respondent, while employed as a registered nurse at Polk General Hospital, was unable to carry out her normal duties on account of a psychiatric disorder.

   
   

2. On or about June 1, 1969, respondent was hospitalized after being diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. She was discharged on June 20, 1969. On August 18, 1972, respondent was again hospitalized with a diagnosis of

   schizophrenia, paranoid type. She was discharged on August 23, 1972. With the same diagnosis, respondent spent three weeks in the hospital from December 31, 1977, to January 20, 1978.

   
   

3. Hallucinations and delusions are symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia. Medication can control these symptoms in respondent. Dr. Thomas K. McClane, a board certified psychiatrist, first saw respondent on March 6, 1978, and has seen her six times since. At no time has he seen her "display any of the more flagrant symptoms or signs of any schizophrenic disorder." (T. 10) When Dr. McClane first saw respondent, she had left off taking a drug that had been prescribed for her, because she wanted to avoid "side effects which at times impaired her function and . . . her feeling of well being. (T. 10).

   
   

4. Dr. McClane prescribed a different drug, Prolixin, and experimented with the dosage. During this period of experimentation, respondent suffered certain toxic side effects in the nature of oversedation. During this period of experimentation, Dr. Ellie Maria Hartog, chief of the obstetrical and gynecological service at Polk General Hospital, observed respondent in an oversedated condition having difficulty doing her job; and respondent lost her job as a nurse on the obstetrics ward.

   
   

5. Eventually, Dr. McClane settled on a regimen of weekly or bi-weekly depot injections of Prolixin. In the four months next preceding the hearing, respondent experienced no side effect from this medication. Respondent's mental condition is stable and is not deteriorating, although she can expect her symptoms to recur if she does not receive medication regularly.

   
   

6. At the time of the hearing, respondent was employed at the Lake Wales Convalescent Center as the night duty charge nurse. Before taking this full- time job, she had worked at Lake Wales Convalescent Center part-time for some ten years. She had had no problems in discharging her duties at this nursing home. More or less continuously, respondent has worked as a nurse for 34 years.

   
   

   CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

   
   

7. Respondent stipulated that she had been unable to perform normal nursing duties at Polk General Hospital because of her psychiatric disorder, although Dr. Hartog's testimony suggests that respondent's medication may have been the immediate problem. In any event, inability to perform her normal duties as a nurse "create[d] an undue risk . . . [of] harm to other persons Section 464.21(1)(f), Florida Statutes (1977), although no harm was shown to have come to any person.

RECOMMENDATION

Upon consideration of the foregoing, it is RECOMMENDED:

That petitioner take no disciplinary action against respondent so long as she remains under the care of a psychiatrist whom she authorizes to make quarterly reports to petitioner on her treatment and prognosis.

DONE and ENTERED this 19th day of April, 1979, 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:

Julius Finegold, Esquire 1107 Blackstone Building

Jacksonville, Florida 32202

Christie Harris, Esquire Post Office Box 2451 Lakeland, Florida 33803

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

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

IN THE MATTER OF:

Gwendolyn W. Randolph

BEFORE THE FLORIDA STATE BOARD OF NURSING

As a Registered Nurse Case No. 78-2375

Post Office Box 461 License Number 16202-2 Lake Wales, Florida 33853

/

ORDER

This matter came on for final action by the Florida State Board of Nursing on the 26th day of June, 1979, at 111 Coastline Drive East, Suite 508, Jacksonville, Florida.

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 and Conclusions of Law of the Hearing Officer and IT IS THEREFORE:

ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the registered nurse license number 16202-2 of the Respondent, Gwendolyn W. Randolph be suspended for a period of four (4) years. However, it is ordered that said suspension be and the same is hereby stayed and the licensee be placed on probation for the period of four (4) years with the following terms and conditions:

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

   
   

2. That the Respondent provide the Board with a current evaluation of the psychiatric report following the June 27, 1979 appointment with her psychiatrist.

   
   

3. That the Respondent provide this Board with a written report every three (3) months from the therapist or psychiatrist of her progress in the program or psychiatric treatment.

   
   

4. That the Respondent provide this Board with a written report every three (3) months of her current address and place of employment.

   
   

5. If employed as a nurse during the period of probation, that the Respondent leave her employer to provide the Board with an evaluation of her nursing performance every three (3) months during the period of this probation. Such evaluations must prove to be satisfactory to the Board.

   
   

6. The failure to comply with terms of said probation shall be deemed a violation of this Order.

DONE AND ORDERED this 28th day of June, 1979, at Jacksonville, Florida.

FLORIDA STATE BOARD OF NURSING

BY:

Dorothy C. Stratton, R.N. President

BOARD SEAL

ccs: Gwendolyn W. Randolph Post Office Box 461

Lake Wales. Florida 33853

Christie Harris, Esquire Post Office Box 2451 Lakeland, Florida 33803

Julius Finegold, Esquire Attorney for the Board

Docket for Case No: 78-002375

Orders for Case No: 78-002375