Mississippi Bd. of Nursing v. Hanson

703 So. 2d 239, 1997 Miss. LEXIS 420, 1997 WL 575986
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 18, 1997
Docket95-CC-00542-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 703 So. 2d 239 (Mississippi Bd. of Nursing v. Hanson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mississippi Bd. of Nursing v. Hanson, 703 So. 2d 239, 1997 Miss. LEXIS 420, 1997 WL 575986 (Mich. 1997).

Opinion

703 So.2d 239 (1997)

MISSISSIPPI BOARD OF NURSING
v.
Terry Lynn HANSON.

No. 95-CC-00542-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

September 18, 1997.

*240 Michael C. Moore, Attorney General, Jackson, Roy A. Perkins, Starkville, for Appellant.

Shirley Payne, Dennis L. Horn, Horn & Payne, Jackson, for Appellee.

Before SULLIVAN, P.J., and PITTMAN and BANKS, JJ.

PITTMAN, Justice, for the Court:

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

¶ 1. This appeal comes before the Court from the Chancery Court of Rankin County, Mississippi, which reversed the decision of the Mississippi Board of Nursing to revoke the nursing license of the Appellee, Terry Lynn Hanson.

¶ 2. The Mississippi Board of Nursing (hereinafter referred to as the "Board") notified Terry Lynn Hanson (hereinafter referred to as "Hanson"), a Registered Nurse, whose license number is R-718246, that charges were being brought against her to seek revocation or suspension of her Registered Nurse License.

¶ 3. Hanson was summoned to appear before the Board on February 16, 1994, to answer the charges against her as outlined in the Board's Complaint. Such charges pertained to a situation where Hanson allegedly abused a neonatal infant patient at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi. The charges also involved a series of practices over a period of time that the Board deemed inappropriate. The notice gave the date, time and place of the hearing.

¶ 4. Specifically, the Board brought charges against Hanson pursuant to § 73-15-29(1)(c) and (e) of the Mississippi Code of 1972, as amended, which states:

(1) The board shall have power to revoke, suspend or refuse to renew any license issued by the board, or to deny an application for a license, or to fine, place on probation and/or discipline a licensee, in any manner specified in this chapter, upon proof that such person:
....
(c) Has negligently or wilfully acted in a manner inconsistent with the health or safety of the persons under the licensee's care;
(e) Has negligently or wilfully practiced nursing in a manner that fails to meet *241 generally accepted standards of such nursing practice.

The Board outlined four separate charges. First, Hanson was charged with holding a naked baby around its neck with only one hand while on duty in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The second charge accuses Hanson of carrying babies by holding them under their armpits. The third charge states that Hanson, from the fall of 1992 until December of 1993, endangered patients by carrying them around naked and by washing them in the sinks. The final charge also stems from the period of the fall of 1992 until December of 1993. This charge claims that Hanson endangered the babies by rapidly flipping levers on their incubators in an attempt to stimulate them.

¶ 5. An administrative hearing was held by the Board on February 16 and 17, 1994. At the hearing, Hanson was present and was represented by Attorney Dennis L. Horn of Jackson, Mississippi. Hanson was informed in the hearing notice that she had the right to appear, either personally or by counsel, or both, to produce witnesses or evidence in her behalf and to have subpoenas issued by the Board. The hearing was both extensive and exhaustive, and Hanson exercised her rights as mentioned above.

¶ 6. After hearing all the testimony and reviewing the evidence presented at Hanson's hearing, the Board went into a closed session to determine whether or not an executive session should be declared. The Board then went into executive sessions for deliberations and findings concerning Hanson. After coming out of the executive session, the Board announced its decision publicly. The Board found Terry Lynn Hanson guilty on each of the charges outlined in the complaint and imposed the penalty of license revocation for each charge. All charges were considered separate and distinct, and the penalties were to run concurrently. Hanson's hearing concluded with this order. Thereafter, Hanson perfected an appeal to the Chancery Court of Rankin County, Mississippi, pursuant to § 73-15-31(8) of the Mississippi Code of 1972, as amended.

¶ 7. On April 25, 1995, the Honorable John S. Grant, III, Chancellor of the Rankin County Chancery Court, reversed the decision of the Mississippi Board of Nursing that revoked the nursing license of Terry Lynn Hanson. As a result, the Mississippi Board of Nursing has perfected this appeal to the Supreme Court of Mississippi, requesting the Court to reverse the decision of the Chancery Court of Rankin County, Mississippi.

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES
I. DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN REVERSING THE DECISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI BOARD OF NURSING THAT REVOKED THE NURSING LICENSE OF THE APPELLEE, TERRY LYNN HANSON?
II. WAS THE MISSISSIPPI BOARD OF NURSING'S DECISION TO REVOKE THE NURSING LICENSE OF TERRY LYNN HANSON SUPPORTED BY SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE FOUND TO BE CLEAR AND CONVINCING OR WAS IT ARBITRARY AND CAPRICIOUS?
III. DID THE BOARD OF NURSING VIOLATE ANY STATUTORY AND/OR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF TERRY LYNN HANSON BY REVOKING HER NURSING LICENSE?
IV. WAS THE BOARD OF NURSING WITHIN ITS REALM OF STATUTORY AUTHORITY WHEN IT REVOKED THE NURSING LICENSE OF TERRY LYNN HANSON?

ANALYSIS

I. DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN REVERSING THE DECISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI BOARD OF NURSING THAT REVOKED THE NURSING LICENSE OF THE APPELLEE, TERRY LYNN HANSON?

¶ 8. The scope of review in matters concerning the decisions of administrative agencies is well settled. The Court's consideration is limited to determining whether or *242 not the Board's decision (1) was supported by substantial evidence; (2) was arbitrary or capricious; (3) was beyond the power of the agency to make or (4) violated some statutory or constitutional right of the Appellant. Mississippi State Tax Comm'n v. Mississippi-Alabama State Fair, 222 So.2d 664, 666 (Miss. 1969); Harris v. Mississippi Real Estate Comm'n, 500 So.2d 958, 962 (Miss. 1986); Eidt v. City of Natchez, 421 So.2d 1225, 1231-1232 (Miss. 1982). Our courts are not permitted to make administrative decisions and perform the functions of an administrative agency. Mississippi State Tax Comm'n v. Mississippi-Alabama State Fair, 222 So.2d at 666.

¶ 9. In Levi v. Mississippi State Bar, 436 So.2d 781, 783 (Miss. 1983), this Court held the accuser to a higher standard of proof in proceedings of a quasi-criminal nature. If the charge was fraud or an "equivalent form of misconduct" the accusing party must prove his case by clear and convincing evidence. Id., at 783. This standard was followed in Hogan v. Mississippi Board of Nursing, 457 So.2d 931, 934 (Miss. 1984), where a nurse's license was revoked when she was accused of misappropriating narcotics. In Riddle v. Mississippi State Board of Pharmacy, 592 So.2d 37, 41 (Miss. 1991), this Court states: "[t]he judicial eye looks to see whether a fair-minded fact finder might have found the evidence clear and convincing that the offense had occurred, and, where that may be said, we will not disturb the Board's judgement." Also in Riddle, this Court states that in administrative proceedings against professionals licensed by the state, the disciplinary board is charged to demand clear and convincing evidence of the offense. Id., at 41, citing Hogan, 457 So.2d at 934; Levi,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
703 So. 2d 239, 1997 Miss. LEXIS 420, 1997 WL 575986, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mississippi-bd-of-nursing-v-hanson-miss-1997.