Assignment:Scope of Practice & Responsibilities

The Nursing Practice Act (NPA) is the body of California law that mandates the Board to set out the scope of practice and responsibilities for RNs. The Practice Act is located in the California Business and Professions Code starting with Section 2700. Regulations that specify the implementation of the law appear in the California Code of Regulations (“Board Of Nursing”, n.d.). What is the NPA? How does it affect nurses? What are the requirements for getting a nursing license from the Board of Nursing? All of these are important questions for someone to ponder when considering joining the nursing profession. Let us explore the ins and outs of becoming and being and registered nurse in California.

What Is The Nurse Practice Act

The Nurse Practice Act (NPA) is laws in each state that are instrumental in defining the scope of nursing practice. NPAs protect public health, safety, and welfare. This protection includes shielding the public from unqualified and unsafe nurses. In each state, statutory law directs entry into nursing practice, defines the scope of practice, and establishes disciplinary procedures. State boards of nursing oversee this statutory law. They have the responsibility and authority to protect the public by determining who is competent to practice nursing (Business And Professions Code, n.d.).

Nursing Chapter Six

“This chapter of the Business and Professions Code constitutes the chapter on professional nursing and shall be construed as revisory and amendatory of the laws heretofore enacted. It may be cited as the Nursing Practice Act” (Chapter 6 Nursing). Article one administration. This is the Board of Nursing and this section remains in effect until January 2012 unless it is voted to extend the authority. The nursing board consists of nine members. Four represent the public at large and have no license and no ties to the healthcare industry. The board also has two registered nurses, one advanced practice nurse, one nurse educator, and one registered nurse that is an administrator of a nursing service (Business And Professions Code, n.d.). All members must be a citizen of the United States and a Resident of the State of California.

All appointments shall be for a term of four years and vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired term. No person shall serve more than two consecutive terms. Board positions appointed by the Governor, the senate rules Committee and the Speaker of the Assembly. The board elects from its members a president, vice president, and any other officers as it may deem necessary. The officers of the board shall hold their respective positions during their four-year term (Business And Professions Code, n.d.). The Governor has the power to remove any member of the board from office for neglect of any duty required by law, or for incompetency, or unprofessional or dishonorable conduct. The board for the purpose of transacting its business must meet at least once every three months, at times and places it designates by resolution (Business And Professions Code, n.d.).

Assignment:Scope of Practice & Responsibilities

Assignment:Scope of Practice & Responsibilities

“Protection of the public shall be the highest priority for the Board of Registered Nursing in exercising its licensing, regulatory, and disciplinary functions. Whenever the protection of the public is inconsistent with other interests sought to be promoted, the protection of the public shall be paramount” (Chapter 6 Nursing). Article two scope of regulations. According to “Board Of Nursing” (n.d.), the practice of nursing within the meaning of this chapter means those functions, including basic health care. Helping 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” (Chapter 6 Nursing). Direct and indirect patient care services that ensure the safety, comfort, personal hygiene, and protection of patients; and the performance of disease prevention and restorative measures (Business And Professions Code, n.d.).

Assignment:Scope of Practice & Responsibilities

Assignment:Scope of Practice & Responsibilities

Direct and indirect patient care services, including, but not limited to, the administration of medications and therapeutic agents, necessary to implement a treatment, disease prevention, or rehabilitative regimen ordered by and within the scope of licensure of a physician, dentist, podiatrist, or clinical psychologist (Business And Professions Code, n.d.). The performance of skin tests, immunization techniques, and the withdrawal of human blood from veins and arteries (Business And Professions Code, n.d.). Observation of signs and symptoms of illness, reactions to treatment, general behavior, or general physical condition, and determination of whether the signs, symptoms, reactions, behavior, or general appearance exhibit abnormal characteristics, and implementation, based on observed abnormalities, of appropriate reporting, or referral, or standardized procedures, or changes in treatment regimen in accordance with standardized procedures, or the initiation of emergency procedures (Business And Professions Code, n.d.).

There are standardized policies and procedures developed through collaboration with the Division of Licensing of the Medical Board of California and the Board of Registered Nursing may jointly approve or design new policy and procedures. If put into effect by official proclamation, the guidelines shall be administered by the Board of Registered Nursing (Business And Professions Code, n.d.). A registered nurse can dispense drugs or devices when ordered by a licensed physician or surgeon. A registered nurse cannot be employed to perform dispensing exclusively. A registered nurse cannot dispense medication in a pharmacy; keep a pharmacy, open shop or a drugstore for retailing drugs or poisons. No registered nurse shall compound drugs (Business And Professions Code, n.d.).

The Business and Professional Code, n.d. also includes how to get a license to be a registered nurse. “An applicant must have completed such general preliminary education requirements as shall be determined by the board. Have successfully completed the courses of instruction prescribed by the board for licensure, in a program in this state accredited by the board for training registered nurses, or have successfully completed courses of instruction in a school of nursing outside of this state which, in the opinion of the board at the time the application is filed with the Board of Registered Nursing, are equivalent to the minimum requirements of the board for licensure established for an accredited program in this state” (Business And Professions Code, n.d.). The board shall issue a license to each applicant who passes the examination and meets all other licensing requirements. The board shall discipline the holder of any license, whose default has been entered or who has been heard by the board and found guilty, by any of the following methods:

(a) Suspending judgment.
(b) Placing him upon probation.
(c) Suspending his right to practice nursing for a period not exceeding one year.
(d) Revoking his license.
(e) Taking such other action in relation to disciplining him as the board in its discretion may deem proper (Business And Professions Code, n.d.).

Chapter Six of the Business and Professional Code not only covers registered nurses but the following articles are also included: a) Article 2.5. Nurse-Midwives
b) Article 3. Disciplinary Proceedings
c) Article 3.1 Diversion Program
d) Article 3.5 Nursing Corporations
e) Article 4. Nursing Schools
f) Article 5. Penal Provisions
g) Article 6. Revenue
h) Article 6.5. Public Health Nurse Certification
i) Article 7. Nurse Anesthetists
j) Article 8. Nurse Practitioners
k) Article 9. Clinical Nurse Specialists

The Nurse Practice Act as it is written in the Business and Professional Code defines and lays out a scope of practice to direct a nurse at any level to provide the best possible care while staying within their scope of practice. By following the Nurse Practice Act and providing professional skilled nursing, I will be able to provide care and help my patients to the best of my ability while staying in the confines that my license allows.

References

Business and professions code. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.rn.ca.gov/regulations/bpc.shtml

Board of nursing. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.rn.ca.gov/regulations/npa.shtml

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality

Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes

I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.