(1) (a) There is hereby created the state board of nursing in the division, which board consists of eleven members who are residents of this state, appointed by the governor as follows: (I) Two members of the board shall be licensed practical nurses engaged in the practice of practical nursing and licensed in this state;
(II) Seven members of the board shall be licensed professional nurses who are actively employed in their respective nursing professions and licensed in this state. The professional nurse members shall have been employed for at least three years in their respective categories.
Members shall be as follows:
One member shall be engaged in professional nursing education;
One member shall be engaged in practical nursing education in a program that prepares an individual for licensure;
One member shall be engaged in home health care;
One member shall be registered as an advanced practice registered nurse pursuant tosection 12-255-111;
One member shall be engaged in nursing service administration; and
Two members shall be engaged as staff nurses, including one staff nurse who isemployed in a hospital and one employed in a nursing care facility;
(III) Two members of the board shall be persons who are not currently licensed and have not been previously licensed as health care providers, and who are not employed by or in any way connected with, or have any financial interest in, a health care facility, agency, or insurer.
Any statutory change in board composition shall be implemented when the terms ofcurrent members expire, and no member shall be asked to resign before the end of a term due to the statutory changes.
When making appointments to the board, the governor shall strive to achieve geographical, political, urban, and rural balance among the board membership.
(I) Each member of the board shall be appointed for a term of three years; except thatmembers appointed to the board for a first or second term on or after July 1, 2009, shall be appointed for a term of four years.
Any interim appointment necessary to fill a vacancy that has occurred by any reasonother than the expiration of a term shall be for the remainder of the term of the individual member whose office has become vacant.
A member may be reappointed for a subsequent term at the pleasure of the governor, but no member shall serve for more than two consecutive terms.
(e) Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection (1) to the contrary, if, as determined by the governor, an appropriate applicant for membership on the board pursuant to subsection (1)(a) of this section is not available to serve on the board for a particular term, the governor may appoint a nurse whose license is in good standing to fill the vacancy for the length of that term. At the end of the term, if the governor, after a good-faith attempt, cannot find an appropriate applicant pursuant to subsection (1)(a) of this section, the governor may appoint a nurse whose license is in good standing to fill the vacancy for one term.
The board shall elect annually from its members a president.
The governor may remove any board member for negligence in the performance ofany duty required by law, for incompetency, for unprofessional conduct, for willful misconduct, or for failure to continue to comply with the requirements of this section.
The board shall meet at least quarterly during the fiscal year and at such other timesas it may determine.
Source: L. 2019: Entire title R&RE with relocations, (HB 19-1172), ch. 136, p. 1321, § 1, effective October 1. L. 2020: IP(1)(a) and (1)(a)(II)(D) amended, (HB 20-1216), ch. 190, p. 870, § 11, effective July 1.
Editor's note: Subsection (1) is similar to former § 12-38-104 (1); subsection (2) is similar to former § 12-38-104 (1.5); subsection (3) is similar to former § 12-38-105; and subsection (4) is similar to former § 12-38-106, as those sections existed prior to 2019.
Cross references: For the legislative declaration in HB 20-1216, see section 1 of chapter 190, Session Laws of Colorado 2020.