(1) The Governor shall appoint a Board of Nursing consisting of seventeen (17)
members:
(a) Ten (10) members shall be registered nurses licensed to practice in the Commonwealth, with the Governor ensuring that the appointees represent different specialties from a broad cross-section of the nursing profession after soliciting and receiving nominations from recognized specialty state component societies;
(b) Three (3) members shall be practical nurses licensed to practice in the
Commonwealth;
(c) One (1) member shall be a nurse service administrator who is a registered nurse licensed to practice in the Commonwealth;
(d) One (1) member shall be engaged in practical nurse education who is a registered nurse licensed to practice in the Commonwealth; and
(e) Two (2) members shall be citizens at large, who are not associated with or financially interested in the practice or business regulated.
(2) Each appointment shall be subject to confirmation by the Senate and shall be for a term of four (4) years expiring on June 30 of the fourth year. No board member shall serve for more than three (3) consecutive terms. Any board member who is serving at least a third consecutive term on April 7, 2022, shall be ineligible for reappointment until the passage of one (1) full four (4) year appointment cycle. The cycle for appointments and expiration of terms shall be as follows:
(a) The first year of the four (4) year cycle, the terms for three (3) registered nurses and one (1) licensed practical nurse shall expire;
(b) The second year of the four (4) year cycle, the terms for three (3) registered nurses and one (1) citizen at large shall expire;
(c) The third year of the four (4) year cycle, the terms for two (2) registered nurses, one (1) licensed practical nurse, and the one (1) member engaged in practical nurse education who is a registered nurse shall expire; and
(d) Before January 1, 2024, in the fourth year of the four (4) year cycle, the terms for two (2) registered nurses, one (1) licensed practical nurse, and one (1) citizen at large shall expire. Beginning on January 1, 2024, in the fourth year of the four (4) year cycle, the terms for two (2) registered nurses, one (1) certified registered nurse anesthetist, one (1) licensed practical nurse, and one (1) citizen at large shall expire.
(3) (a) By March 1, the Kentucky Nurses Association shall submit to the Governor a list of members qualified for appointment as R.N. members, in number not less than twice the number of appointments to be made, from which list the Governor shall make each appointment or appointments necessary by July 1. By March 1 of the year in which the certified registered nurse anesthetist term expires, the Kentucky Nurses Association shall submit to the Governor two (2) names of qualified individuals for the appointment, and from this list the Governor shall make the appointment by July 1.
(b) By March 1, Kentucky Licensed Practical Nurses Organization Incorporated shall submit to the Governor a list of names qualified for appointment as L.P.N. members, in number not less than twice the number of appointments to be made, from which list the Governor shall make each appointment or appointments as necessary by July 1.
(c) By March 1 of the year in which the nurse service administrator’s term shall expire, the Kentucky Organization of Nurse Leaders, an affiliate of the Kentucky Hospital Association, shall submit to the Governor two (2) names of qualified individuals for appointment as the nurse service administrator from which list the Governor shall make an appointment as necessary by July
1.
(d) By March 1, LeadingAge Kentucky shall submit to the Governor two (2) names of qualified individuals for appointments as its R.N. representative to the board, from which the Governor shall make an appointment by July 1.
(e) By March 1 of the year in which the Kentucky Association of Health Care Facilities representative’s term shall expire, the Kentucky Association of Health Care Facilities shall submit to the Governor two (2) names of qualified individuals for appointment as its R.N. representative to the board, from which list the Governor shall make an appointment as necessary by July 1.
(f) By March 1 of the year in which the practical nurse educator’s term expires, Kentucky Licensed Practical Nurses Organization Incorporated shall submit to the Governor two (2) names of qualified individuals for the appointment, from which list the Governor shall make the appointment by July 1.
(g) The Governor shall appoint two (2) members who shall be citizens at large, who are not associated with or financially interested in the practice or business regulated. The Governor shall make the appointments by July 1 of the year in which the citizen members’ terms expire.
(4) Among the seventeen (17) members of the board, at all times, at least two (2) members shall be appointed from each of the six (6) congressional districts of the Commonwealth.
(5) Among the nurse board members appointed under subsection (1)(a), (b), (c), and (d) of this section, no less than three (3) and no more than six (6) nurse board members shall be nurse educators. All other nurse members of the board shall be practicing nurses.
(6) A vacancy on the board shall be filled by the Governor as provided for under subsection (1) of this section.
(7) The Governor may remove any member from the board for neglect of duty, incompetence, or unprofessional or dishonorable conduct.
(8) Each R.N. member of the board shall be a citizen of the United States, a resident of Kentucky, a graduate of an approved school of nursing, and a registered nurse in this state. All shall have had at least five (5) years of experience in nursing, three (3) of which shall immediately precede such appointment. Five (5) members shall be engaged in nursing practice; three (3) shall be engaged in nursing education; one (1) shall be engaged in advanced practice registered nursing; one (1) shall be a
certified registered nurse anesthetist; and one (1) shall be in nursing administration. (9) Each L.P.N. member of the board shall be a citizen of the United States, a resident
of Kentucky, a graduate of an approved school of practical nursing or its equivalent,
licensed as a licensed practical nurse in this state, have at least five (5) years of experience in nursing, three (3) of which shall immediately precede this appointment, and be currently engaged in nursing practice.
Effective: June 29, 2023
History: Amended 2023 Ky. Acts ch. 51, sec. 3, effective June 29, 2023. — Amended
2022 Ky. Acts ch. 84, sec. 6, effective April 7, 2022. — Amended 2018 Ky. Acts ch.
183, sec. 11, effective July 14, 2018. — Amended 2012 (1st Extra. Sess.) Ky. Acts ch. 1, sec. 10, effective July 20, 2012. — Amended 2010 Ky. Acts ch. 29, sec. 1, effective July 15, 2010; and ch. 85, sec. 63, effective July 15, 2010. — Amended
2000 Ky. Acts ch. 391, sec. 18, effective July 14, 2000. — Amended 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 26, sec. 5, effective July 15, 1996. — Amended 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 83, sec. 1, effective July 14, 1992; ch. 128, sec. 12, effective July 14, 1992; and ch. 259, sec. 4, effective July 14, 1992. — Amended 1988 Ky. Acts ch. 342, sec. 1, effective July 15,
1988. — Amended 1986 Ky. Acts ch. 346, sec. 6, effective July 15, 1986. — Amended 1982 Ky. Acts ch. 408, sec. 10, effective July 15, 1982. — Amended 1978
Ky. Acts ch. 168, sec. 10, effective June 17, 1978. — Amended 1976 Ky. Acts ch.
206, sec. 7. — Created 1966 Ky. Acts ch. 20, sec. 4.
Legislative Research Commission Note (4/7/2022). In codification, a correction has been made to subsection (4) of this statute. 2022 Senate Bill 10, which amended this statute, increased the number of members of the Board of Nursing from sixteen to seventeen in subsection (1) but referred to the number of members of the board as sixteen in subsection (4). Under the authority of KRS § 7.136, the Reviser of statutes has corrected the reference to the number of members of the board in subsection (4) to seventeen.