ALJDEC decisions subject to certification as final
18A-1412016-NUR · State Board of Nursing · 2018-05-09
IN THE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS
IN THE MATTER OF THE REGISTERED NURSE LICENSE NO. RN182076
ISSUED TO:
JENNIFER MARIE DOBBINS,(SUMMARY SUSPENSION)
RESPONDENT
No. 18A-1412016-NUR
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE DECISION
HEARING: April 19, 2018
APPEARANCES: Respondent Jennifer Marie Dobbins did not appear. Assistant Attorney General Sunita Krishna appeared on behalf of the Arizona State Board of Nursing.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Velva Moses-Thompson
FINDINGS OF FACT
The Arizona State Board of Nursing issued registered nurse license
No. RN182076 to Jennifer Marie Dobbins. Ms. Dobbins’s license was summarily suspended prior to the hearing.
2. On December 3, 2014, Ms. Dobbins worked the night shift as an RN at Flagstaff Medical Center. During her shift, Ms. Dobbins removed a total of eight Percocet tablets for Patient RY at 5:54 p.m., Patient LM at 3:09 p.m., Patient DJ at 3:09 p.m., and Patient TT at 3:10 p.m. However, two of the patients did not have orders for Percocet. There is no documentation in the medical records that Percocet was given, wasted, or returned.
3. On or about May 4, 2017, Ms. Dobbins tested positive for cocaine and opiates while employed at Camelback Care Center. Camelback Care Center terminated Ms. Dobbins’s employment for violating the facility’s drug free workplace policy.
4. On June 13, 2017, the Texas Board of Nursing Eligibility and Disciplinary Committee revoked Ms. Dobbins’s Texas RN license No. 841328 for diversion of medication from East Texas Medical Center, Tyler, TX, in July 2016.
5. On February 6, 2015, Board staff sent an Investigative Questionnaire to Dobbins’s address of record with instructions to fill out and return the questionnaire.
6. On June 8, 2017, Board staff sent a second Investigative Questionnaire to Dobbins’s address of record with instructions to fill out and return the questionnaire.
7. On February 13, 2018, Board staff send a third Investigative Questionnaire to Dobbins’s address of record with instructions to fill out and return the questionnaire.
8. Ms. Dobbins did not responded to the investigative questionnaires.
9. On March 22, 2018, the Board summarily suspended Ms. Dobbins’s RN license.
10. On April 5, 2018, the Board issued a Complaint and Notice of Hearing setting the above-captioned matter for hearing on April 19, 2018 at 9:00 a.m., at the Office of Administrative Hearings in Phoenix, Arizona.
11. The Complaint and Notice of Hearing provides that the issue for determination is whether grounds exist to take disciplinary action, including suspension or revocation against Ms. Dobbins who holds RN license No. RN182076.
12. On April 5, 2018, the Complaint and Notice of Hearing was issued to Ms. Dobbins at her address of record.
13. A hearing was held on April 19, 2018.
14. Although the start of the hearing was delayed approximately 17 minutes to provide additional time for Ms. Dobbins to arrive, Ms. Dobbins did not appear for the hearing. No representative for Ms. Dobbins appeared on her behalf at the hearing.
15. At hearing, the Board presented the testimony of Ruth Kish, RN, a Nurse Practice Consultant for the Board, and submitted exhibits 1 through 11.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
This matter lies within the Board’s jurisdiction under Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 32-1606(A)(8).
The Board bears the burden of persuasion to establish cause to penalize Ms. Dobbins’s registered nurse license. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 41-1092.07(G)(2);
The Board’s burden is a preponderance of the evidence. Ariz. Admin. Code § R2-19-119.
A preponderance of the evidence is:
The greater weight of the evidence, not necessarily established by the greater number of witnesses testifying to a fact but by evidence that has the most convincing force; superior evidentiary weight that, though not sufficient to free the mind wholly from all reasonable doubt, is still sufficient to incline a fair and impartial mind to one side of the issue rather than the other.
Black’s Law Dictionary 1373 (10th ed. 2014).
The facts, as set forth previously, establish that Ms. Dobbins committed unprofessional conduct as defined by Ariz. Rev. Stat. section 32-1601(26)(d), (f), (h), (j); A.A.C. R4-19-403(1), (8), (9), (16), (18), and (25).
Because Ms. Dobbins has committed unprofessional conduct, the Board has authority to revoke her registered nurse license. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 32-1663(D); and § 32-1664(O).
Given Ms. Dobbins’s egregious behavior and her failure to appear at the
duly noticed hearing, Mr. Dobbins has demonstrated that she cannot be regulated at this time.
Considering the facts and circumstances of this matter, it is recommended
that Ms. Dobbins’s registered nurse license number RN182076 be revoked.
RECOMMENDED ORDER
Based on the foregoing, the Administrative Law Judge recommends that the Board revoke Ms. Dobbins’s registered nurse license number RN182076.
In the event of certification of the Administrative Law Judge Decision by the Director of the Office of Administrative Hearings, the effective date of the Order will be five days from the date of that certification.
Done this day, May 4, 2018.
/s/ Velva Moses-Thompson
Administrative Law Judge
Transmitted electronically to:
Joey Ridenour, RN, MN, Executive Director
State Board of Nursing