BILL NUMBER: AB 1430	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Swanson

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2009

   An act to add Section 49423.4 to the Education Code, relating to
pupil health.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1430, as introduced, Swanson. Pupil health: licensed nurses.
   Existing law establishes the public elementary and secondary
school system in this state. Under this system, school districts
throughout the state provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten
and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, at the public elementary and secondary
schools.
   Existing law provides that any pupil who is required to take,
during the regular schoolday, medication prescribed for him or her by
a physician and surgeon, may be assisted by the school nurse or
other designated school personnel, or may carry and self-administer
prescription auto-injectable epinephrine if the school district
receives the appropriate written statements, as prescribed, from the
physician and the parent, foster parent, or guardian of the pupil.
   The existing Nursing Practice Act regulates the practice of
nursing, which is defined in the act as those functions, including
basic health care, that help people cope with difficulties in daily
living that are associated with their actual or potential health or
illness problems or the treatment thereof, and that require a
substantial amount of scientific knowledge or technical skill.
   This bill would express findings and declarations of the
Legislature with respect to a Superior Court ruling relating to the
administration of medication to pupils in California public
elementary and secondary schools. This bill, notwithstanding the
provision referenced above that authorizes assistance to be given to
a pupil by school personnel during the schoolday under certain
conditions, would require that any medication that is administered to
a pupil who is required to take, during the regular schoolday,
medication prescribed for him or her by a physician or surgeon shall
be administered by a licensed nurse in compliance with the Nursing
Practice Act.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) The Nursing Practice Act (Chapter 6 (commencing with Section
2700) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code) was
designed to protect patients in the administration of medications.
   (b) According to the ruling of the Superior Court of California in
and for the County of Sacramento filed on December 26, 2008, in the
case of American Nurses Association et al. v. O'Connell et al., the
administration of medication to pupils in California public
elementary and secondary schools must be accomplished in accordance
with the requirements of the Nursing Practice Act.
   (c) The court specifically found that state laws authorize the
administration of medication to a student only by a licensed health
care professional acting within the scope of practice for which he or
she is licensed to perform services.
   (d) The court noted the statutorily authorized exceptions that
authorize an unlicensed person to administer medication, but
specifically noted that assistance within the meaning of Section
49423 of the Education Code does not encompass the administration of
medications. The court ruled that the plain meaning of assistance and
administration, as well as the legislative history of the section,
indicate that assistance is distinct from, rather than synonymous or
interchangeable with, administration.
  SEC. 2.  Section 49423.4 is added to the Education Code, to read:
   49423.4.  Notwithstanding Section 49423, any medication that is
administered to a pupil who is required to take, during the regular
schoolday, medication prescribed for him or her by a physician or
surgeon shall be administered by a licensed nurse in compliance with
the Nursing Practice Act (Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 2700) of
Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code). Nothing in this
section prohibits an individual authorized under Section 49414 or
49414.5 from rendering emergency medical aid.