BILL NUMBER: AB 2522 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Saldana
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to amend Section 2761 of the Business and Professions Code,
relating to nursing.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2522, as introduced, Saldana. Nursing: disciplinary action.
Existing law, the Nursing Practice Act, provides for the licensure
and regulation of registered nurses by the Board of Registered
Nursing. The board also certifies advance practice registered nurses.
Existing law authorizes the board to take disciplinary action
against these nurses or to deny an application for a certificate or
license for various acts and offenses.
This bill would make nonsubstantive, technical changes to that
provision.
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. Section 2761 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
2761. The board may take disciplinary action against a certified
or licensed nurse or deny an application for a certificate or license
for any of the following:
(a) Unprofessional conduct, which includes, but is not limited to,
all of the following:
(1) Incompetence, or gross negligence in carrying out usual
certified or licensed nursing functions.
(2) A conviction of practicing medicine without a license in
violation of Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 2000), in which event
the record of conviction shall be conclusive evidence thereof.
(3) The use of advertising relating to nursing which
that violates Section 17500.
(4) Denial of licensure, revocation, suspension, restriction, or
any other disciplinary action against a health care professional
license or certificate by another state or territory of the United
States, by any other government agency, or by another California
health care professional licensing board. A certified copy of the
decision or judgment shall be conclusive evidence of that action.
(b) Procuring his or her certificate or license by fraud,
misrepresentation, or mistake.
(c) Procuring, or aiding, or abetting, or attempting, or agreeing,
or offering to procure or assist at a criminal abortion.
(d) Violating or attempting to violate, directly or indirectly, or
assisting in or abetting the violating of, or conspiring to violate
any provision or term of this chapter or regulations adopted pursuant
to it.
(e) Making or giving any false statement or information in
connection with the application for issuance of a certificate or
license.
(f) Conviction of a felony or of any offense substantially related
to the qualifications, functions, and duties of a registered nurse,
in which event the record of the conviction shall be conclusive
evidence thereof.
(g) Impersonating any applicant or acting as proxy for an
applicant in any examination required under this chapter for the
issuance of a certificate or license.
(h) Impersonating another certified or licensed practitioner, or
permitting or allowing another person to use his or her certificate
or license for the purpose of nursing the sick or afflicted.
(i) Aiding or assisting, or agreeing to aid or assist any person
or persons, whether a licensed physician or not, in the performance
of, or arranging for, a violation of any of the provisions of Article
12 (commencing with Section 2220) of Chapter 5.
(j) Holding oneself out to the public or to any practitioner of
the healing arts as a "nurse practitioner" or as meeting the
standards established by the board for a nurse practitioner unless
meeting the standards established by the board pursuant to Article 8
(commencing with Section 2834) or holding oneself out to the public
as being certified by the board as a nurse anesthetist, nurse
midwife, clinical nurse specialist, or public health nurse unless the
person is at the time so certified by the board.
(k) Except for good cause, the knowing failure to protect patients
by failing to follow infection control guidelines of the board,
thereby risking transmission of blood-borne infectious diseases from
licensed or certified nurse to patient, from patient to patient, and
from patient to licensed or certified nurse. In administering this
subdivision, the board shall consider referencing the standards,
regulations, and guidelines of the State Department of Health
Services developed pursuant to Section 1250.11 of the Health and
Safety Code and the standards, guidelines, and regulations pursuant
to the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973 (Part 1
(commencing with Section 6300), Division 5, Labor Code) for
preventing the transmission of HIV, hepatitis B, and other
blood-borne pathogens in health care settings. As necessary, the
board shall consult with the Medical Board of California, the Board
of Podiatric Medicine, the Dental Board of California, and the Board
of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians, to encourage
appropriate consistency in the implementation of this subdivision.
The board shall seek to ensure that licentiates and others
regulated by the board are informed of the responsibility of
licentiates to minimize the risk of transmission of blood-borne
infectious diseases from health care provider to patient, from
patient to patient, and from patient to health care provider, and of
the most recent scientifically recognized safeguards for minimizing
the risks of transmission.