Traveling nurse fired from Little Rock hospital af…

A nurse licensed in Texas since 2014 was able to work in Arkansas because both states belong to the Interstate Nurse Licensure Compact. Through a staffing agency, the nurse signed a 13-week contract with a Little Rock hospital system and started work there on October 13, 2021, according to a letter from the Arkansas nursing board.

On January 12, 2022, the nurse's drug test results came back positive for fentanyl, and the hospital fired the nurse. The Arkansas State Board of Nursing subsequently sent a letter ordering the nurse to cease and desist practicing in Arkansas, citing unprofessional conduct.

A search of Nursys, the national database of nursing licensure and discipline, in October 2023 showed the nurse still barred from practice in Arkansas. The article reported the Arkansas history in connection with a separate criminal conviction in Texas involving prescriptions called in to a Wichita Falls pharmacy.

Case at a Glance

role: Traveling registered nurse practicing under the Nurse Licensure Compact
setting: Hospital in Little Rock
drug: Fentanyl (positive drug test)
outcome: Terminated by the hospital; Arkansas Board of Nursing cease-and-desist letter barring practice in the state

News coverage: https://timesrecordnews.com/story/news/2023/10/18/nurse-convicted-in-wichita-falls-has-troubled-history-in-arkansas/71219107007

No published federal, state or licensing-board record was located for this case; the link above is contemporaneous news coverage.

Share: LinkedIn X Facebook

Last reviewed: September 2026 · Educational content, not legal advice.

About the author

DivertGuard is built and maintained by Alex Rodriguez, MHIIM, CPhT (also known as Jesus Rodriguez) — a healthcare compliance analytics professional with more than a decade in pharmacy practice and direct responsibility for a health-system controlled substance diversion prevention program.

IHFDA Annual Conference presentations

2025 — The Rounding Revolution: A High-Tech Approach to Diversion Prevention (with Emily Spiceland, PharmD)
2024 — No Pill Left Behind: Strategies for Comprehensive Drug Accountability (with Eric Andrews)
2022 — Ready for My Close Up! Implementing, Maintaining, and Expanding Drug Diversion Prevention Cameras (with Jeremy Quinn, Shawn Young, and John Bailey)

Other professional engagement

Faculty, ASHP Drug Diversion Certificate
Speaker, Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)
Published author, Pharmacy Purchasing & Products

Credentials

MHIIM — Master of Health Informatics and Information Management, University of Tennessee Health Science Center (2019–2021)
CPhT — Certified Pharmacy Technician, with 10+ years of pharmacy practice across retail, hospice, compounding, home-health, and hospital settings

The assessment items, weighting, and case registry behind this site come from that operational background — building and running a diversion prevention program, not from vendor marketing. Every tool here is free, requires no signup, and is based on published regulatory and professional standards (DEA, Joint Commission, ASHP, CDC).

Full author bio and credentials →

Related Resources

Diversion Settlements & Fines

Settlements, civil penalties and criminal fines paid by hospitals and pharmacies in documented drug diversion cases, with the amount, year and primary source for each

Drug Diversion Statistics

Charts and data tables from 716 documented federal and state cases — drugs, settings, outcomes, and cases by year

Prevention Value Deck (Download)

Free 10-slide PowerPoint that makes the case for a diversion prevention program — documented penalties, deaths and how to evidence your own value, every figure cited

Traveling nurse fired from Little Rock hospital after positive fentanyl test; Arkansas board ordered cease and desist