SECTION 485:10-1-2. Definitions.

  The following words or terms, when used in this Chapter, shall have the following meaning, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Academic credit hours" are calculated as follows:

(A)   1 academic semester credit hour = 15 contact hours

(B)   1 academic quarter credit hour = 12.5 contact hours

"Accountable" means assuming responsibility to the client, the public, other health-care practitioners and oneself for one's actions and/or decisions and their outcomes.

"Additional nursing function" means the nursing functions, procedures, or tasks, not usually included at the time of matriculation in most nursing education programs; requiring additional knowledge, instruction, and practice before they can be safely performed. Such functions must fall within the scope of accepted nursing practice; may become necessary due to technological advances, new practice standards, or the natural evolution of an occupation; and must not be precluded by other Oklahoma Practice Acts.

"Advanced Practice Registered Nurse" or "APRN" is a term that includes Certified Nurse Practitioners (CNP), Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS), Certified Nurse Midwives (CNM), and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNA).

"Advanced Unlicensed Assistant" or "AUA" means an individual, other than a licensed nurse, who performs in an assistive role and has been certified to perform core skills as delegated by a licensed nurse and as authorized by the Rules and Regulations of the Oklahoma Board of Nursing.

"Board" means the Oklahoma Board of Nursing [59 O.S. Section 567.3(1)]

"Client" means a consumer of nursing care; may be an individual or group; is synonymous with "patient".

"Clinical learning experiences" means faculty-planned and guided activities designed to assist students to meet stated program and course outcomes and to safely apply knowledge and skills when providing nursing care to clients across the lifespan as appropriate to the role expectations of the graduates. These experiences occur in a variety of affiliating agencies or clinical practice settings including, but not limited to: acute care facilities, extended care facilities, long-term care facilities, clients' residences, and community agencies; and in associated clinical pre- and post-conferences.

"Clinical skills laboratory" means a designated area in which equipment and supplies are provided to simulate a clinical facility, allowing skills and procedures to be demonstrated and practiced.

"Complaint" means a nursing practice incident report submitted to the Board informing the Board staff that a certificate holder or licensed nurse may have violated the Oklahoma Nursing Practice Act. If the Complaint results in obtaining evidence to support a violation(s) of the Oklahoma Nursing Practice Act, then a sworn Complaint is prepared and filed by Board staff to initiate an individual proceeding as provided for in the Administrative Procedure Act, 75 O.S. §§ 309 et seq.

"Continuing education contact hours" are calculated as: 1 contact hour = 50 minutes.

"Continuous incarceration" means a period of confinement inside a penal institution, pursuant to a sentence from a court of competent jurisdiction, which confinement continues uninterrupted by periods of liberty from its beginning to its end. It does not include such sentences as weekends in jail with the defendant at liberty during the week.

"Controlling institution" means the agency or institution that administers the nursing education program, assumes responsibility for its financing, graduates the students, and grants the diploma, certificate or degree to the graduates.

"Core skills" means the list of functions that an Advanced Unlicensed Assistant should be capable of performing upon completion of the certification training program and satisfactory passage of the certification examination.

"Delegating" means entrusting the performance of selected nursing duties to individuals qualified, competent and legally able to perform such duties.

"Distance learning program" means 50% or more of the theory components of the board-approved nursing education program are offered by correspondence, on-line, through video-conferencing, or via CD-ROM.

"Innovative approach" means a creative nursing education strategy that departs from the current rule structure and requires Board approval for implementation.

"Key Party" means immediate family members and others who would be reasonably expected to play a significant role in health care decisions of the patient and includes but is not limited to, the spouse, domestic partner, sibling, parent, child, guardian, and person authorized to make health care decision for the patient.

"Legal authority" means the authorized state agency for the administration of the statutes relating to the practice of nursing in this state. The Oklahoma Board of Nursing is the only legal authority for licensing Licensed Practical Nurses, Registered Nurses, and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses; and for certifying Advanced Unlicensed Assistants.

"Licensed nurse" means a Registered Nurse or "RN", a Licensed Practical Nurse or "LPN", or an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse or "APRN" currently licensed by the Oklahoma Board of Nursing.

"Nurse Administrator" means the Registered Nurse responsible for the administration of the nursing education program or the nurse holding the highest level of management in an agency/facility regardless of the title used.

"Preceptor" means a licensed nurse who is employed by the facility in which the clinical experience takes place, and who agrees to provide supervision to a student for a specified period of time during the preceptor's scheduled work hours in order to assist the student to meet identified learning objectives.

"State approved program of nursing" means a nursing education program approved by the Oklahoma Board of Nursing.

"Member board jurisdiction" means a full member board of National Council of State Boards of Nursing.

"Supervising" means providing guidance by a qualified nurse for the accomplishment of the nursing task or activity with initial direction of the task or activity and periodic inspection of the actual act of accomplishing a task or activity.

[Source: Amended at 8 Ok Reg 3579, eff 9-20-91 (emergency); Amended at 9 Ok Reg 2103, eff 6-11-92; Amended at 12 Ok Reg 1463, eff 5-25-95; Amended at 14 Ok Reg 1980, eff 5-27-97; Amended at 24 Ok Reg 1439, eff 7-1-07; Amended at 26 Ok Reg 1089, eff 5-11-09; Amended at 27 Ok Reg 1024, eff 7-1-10; Amended at 28 Ok Reg 659, eff 7-1-11; Amended at 29 Ok Reg 1615, eff 7-12-12; Amended at 31 Ok Reg 2113, eff 9-12-14; Amended at 34 Ok Reg 768, eff 8-25-17]