The North Dakota Board of Nursing has stumbled in its efforts to review a potential violation of the Nurse Practices Act.

In July, the board spent a meeting discussing its executive director over accusations she violated the act.

The questions about Connie Kalanek involved the board's plans to implement criminal history checks. Also, there was a potential conflict of interest by Kalanek for hiring a firm co-owned by her son to do the checks.

The concerns were raised by Shelly Peterson, president of the North Dakota Long Term Care Association, and Arnold Thomas, president of the North Dakota Healthcare Association. They sent letters to the governor, attorney general and nursing board on July 11 outlining their concerns.

Peterson and Thomas were worried because costs of doing the criminal checks through IDMetryx, the company co-owned by Connie Kalanek's son, Bill Kalanek, were higher than other available sources.

They also questioned whether the executive director had disclosed her relationship to the company's co-owner, which would be a violation of the Nurse Practices Act.

On Friday, the board dismissed the complaint against their executive director. Instead, they decided to review the case as an employee-employer issue.

They took the step after a representative of the attorney general's office told them how they needed to handle a formal investigation. It was either a formal investigation or an employee-employer review.

Board members appeared confused over whether they had agreed on an investigation during their July meeting. There also was confusion on the part of board members over whether Connie Kalanek had disclosed to the board that her son was a co-owner of IDMetryx.

Confusion that apparently will be sorted out through an internal review. The board will get an update on the situation on Sept. 18.

While some board members expressed confidence that Connie Kalanek wasn't trying to deceive them when IDMetryx was hired, it still merits a formal investigation.

There are issues of public trust involved. There needs to be an explanation over how the firm was selected and why members were being asked to pay more.

An investigation would benefit the nursing board and it would benefit Connie Kalanek.

If she did no wrong, this should be demonstrated by a thorough and public investigation.

Public officials need to stop doing things behind closed doors. Otherwise, they won't have the trust of the public.

To some, it will have the appearance that they have something to hide.