Abstract
Chief nursing officers are often in the position of making decisions that have regulatory implications. Therefore, it is imperative for these nurses to develop both an understanding of the complexities of regulation and a working relationship with the board of nursing. The Oregon State Board of Nursing (OSBN) implemented a full-day chief nurse orientation program in February 2007. Program components from all of the major areas within the OSBN's span of authority were included, and through these orientation sessions, chief nursing officers receive an overview of the OSBN's mission, a review of scopes of practice for licensees and certificate holders, information about investigation, mandatory reporting of nurses, the board's program for impaired nurses (Nurse Monitoring Program), and information on licensure directly from the board's staff. An evaluation of the program is performed through use of a pretest and a posttest as well as a course evaluation. Participants agreed that this was a beneficial program. Benefits could occur either through expansion of the program to middle management or through use of this program development model for development in other states.