Kan. Admin. Regs. § 60-3-110 - Unprofessional conduct

Any of the following shall constitute "unprofessional conduct":

(a) Performing acts beyond the authorized scope of the level of nursing for which the individual is licensed;

(b) assuming duties and responsibilities within the practice of nursing without making or obtaining adequate preparation or maintaining competency;

(c) failing to take appropriate action or to follow policies and procedures in the practice situation designed to safeguard each patient;

(d) inaccurately recording, falsifying, or altering any record of a patient or agency or of the board;

(e) physical abuse, which shall be defined as any act or failure to act performed intentionally or carelessly that causes or is likely to cause harm to a patient. This term may include any of the following:

(1) The unreasonable use of any physical restraint, isolation, or medication that harms or is likely to harm a patient;

(2) the unreasonable use of any physical or chemical restraint, medication, or isolation as punishment, for convenience, in conflict with a physician's order or a policy and procedure of the facility or a state statute or regulation, or as a substitute for treatment, unless the use of the restraint, medication, or isolation is in furtherance of the health and safety of the patient;

(3) any threat, menacing conduct, or other nontherapeutic or inappropriate action that results in or might reasonably be expected to result in a patient's unnecessary fear or emotional or mental distress; or

(4) failure or omission to provide any goods or services that are reasonably necessary to ensure safety and well-being and to avoid physical or mental harm;

(f) commission of any act of sexual abuse, sexual misconduct, or sexual exploitation related to the licensee's practice;

(g) verbal abuse, which shall be defined as any word or phrase spoken inappropriately to or in the presence of a patient that results in or might reasonably be expected to result in the patient's unnecessary fear, emotional distress, or mental distress;

(h) delegating any activity that requires the unique skill and substantial specialized knowledge derived from the biological, physical, and behavioral sciences and judgment of the nurse to an unlicensed individual in violation of the Kansas nurse practice act or to the detriment of patient safety;

(i) assigning the practice of nursing to a licensed individual in violation of the Kansas nurse practice act or to the detriment of patient safety;

(j) violating the confidentiality of information or knowledge concerning any patient;

(k) willfully or negligently failing to take appropriate action to safeguard a patient or the public from incompetent practice performed by a registered professional nurse or a licensed practical nurse. "Appropriate action" may include reporting to the board of nursing;

(l) leaving an assignment that has been accepted, without notifying the appropriate authority and allowing reasonable time for replacement;

(m) engaging in conduct related to licensed nursing practice that is likely to deceive, defraud, or harm the public;

(n) diverting drugs, supplies, or property of any patient or agency;

(o) exploitation, which shall be defined as misappropriating a patient's property or taking unfair advantage of a patient's physical or financial resources for the licensee's or another individual's personal or financial advantage by the use of undue influence, coercion, harrassment, duress, deception, false pretense, or false representation;

(p) solicitation of professional patronage through the use of fraudulent or false advertisements, or profiting by the acts of those representing themselves to be agents of the licensee;

(q) advertising nursing superiority or advertising the performance of nursing services in a superior manner;

(r) failing to comply with any disciplinary order of the board;

(s) failing to complete the requirements of the impaired provider program of the board;

(t) failing to furnish the board, its investigators, or its representatives with any information legally requested by the board;

(u) engaging in nursing practice while using a false or assumed name or while impersonating another person licensed by the board;

(v) practicing without a license or while the license has lapsed;

(w) allowing another person to use the licensee's license to practice nursing; or

(x) knowingly aiding or abetting another in any act that is a violation of any healthcare licensing act.

Notes

Kan. Admin. Regs. § 60-3-110

Authorized by K.S.A. 65-1129; implementing K.S.A. 2001 Supp. 65-1120; effective May 1, 1982; amended Sept. 27, 1993; amended Sept. 6, 1994; amended Oct. 25, 2002.