(a)  The department may suspend, revoke, or refuse to renew any license issued under this chapter, or may reprimand, censure, or discipline a licensee or may require participation in continuing education or professional mentoring or may place an administrator on probation in accordance with the provisions of this section, upon decision and after a hearing as provided by chapter 35 of Title 42, upon proof that the licensee engaged in unprofessional conduct. Unprofessional conduct includes, but is not limited to, any of the following:

(1)  Being unfit or incompetent by reason of negligence, habits, or other causes;

(2)  Violating any of the provisions of this chapter or the rules enacted in accordance with it; or acting in a manner inconsistent with the health and safety of the patients of the nursing facility in which he or she is the administrator;

(3)  Engaging in fraud or deceit in the practice of nursing home administration, or in his or her admission to this practice;

(4)  Being convicted in a court of competent jurisdiction, either within or without this state, of a felony; or

(5)  Failing to conform to minimal standards of acceptable and prevailing practice of nursing home administration.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 5-45-12

  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.

(b)  If a nursing home administrator is placed on probation, the department may require the licensee to:

(1)  Report regularly to the department on matters that are the basis of the probation;

(2)  Limit practice to the areas prescribed by the department; or

(3)  Complete a prescribed program of continuing professional education until the licensee attains a degree of skill satisfactory to the department in those areas that are the basis of the probation.

History of Section.
P.L. 1970, ch. 306, § 1; P.L. 1997, ch. 61, § 1; P.L. 2005, ch. 157, § 3; P.L. 2005, ch. 249, § 3.