A. All applicants for a license to practice as a Registered Nurse shall be subject to Section 567.8 of this title.

B. An applicant for a license to practice as a Registered Nurse shall submit to the Oklahoma Board of Nursing certified written evidence that the applicant:

1. Has completed the basic professional curricula of a school of nursing approved by a state board of nursing, and holds or is entitled to hold a diploma or degree therefrom;

2. Has never been convicted of a felony crime that substantially relates to the occupation of nursing and poses a reasonable threat to public safety;

3. Has submitted a criminal history records search that complies with Section 567.18 of this title;

4. Is a minimum of eighteen (18) years of age; and

5. Has met such other qualifications as the Board may prescribe in its rules.

C. An applicant for a license shall be required to pass a written examination in such subjects as the Board may determine. Upon an applicant successfully passing such an examination, the Board may issue to the applicant a license to practice as a Registered Nurse. An applicant who fails such examination shall be subject to reexamination according to the rules of the Board. The passing criteria shall be established by the Board in its rules.

D. The Board may issue a license to practice nursing as a registered nurse without examination to an applicant who has been duly licensed as a Registered Nurse under the laws of another state, territory, the District of Columbia or a foreign country, if such applicant meets the qualifications required for licensing as a Registered Nurse in this state.

E. Any person who holds a license to practice as a registered nurse in this state shall have the right to use both the title "Registered Nurse" and the abbreviation "R.N." No other person shall assume such title or use such abbreviation, or any other words, letters, signs or figures to indicate that the person using the same is a registered nurse. Any individual doing so shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, which shall be punishable, upon conviction, by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one (1) year or by a fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) nor more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by both such imprisonment and fine for each offense.

F. As used in this section:

1. "Substantially relates" means the nature of criminal conduct for which the person was convicted has a direct bearing on the fitness or ability to perform one or more of the duties or responsibilities necessarily related to the occupation; and

2. "Poses a reasonable threat" means the nature of criminal conduct for which the person was convicted involved an act or threat of harm against another and has a bearing on the fitness or ability to serve the public or work with others in the occupation.

Added by Laws 1953, p. 267, § 5, emerg. eff. April 13, 1953. Amended by Laws 1981, c. 314, § 3, eff. July 1, 1981; Laws 1991, c. 104, § 4, eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Laws 2001, c. 254, § 4, eff. Nov. 1, 2001; Laws 2003, c. 190, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2003; Laws 2011, c. 101, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2011; Laws 2019, c. 363, § 25, eff. Nov. 1, 2019.