North Carolina General Statutes 90-171.23. Duties, powers, and meetings
(a) Meetings. – The Board shall hold at least two meetings each year to transact its business. The Board shall adopt rules with respect to calling, holding, and conducting regular and special meetings and attendance at meetings. The majority of the Board members constitutes a quorum.
(b) Duties; powers. – The Board is empowered to:
(1) Administer this Article.
Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 90-171.23
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Board: means the North Carolina Board of Nursing. See North Carolina General Statutes 90-171.20
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- License: means a permit issued by the Board to practice nursing as a registered nurse or as a licensed practical nurse, including a renewal thereof. See North Carolina General Statutes 90-171.20
- Licensee: means any person issued a license by the Board, whether the license is active or inactive, including an inactive license by means of surrender. See North Carolina General Statutes 90-171.20
- Nursing: is a dynamic discipline which includes the assessing, caring, counseling, teaching, referring and implementing of prescribed treatment in the maintenance of health, prevention and management of illness, injury, disability or the achievement of a dignified death. See North Carolina General Statutes 90-171.20
- Nursing program: means any educational program in North Carolina offering to prepare persons to meet the educational requirements for licensure under this Article. See North Carolina General Statutes 90-171.20
- Person: means an individual, corporation, partnership, association, unit of government, or other legal entity. See North Carolina General Statutes 90-171.20
- Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- seal: shall be construed to include an impression of such official seal, made upon the paper alone, as well as an impression made by means of a wafer or of wax affixed thereto. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
(2) Issue its interpretations of this Article.
(3) Adopt, amend or repeal rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Article.
(4) Establish qualifications of, employ, and set the compensation of an executive officer who shall be a registered nurse and who shall not be a member of the Board.
(5) Employ and fix the compensation of other personnel that the Board determines are necessary to carry into effect this Article and incur other expenses necessary to effectuate this Article.
(6) Examine, license, and renew the licenses of duly qualified applicants for licensure.
(6a) Determine whether an applicant or licensee is mentally and physically capable of practicing nursing with reasonable skill and safety. The Board may require an applicant or licensee to submit to a mental health examination by a licensed mental health professional designated by the Board and to a physical examination by a physician or other licensed health care professional designated by the Board. The Board may order an applicant or licensee to be examined before or after charges are presented against the applicant or licensee. The results of the mental health examination or physical examination shall be reported directly to the Board and shall be admissible into evidence in a hearing before the Board.
(7) Determine and administer appropriate disciplinary action against all regulated parties who are found to be in violation of this Article or rules adopted by the Board.
(8) Establish standards to be met by the students, and to pertain to faculty, curricula, facilities, resources, and administration for any nursing program as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-171.38
(9) Review all nursing programs at least every eight years or more often as considered necessary by the Board or program director.
(10) Grant, deny, or withdraw approval for nursing programs as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-171.39
(11) Upon request, grant or deny approval of continuing education programs for nurses as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-171.42
(12) Keep a record of all proceedings and make an annual summary of all actions available.
(13) Appoint, as necessary, advisory committees which may include persons other than Board members to deal with any issue under study.
(14) Appoint and maintain a subcommittee of the Board to work jointly with the subcommittee of the North Carolina Medical Board to develop rules and regulations to govern the performance of medical acts by registered nurses and to determine reasonable fees to accompany an application for approval or renewal of such approval as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-8.2 The fees and rules developed by this subcommittee shall govern the performance of medical acts by registered nurses and shall become effective when they have been adopted by both Boards.
(15) Recommend and collect such fees for licensure, license renewal, examinations and reexaminations as it deems necessary for fulfilling the purposes of this Article.
(16) Adopt a seal containing the name of the Board for use on all certificates, licenses, and official reports issued by it.
(17) Enter into interstate compacts to facilitate the practice and regulation of nursing.
(18) Establish programs for monitoring the treatment, recovery, and safe practice of nurses with substance use disorders, mental health disorders, or physical conditions impacting the ability to deliver safe care.
(18a) Enter into agreements for aiding in the remediation of nurses who experience practice deficiencies.
(19) Request that the Department of Public Safety conduct criminal history record checks of applicants for licensure pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143B-940
(20) Adopt rules requiring an applicant to submit to the Board evidence of the applicant’s continuing competence in the practice of nursing at the time of license renewal or reinstatement.
(21) Proceed in accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-171.37A, notwithstanding N.C. Gen. Stat. § 150B-40(b), when conducting a contested case hearing in accordance with Article 3A of Chapter 150B of the N.C. Gen. Stat..
(22) Designate one or more of its employees to serve papers or subpoenas issued by the Board. Service under this subdivision is permitted in addition to any other methods of service permitted by law.
(23) Acquire, hold, rent, encumber, alienate, and otherwise deal with real property in the same manner as a private person or corporation, subject only to approval of the Governor and the Council of State. Collateral pledged by the Board for an encumbrance is limited to the assets, income, and revenues of the Board.
(24) Order or subpoena the production of any patient records, documents, or other materials concerning any matter to be heard before or inquired into by the Board, notwithstanding any other provision of law providing for the application of any health care provider-patient privilege regarding records, documents, or other materials. All records, documents, or other materials compiled by the Board are subject to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-171.37C. Upon written request and after a hearing, the Board shall revoke a subpoena if the Board finds the evidence does not relate to a matter in issue, or if the subpoena does not describe the required evidence with sufficient particularity, or if the subpoena is invalid for any other legal reason. (1981, c. 360, s. 1; c. 665, s. 2; c. 852, s. 4; 1995, c. 94, s. 28; 1997-491, s. 1; 1999-291, s. 1; 2001-98, s. 3; 2001-371, s. 3; 2003-146, s. 3; 2005-186, s. 1; 2007-148, s. 1; 2009-133, s. 1; 2014-100, s. 17.1(jj); 2019-180, s. 5.)