Randell v. Wyoming State Treasurer ex rel. Wyoming Worker's Compensation Div.

• Decision Date: 27 October 1983
• Docket Number: No. 83-48,83-48
• Citation: 671 P.2d 303
• Parties: Dorothy G. RANDELL, Appellant (Employee-Claimant), v. WYOMING STATE TREASURER, ex rel., WYOMING WORKER'S COMPENSATION DIVISION, Appellee (Respondent-Defendant).
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

Page 303

671 P.2d 303

Dorothy G. RANDELL, Appellant (Employee-Claimant), v. WYOMING STATE TREASURER, ex rel., WYOMING WORKER'S COMPENSATION DIVISION, Appellee (Respondent-Defendant).

No. 83-48.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

Oct. 27, 1983.

Rehearing Denied Nov. 22, 1983.

Mitchell E. Osborn and Edward L. Grant of Grant & Grant, Cheyenne, for appellant.

A.G. McClintock, Atty. Gen., Gerald A. Stack, Deputy Atty. Gen., John W. Renneisen, Sr. Asst. Atty. Gen., and Terry J. Harris, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

Before ROONEY, C.J., and THOMAS, ROSE, BROWN, and CARDINE, JJ.

THOMAS, Justice.

The question posed in this case is whether the appellant, the Executive Director and Educational Consultant for the Wyoming State Board of Nursing, was covered under the provisions of the Wyoming Worker's Compensation Act, §§ 27-12-101 through 27-12-804, W.S.1977, when she incurred a disabling injury. Two theories are asserted by the appellant. First, she argues that she is a professional nurse employee, which is a category included in § 27-12-106, W.S.1977, which in pertinent part provides:

"(a) The extrahazardous occupations and employees to which this act [§§ 27-12-101 through 27-12-804] applies are:

* * *

* * *

"(xxxviii) Professional nurse employees, excepting private duty nurses."

Secondly, the appellant contends that she was covered under the circumstances in accordance with the provisions of § 27-12-107(b), W.S.1977, which provides in pertinent part as follows:

"(b) This act also applies to all other state employees, officers or persons working for the state * * * while traveling in state owned vehicles or a duly authorized private vehicle, but only when the travel occurs in the performance of the employees' duties."

After hearing evidence in the case, the district court held that the appellant was not covered by the Wyoming Worker's Compensation Act under either theory. We are persuaded of the correctness of that determination by the district court under the applicable standards, and we shall affirm the judgment of the district court.

While not presenting a statement of the issues as such in her brief, the arguments of the appellant are succinctly stated as follows:

"APPELLANT IS ENTITLED TO BENEFITS UNDER THE WYOMING WORKERS' COMPENSATION ACT BY VIRTUE OF HER BEING A 'PROFESSIONAL NURSE EMPLOYEE,' ENUMERATED AS AN EXTRAHAZARDOUS OCCUPATION BY W.S. 27-12-106(a)(XXXVIII)."

"APPELLANT IS ENTITLED TO BENEFITS UNDER THE WYOMING WORKERS' COMPENSATION ACT AS SHE WAS A STATE EMPLOYEE COVERED 'WHILE TRAVELING IN ... A

DULY AUTHORIZED PRIVATE VEHICLE ... IN THE PERFORMANCE OF THE EMPLOYEE'S DUTIES.' W.S. 27-12-107 (1977)."

The Wyoming State Treasurer, ex rel. Wyoming Worker's Compensation Division, in its brief which presents both the position of the State as employer and the State as administrator of the Worker's Compensation Act, states the issues in the following way:

"I. WHETHER APPELLANT DOROTHY G. RANDELL'S EMPLOYMENT AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANT FOR THE WYOMING STATE BOARD OF NURSING CONSTITUTES EXTRAHAZARDOUS EMPLOYMENT AS A 'PROFESSIONAL NURSE EMPLOYEE' AS THAT TERM IS USED IN SECTION 27-12-106[a](xxxviii), W.S.1977.

"II. WHETHER APPELLANT DOROTHY G. RANDELL'S INJURY OCCURRED WHILE SHE WAS TRAVELING IN A DULY AUTHORIZED PRIVATE VEHICLE, AND IN THE PERFORMANCE OF APPELLANT'S DUTIES AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANT FOR THE WYOMING STATE BOARD OF NURSING."

