A certified registered nurse anesthetist worked at a county hospital in Lawrence County, Mississippi. In 1981 a hospital audit showed that a substantial quantity of controlled narcotics signed out to the nurse were not accounted for as given to a patient, held in inventory, or wasted. The Board of Nursing filed a complaint alleging 17 violations of the state nursing practice law.
At the hearing the Board dismissed all but five charges on its own motion. The remaining charges each concerned Demerol signed out from floor stations or the anesthesia narcotic supply that was not fully reflected on anesthesia records. The Board found the nurse guilty on each count of failing to reasonably account for the drug and revoked the license. The chancery court affirmed.
On appeal, the Mississippi Supreme Court held that the Board's findings of a failure to account did not establish a legally cognizable ground for revocation under the statutory subsection charged. The court reversed the chancery court's order and remanded with directions that the nurse's license be restored. The opinion records a Board finding of unaccounted-for narcotics, not an admission, and that finding was set aside on legal grounds.