Okla. Stat. tit. 59, § 59-567.5

Qualifications - Examinations - Licensure without examination - Use

of titles and abbreviations - Violations – Definitions.

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

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 59. Professions and Occupations Page 569

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.