BILL NUMBER: AB 1711	CHAPTERED  07/18/05

	CHAPTER  58
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  JULY 18, 2005
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  JULY 18, 2005
	PASSED THE SENATE  JULY 1, 2005
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  MAY 16, 2005
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 9, 2005
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 25, 2005

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Strickland

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2005

   An act to add Section 1261.3 to the Health and Safety Code,
relating to health facilities.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1711, Strickland  Health facilities: immunizations.
   Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health
facilities by the State Department of Health Services. Existing law
regulates the procedures to be performed on a patient of a health
facility, including the administration of medication, upon the
specific authorization in the patient medical record or a standing
order prepared by authorized medical personnel.
   Existing regulations of the department authorize the use of
standing orders for specified patients when authorized by a person
licensed to prescribe and prohibit the use of standing orders in
skilled nursing facilities.
   This bill would authorize a registered nurse or licensed
pharmacist to administer in skilled nursing facilities influenza and
pneumococcal immunizations to a patient over 50 years of age,
pursuant to standing orders and without patient-specific orders, if
the immunization standing orders that are not patient specific meet
prescribed federal recommendations and are approved by the medical
director of the facility.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 1261.3 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
   1261.3.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for a
patient aged 50 years or older, a registered nurse or licensed
pharmacist may administer in a skilled nursing facility, as defined
in subdivision (c) of Section 1250, influenza and pneumococcal
immunizations pursuant to standing orders and without
patient-specific orders if all of the following criteria are met:
   (1) The skilled nursing facility medical director, as defined in
Section 72305 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations, has
approved the immunization standing orders established by the
facility.
   (2) The standing orders meet the recommendations of the Advisory
Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the federal Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
   (b) Nothing in this section amends, alters, or restricts the scope
of registered nurse practice including, but not limited to, the
scope of practice set forth in Article 2 (commencing with Section
2725) of Chapter 6 of Division 2 of the Business and Professions
Code, the implementing regulations, and interpretative bulletins or
practice advisories issued by the Board of Registered Nursing.