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2003 Legislative Updates

The following bills related to the practice of nursing were chaptered into law during the 2003 legislative session. Although these bills address many subjects, each affects registered nursing in some way. Unless otherwise stated, they became effective January 2004.

For additional information, please refer to www.leginfo.ca.gov.

Assembly Bills

Senate Bills

AB 942 (Leno) - Emergency medical services: diabetes (Link to AB 942)
AB 942 permits each school district to provide voluntary emergency medical training to school personnel, for the purpose of administering emergency medical assistance to pupils with diabetes suffering from severe hypoglycemia, in the absence of a credentialed school nurse or other licensed nurse. The volunteer personnel would be required to provide emergency care in accordance with standards developed by the American Diabetes Association, Department of Education, the California School Nurse Organization, the California Medical Association, and the Academy of Pediatrics.
(Chaptered 684)

AB 1196 (Montanez) - Drugs (Link to AB 1196)
AB 1196 expands the current nurse practitioner furnishing privileges to include drugs or devices that are classified as Schedule II controlled substances under the California Uniform Controlled Substances Act. The nurse practitioners are required to complete a continuing education course including Schedule II controlled substances based on standards developed by the Board of Registered Nursing.
(Chaptered 748)

AB 1241 (Parra) - Nursing education scholarships (Link to AB 1241)
AB 1241 requires the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development to adopt regulations establishing the Statewide Associate Degree Nursing Scholarship Pilot Program. A portion of the funds contained in the Registered Nurse Education Fund will be allocated to provide scholarships to associate degree nursing students in counties determined to have the most need based on designated criteria.
(Chaptered 396)

SB 151 (Burton) - Controlled substances: Schedule II (Link to SB 151)
SB 151 eliminates the triplicate prescription requirement for Schedule II controlled substances, effective July 1, 2004. It requires prescriptions for any controlled substances to be issued on controlled substance prescription forms obtained from a "security printer" approved by the Board of Pharmacy, effective January 1, 2005. Between July 1, 2004 and January 1, 2005, providers of controlled substances may use the current triplicate form or the security forms for writing prescriptions.

To assist the law enforcement and regulatory agencies in their efforts to control the diversion and abuse of controlled substances, the Department of Justice will maintain the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) for the electronic monitoring of the prescribing and dispensing of Schedule II and Schedule III controlled substances.
(Chaptered 406)

SB 252 (Alpert) - Healing arts (Link to SB 252)
SB 252 permits medical assistants to provide services in licensed community clinics and free clinics under the supervision of a physician, podiatrist, nurse practitioner, nurse-midwife, or physician assistant. A medical assistant cannot be employed for inpatient care in a licensed general acute care hospital.
(Chaptered 234)

SB 358 (Figueroa) - Nursing: vocational nursing: psychiatric technicians (Link to SB 358)
SB 358 extends the sunset date for the Board of Registered Nursing to July 1, 2008 and:

  • Replaces the physician member with a public member.
  • Requires that one of the registered nurse members be an advanced practice nurse.
  • Provides that no state agency other than the Board can define or interpret the practice of nursing, or develop standardized procedures or protocols unless authorized or specifically required under state or federal statute.
  • Increases the biennial licensure renewal assessment from $5.00 to $10.00 to be collected from licensees and deposited into the Registered Nursing Fund.
  • Adds Section 2725.5 to the Business and Professions Code that defines "Advance Practice Registered Nurse."
(Chaptered 640)

SB 969 (Bowen) - Telephone medical advice services (Link to SB 969)
SB 969 requires every health care service plan that provides, operates, or contracts for, telephone medical advice services to enrollees and subscribers to ensure that the in-state or out-of-state telephone medical advice service is registered, and that the staff providing telephone medical advice services is registered, and that the staff providing telephone medical advice services is licensed, certified, or registered professionals. The health care service plan is required to ensure that staff members, who are not licensed, certified or registered, do not provide telephone medical advice. A staff member cannot use a title or designation when speaking to an enrollee or subscriber that may cause a reasonable person to believe that the staff member is a health care professional unless the staff member is a licensed, certified, or registered professional.

"Telephone medical advice" is defined as a telephonic communication between a patient and a health care professional in which the health care professional's primary function is to provide to the patient, a telephonic response to the patient's questions regarding his or her family member's medical care or treatment. "Telephone medical advice" includes assessment, evaluation, or advice provided to patients or their family members.
(Chaptered 885)