New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 13 - LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY › Chapter 38 - NEW JERSEY STATE BOARD OF OPTOMETRISTS › Subchapter 2 - GENERAL RULES OF OPTOMETRIC PRACTICE › Section 13:38-2.14 - Sexual misconduct

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) The purpose of this section is to identify for optometrists licensed by the Board of Optometrists the types of conduct which shall be deemed sexual misconduct.
(b) As used in this section, the following terms have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Licensee" means any person licensed to practice optometry in the State of New Jersey.
"Patient" means any person who is the recipient of a professional service rendered by a licensee for purposes of diagnosis, treatment or consultation relating to treatment. "Patient" for purposes of this section also means any person who is the subject of a professional examination even if the purpose of that examination is unrelated to treatment.
"Patient-physician relationship" means an association between an optometric physician and a patient wherein the optometrist owes a continuing duty to the patient to be available to render professional services consistent with his or her training and experience. The performance of any professional service including, but not limited to, the issuance of a prescription or authorization of a refill of a prescription is deemed to be a professional service and evidence of a patient-physician relationship.
"Sexual contact" means knowingly touching a person's body directly or through clothing, where the circumstances surrounding the touching would be construed by a reasonable person to be motivated by the licensee's own prurient interest or for sexual arousal or gratification. "Sexual contact" includes, but is not limited to, the imposition of a part of the licensee's body upon a part of the patient's body, sexual penetration, or the insertion or imposition of any object or any part of a licensee or patient's body into or near the genital, anal or other opening of the other person's body. "Sexual contact" does not include the touching of a patient's body which is necessary for the performance of a generally accepted and recognized optometric procedure.
"Sexual harassment" means solicitation of any sexual act, physical advances, or verbal or non-verbal conduct that is sexual in nature, and which occurs in connection with a licensee's activities or role as a provider of optometric services, and that either: is unwelcome or offensive to a reasonable person, or creates a hostile workplace environment, and the licensee knows, should know, or is told this; or is sufficiently severe or intense to be abusive to a reasonable person in that context. "Sexual harassment" may consist of a single extreme or severe act or of multiple acts and may include, but is not limited to, conduct of a licensee with a patient, co-worker, employee, student or supervisee whether or not such individual is in a subordinate position to the licensee.
"Spouse" means either the husband or wife of the licensee or an individual in a long-term committed relationship with the licensee.
(c) A licensee shall not engage in sexual contact with a patient with whom he or she has a patient-physician relationship. The patient-physician relationship is considered ongoing for purposes of this section in all contexts unless:
1. Professional services are actively terminated by way of written notice to the patient and is documented in the patient record; or
2. The last professional services were rendered more than one year ago.