Section 12 AAC 44.770 - Unprofessional conductNursing conduct that could adversely affect the health and welfare of the public constitutes unprofessional conduct under AS 08.68.270(7) and includes the following:
(1) failing to use sufficient knowledge, skills or nursing judgment in the practice of nursing as defined by the level of licensure;(2) assuming duties and responsibilities, on repeated occasions, without sufficient preparation or for which competency has not been maintained;(3) knowingly delegating a nursing care function, task, or responsibility to another who is not licensed under AS 08.68 to perform that function, task, or responsibility, when the delegation is contrary to AS 08.68 or 12 AAC 44 or involves a substantial risk or harm to a client;(4) failing to exercise adequate supervision over persons who are authorized to practice only under the supervision of the licensed professional;(5) failing to perform acts within the nurse's scope of practice which are necessary to prevent substantial risk or harm to a client;(6) violating the confidentiality of information or knowledge concerning a client this paragraph does not apply to; (A) a case conference with other health care professionals or students;(B) a case in which the client, in writing, authorized the nurse to reveal a communication;(C) a case where an immediate threat of serious harm to an identifiable victim or client is communicated to the nurse by a client;(D) information knowledge, or facts known to be nurse regarding incompentent, unprofessional or illegal practice of a health core provider, and that if not reported would constitute unprofessional conduct under (13) of this section;(7) neglecting or abusing a client by one of the following means: (8) using alcohol or other drugs to the extent that the use interferes with nursing functions;(9) violating state or federal laws regulating drugs, including forging prescriptions or unlawfully distributing drugs or narcotics, or prescribing controlled substances for self or the nurses immediate family members in this paragraph, "immediate family members" means a parent sibling, spouse, child, parent-in-law, sibling-in-law, step-child, same sex or opposite-sex, domestic partner;(10) failing to maintain a record for each client which accurately reflects the nursing problems and interventions for the client, or falsifying a client's records or intentionally making an incorrect entry in a client's chart;(11) leaving a nursing assignment without properly notifying appropriate personnel;(12) permitting another person to use his or her nursing license or permit for any purpose;(13) failing to report to the appropriate board, through proper channels, facts known to the nurse regarding incompetent, unprofessional, or illegal practice of a health care provider;(14) engaging in fraud, misrepresentation, or deceit in writing the licensing examination;(15) for any person not authorized to practice acts of medical diagnosis or medical therapeutics as an advanced practice registered nurse, to use the title nurse practitioner or advanced practice registered nurse, or the abbreviation NP or APRN or any other words, letters, signs, or figures to indicate that the person is an advanced practice registered nurse;(16) for an advanced practice registered nurse [PRACTITIONER] to perform duties other than those specified in 12 AAC 44.430; (17) for any person not authorized to practice as a certified registered nurse anesthetist to use the title registered nurse anesthetist, nurse anesthetist or certified registered nurse anesthetist or the abbreviation CRNA or any other words, letters, signs, or figures to indicate that the person is a certified registered nurse anesthetist;(19) discrimination on the basis of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry or sex in the provision of nursing services;(20) signing a record as a witness attesting to the wastage of controlled substances which the nurse did not actually witness;(21) exploiting the patient for financial gain or offering, giving, soliciting or receiving fees for referral of a patient or client;(22) intentionally misappropriating medications, property, supplies, equipment or other resources of the client or agency for personal or unauthorized use;(23) removal of a patient's life support system without appropriate medical or legal authorization;(24) untruthful or misleading advertising of nursing services;(25) knowingly violating laws regulating health insurance including those laws established in AS 21.36.360;(26) engaging in activities that constitute the unlicensed practice of pharmacy;(27) for an advanced practice registered nurse with prescriptive and dispensing authority, prescribing or dispensing a prescription outside of the advanced practice registered nurse's scope of practice; (28) engaging in sexual misconduct with a client;(29) harassing, disruptive, or abusive behavior by a licensee directed at staff or a client, a client's relative, or a client's guardian;(30) disruptive behavior by a licensee at the workplace that interferes with the provision of client care;(31) failing to cooperate with an official investigation by the board's representatives, including failing to timely provide requested information;(32) accepting healthcare provider orders from unlicensed assistive personnel;(33) failing to cooperate with the department in an audit under of 12 AAC 02.960 - 12 AAC 02.965 of the continuing competency activities claimed by the licensee;(34) claiming on an application for a license, or for renewal or reinstatement of a license, continuing competency activities that the licensee or license applicant has not performed.(35) offering, giving, soliciting, or receiving fees or other benefits, in whole or in part, to a person for bringing in or referring a patient;(36) prescribing, dispensing, or furnishing a prescription medication to a person without first conducting a physical examination of that person, unless the licensee has a patient- APRN relationship with the person; this paragraph does not apply to prescriptions written or medications issued for expedited partner therapy for sexually transmitted diseases, or in response to an infectious disease investigation, public health emergency, infectious disease outbreak, or act of bioterrorism;(37) use of electronics or social media to disseminate, or sharing, posting, transmitting, or otherwise disseminating any information online about a patient or information gained in the nurse-patient relationship unless there is a legal obligation to disclose the information;(38) failure to register with the controlled substance prescription database established under AS 17.30.200, by a licensee who has a United States Drug Enforcement Administration registration number;(39) failure to check the controlled substance prescription database established under AS 17.30.200, by a licensee when prescribing or dispensing a controlled substance designated schedule II or III under federal law to a patient.(40) failure to provide copies of complete patient records in the licensee's custody and control within 30 days after receipt of a written request from the patient or the patient's guardian;(41) failure to notify the board of the location of patient records within 30 days after a licensee has retired or closed a practice;(42) failure to maintain patient documentation in complincere with 45 C.F.R. 164.530(j) (Health Insurance Privacy and Accountability Act (HIPAA)).Eff. 4/27/83, Register 86; am 11/7/87, Register 104; am 4/9/94, Register 130; am 11/10/2002, Register 164; am 7/22/2004, Register 171; am 10/15/2004, Register 172; am 5/18/2006, Register 178; am 11/19/2008, Register 188; am 12/23/2009, Register 192; am 3/19/2014, Register 209, April 2014; am 5/16/2018, Register 226, July 2018; am 3/5/2020, Register 233, April 2020