SECTIONS 2816-2820 - California Statutes

BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE

SECTION 2816-2820

2816. The nonrefundable fee to be paid by a registered nurse for an
evaluation of his or her qualifications to use the title "public
health nurse" shall be equal to the fees set out in subdivision (o)
of Section 2815. All fees payable under this section shall be
collected by and paid to the Registered Nursing Fund. It is the
intention of the Legislature that the costs of carrying out the
purposes of this article shall be covered by the revenue collected
pursuant to this section.

2817. The qualifications prescribed by the board under this article
shall include a requirement that an applicant for employment as a
public health nurse and all public health nurses employed on or after
January 1, 1981, acquire training in child abuse and neglect
detection.

2818. (a) The Legislature recognizes that public health nursing is
a service of crucial importance for the health, safety, and
sanitation of the population in all of California's communities.
These services currently include, but are not limited to:
(1) Control and prevention of communicable disease.
(2) Promotion of maternal, child, and adolescent health.
(3) Prevention of abuse and neglect of children, elders, and
spouses.
(4) Outreach screening, case management, resource coordination and
assessment, and delivery and evaluation of care for individuals,
families, and communities.
(b) The Legislature also finds that conflicting definitions of
"public health nurse" have been created by various state and local
agencies within California. The Legislature also finds that the
public is harmed by the conflicting usage of the title "public health
nurse" and lack of consistency between the use of the term and the
qualifications required in state law and in administrative
regulations. Therefore, the Legislature finds that the public
interest would be served by determining the conditions for the
legitimate use by registered nurses of a title which includes the
term "public health nurse."
(c) No individual shall hold himself or herself out as a public
health nurse or use a title which includes the term "public health
nurse" unless that individual is in possession of a valid California
public health nurse certificate issued pursuant to this article.
(d) No employer subject to regulation by Section 602 of the Health
and Safety Code shall hold out any employee to be a public health
nurse or grant a title to any employee including the term "public
health nurse" unless that employee holds a valid California public
health nurse certificate pursuant to this article.

2819. In order to effect a speedy and efficient transfer of public
health nurse certification from the State Department of Health
Services to the board, existing Sections 4500 to 4504, inclusive, of
Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations shall be repealed by
the State Department of Health Services and adopted by the board to
place them in Chapter 14 of Title 16 of the California Code of
Regulations, and any reference to the State Department of Health
Services in those regulations shall be changed to refer to the board.
The repeal of the regulations and adoption of the revised
regulations pursuant to this section shall be exempt from the
Administrative Procedure Act, Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code,
except that the repealed and adopted regulations shall be filed with
the Office of Administrative Law for publication in the California
Code of Regulations.

2820. Nothing in this article shall be construed as expanding the
scope of practice of a registered nurse beyond that which is
authorized under Section 2725.