The appellant was employed as Executive Director and Educational Consultant for the State Board of Nursing from July 3, 1973, until she retired because of her disabilities flowing from the injury involved in this case, which she did on April 30, 1982. The injury was incurred on October 19, 1981. On that occasion the appellant was carrying materials to be used in administering the practical nurses examination the following morning, and she was on the way to her car in her parking space in the parking lot at the building in which her office was located. On the way to her car she tripped over a protruding curb elevated above the sidewalk and fell. This happened shortly before 5:00 p.m., and the appellant testified that she was on her way home, and that she had the testing materials with her because she intended to review them prior to the examination and would then be able to proceed directly from her home to the testing site, which was a motel complex in Cheyenne, Wyoming, away from her office. As a result of the fall the appellant sustained injuries which were diagnosed as "a compression fracture, T-12, osteoporosis and degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine initiated or aggravated by trauma." The appellant resigned as of April 30, 1982, because the disabilities resulting from her injury prevented her from resuming her duties.

Prior to her employment by the Wyoming State Board of Nursing the appellant had worked as a staff nurse, as an instructor and associate professor of nursing at several universities and as the director of a large public health nursing unit. There is no dispute with respect to her qualifications by both education and experience to be employed as a nurse. At the time she was injured she was licensed as a nurse in Colorado, Washington and Wyoming. With respect to her duties as the Executive Director and Educational Consultant for the State Board of Nursing the appellant testified that she frequently was required to be actually present in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and schools where student nurses receive clinical training. The appellant further testified that her job involved the exercise of nursing judgment and knowledge as well as the performance of administrative functions. She was charged, as a part of her official duties, with administering the nursing licensing examinations given semi-annually to registered nurses who wished to practice in Wyoming.

The only witness other than the appellant who testified at the hearing was the Claims Supervisor for the Worker's Compensation Division. The Claims Supervisor testified that the State Board of Nursing maintained coverage under the Worker's Compensation Act only for its members when traveling in a state or duly authorized private vehicle. No requests had been made by the State Board of Nursing to extend coverage to its employees because they were engaged in the extra-hazardous occupation of a professional nurse employee.

We shall deal first with the argument that the appellant, by statutory definition, was engaged in an extra-hazardous occupation. Coverage of state employees under the Worker's Compensation Act is governed by § 27-12-107, W.S.1977. Section 27-12-107(a) lists several specific jobs which are considered extra-hazardous occupations. There is no argument made that the appellant fit any of those categories, and her argument is premised upon coverage in accordance with § 27-12-107(b), which in the part pertinent to this contention states:

"(b) This act also applies to all other state employees, officers or persons working for the state not specifically mentioned in subsection (a) of this section, including those of the legislative service office, when employed in an occupation enumerated by W.S. 27-315 [§ 27-12-106] as extrahazardous * * *."

Succinctly, it is the appellant's position that her employment comes within the category of "professional nurse employees" which is listed as an extra-hazardous occupation enumerated in § 27-12-106(a)(xxxviii), W.S.1977. Her assumption that she is a professional nurse employee is premised upon the requirement that she have nursing skills in order to fulfill the duties of her position. No further definition of the functions of "professional nurse employees" can be found in the Wyoming Worker's Compensation Act.

A definition section is, however, included in the provisions of the Wyoming Statutes regulating the profession of nursing, §§ 33-21-101 through 33-21-118, W.S.1977. Section 33-21-101 provides in part as follows:

"(a) When used in this act [§§ 33-21-101 to 33-21-118], the terms herein have the following meanings:

"(i) The practice of 'professional nursing' is the accountable performance for compensation of any act, or the making of any decisions, requiring substantial specialized knowledge, judgment and skills that must be acquired from accredited schools of professional nursing, based upon the application of principles of physical, biological and behavioral sciences that will assist the public in attaining better health status by:

"(A) Administering medical regimens as prescribed by a licensed or legally authorized physician or dentist;

"(B) Using the nursing process of:

"(I) 'Nursing assessment or nursing diagnosis' meaning the identification of the health status and needs of an individual recognizing that that individual is a physical, social and psychological being;

"(II) 'Nursing planning' meaning the formulation of a program of action to meet those needs identified through nursing assessment or nursing diagnosis;

"(III) 'Nursing intervention' meaning the implementation of the program of action;

"(IV) 'Nursing evaluation' meaning a continuing appraisal of the effectiveness of the nursing assessment, nursing diagnosis, nursing planning and nursing intervention;

"(C) Initiating health care; delegating, supervising, instructing and counseling for the promotion of well-being, maintenance of health and prevention of illness;

"(D) Performing such additional acts under emergency situations and other expanded roles requiring additional education and training, which are recognized by the medical and nursing professions as appropriate to be performed by a registered professional nurse. The foregoing does not include acts of medical diagnosis or prescription of medical therapeutic or corrective measures, except as may be authorized by rules and regulations jointly promulgated by the Wyoming state board of nursing and the Wyoming state board of medical examiners and which shall be...