The board may run licensing and oversight functions for nursing, including hiring staff, setting rules, approving schools, examining applicants, issuing licenses, and publishing a nurse directory.
The board has the following powers and duties in addition to the powers and duties granted to or imposed upon it by other sections of this chapter: Employ, with the approval of the governor, an executive director, who shall not be a member of the board. The executive director shall be entitled to have and receive a salary to be fixed by the board and approved by the commissioner of human resources and the commissioner of finance and administration; Employ such other personnel as may be necessary for the effective and efficient discharge of the duties of the board; Such executive director and other employees shall be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with the comprehensive travel regulations as promulgated by the department of finance and administration and approved by the attorney general and reporter; Maintain an office in Nashville; Adopt a seal that shall bear the words “Tennessee Board of Nursing” and the imprint thereof shall be placed upon all official papers of the board; Adopt and from time to time revise such rules and regulations as may be necessary to govern its proceedings and to carry into effect the purpose of this chapter; Make an annual report to the governor the first week in July, together with a statement of the receipts and disbursements of the board and maintain such records as may be required by the applicable laws and regulations of the state; Cause the prosecution of persons violating this chapter; Prescribe the minimum curricular and minimum standards for schools of nursing and for courses of training preparing persons for licensure under this chapter and provide for surveys of such schools or an affiliation of schools and courses; Approve such schools and courses as meet the requirements of this chapter and the rules and regulations of the board; Conduct examinations to ascertain the qualifications and fitness of applicants and issue licenses to applicants who successfully pass the examination for the practice of professional nursing or practical nursing; Conduct hearings upon charges of suspension or revocation of a license or approval of a school of nursing or course of training and deny, suspend or revoke for proper cause licenses or approval of schools or course of training as provided in this chapter. Any action of or ruling or order made or entered by the board shall be subject to review by the courts of this state in the same manner and subject to the same powers and conditions as now provided by law in regard to the rulings, orders and findings of other quasi-judicial bodies in Tennessee, where not otherwise specifically provided; Promote nursing education and nursing service through the state through surveys, institutes, conferences or such other means as may result in improved nursing education and nursing services in the state; Determine the state, national and other meetings to be attended by the employees or individual members of the board in the interest of the advancement of nursing in this state; Annually publish a directory listing all persons licensed to practice as a professional or practical nurse in Tennessee. The board shall have the authority to adopt and promulgate rules and regulations governing the distribution of such directories. Such regulations may establish a reasonable price, not to exceed ten dollars ($10.00) per directory, to be charged for the directories. The directories shall be available free of charge to nonprofit health agencies operating in the state of Tennessee, federal and state governmental agencies, local health departments and individual licensees; Establish and examine the qualifications, competencies, training, education and experience required of a registered nurse applying for a certificate of fitness as a nurse practitioner, as defined by the board, sufficient to prepare such person to write and sign prescriptions and/or issue drugs in accordance with the limitations and provisions of § 63-1-132; Issue advisory private letter rulings to any affected licensee who makes such a request regarding any matters within the board's primary jurisdiction. Such private letter ruling shall only affect the licensee making such inquiry and shall have no precedential value for any other inquiry or future contested case to come before the board. Any dispute regarding a private letter ruling may, if the board chooses to do so, be resolved pursuant to the declaratory order provisions of § 4-5-223; By January 1, 2002, the board of nursing shall implement a plan to assure continuing competence of licensees, using educationally sound methods to promote learning and assess outcomes pertinent to contemporary standards of nursing practice; Compile and disseminate demographic data collected on all licensees; and Enter into grants, agreements, scholarships or other arrangements with statewide nonprofit agencies or other state agencies for the purpose of evaluating and guiding the development of the education, distribution, and availability of the nursing workforce to provide a basis for improving the delivery of quality health care.