(1) If a certified nurse aide is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to have a mental health disorder, the board shall automatically suspend the certified nurse aide's certification, and the suspension must continue until the certified nurse aide is determined by the court to be restored to competency; duly discharged as restored to competency; or otherwise determined to be competent in any other manner provided by law.
(2) (a) If the board has reasonable cause to believe that a certified nurse aide's physical or mental health has resulted in the nurse aide being unable to practice with reasonable skill or that the practice of the nurse aide is a threat to the safety of the nurse aide's patients, the board may require the nurse aide to submit to a mental or physical examination by a physician or other licensed health care provider designated by the board.
If a nurse aide fails to submit to a mental or physical examination, the board maysuspend the nurse aide's certification until the required examination or examinations are conducted.
Every person who applies to the board for certification as a nurse aide is deemed byvirtue of the application to have consented to undergo a physical or mental examination at any time if the board so requests. Any request by the board to a nurse aide to submit to the examination shall be in writing and shall contain the basis upon which the board determined that reasonable cause to believe the condition specified in subsection (2)(a) of this section exists.
A certified nurse aide who has been requested to submit to a physical or mentalexamination may provide the board with information concerning the nurse aide's physical or mental health from a physician of the nurse aide's own choice. The board may consider the information in conjunction with, but not in lieu of, testimony and information provided by the physician designated by the board to examine the nurse aide.
The results of any mental or physical examination requested by the board pursuant tothis section shall not be used as evidence in any proceeding except a proceeding conducted pursuant to this part 2. The results of the examination shall not be deemed to be public records and shall not be made available to the public.
Source: L. 2020: Entire part added with relocations, (HB 20-1183), ch. 157, p. 691, § 29, effective July 1.
Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 12-260-116 as it existed prior to 2020.