49 Pa. Code § 21.401 - Interpretations: scope of practice
(a) The Board may, upon request of a licensed
nurse, nursing association, health care facility or licensed health care
professional, or upon its own motion, issue interpretations of this chapter as
they apply to the question of whether the execution of specific practices are
within the scope of professional or practical nursing.
(b) Interpretations issued by the Board will
not conflict with this chapter, or enlarge or restrict this chapter, but will
solely address the matter of applying principles set forth in this chapter to
specific practices.
(c)
Interpretations issued under this section do not constitute an exercise of
delegated legislative power by the Board and will be expressly subject to
modification by the Board in an adjudicative proceeding based upon the
particular facts and circumstances relevant to a proceeding. Interpretations
are not intended to be legally enforceable against a licensed person by the
Board. In issuing adjudications, the Board may consider, but is not bound by,
interpretations.
(d) Prior to
issuing interpretations, the Board will submit to the Legislative Reference
Bureau for recommended publication in the Pennsylvania
Bulletin a notice indicating its intent to adopt interpretations, and
making available upon request to interested persons copies of proposed or draft
interpretations. The notice shall also indicate the date and place for the
conduct of hearings proposed regarding the interpretations. The notice shall
contain the full statement of policy or a description of the substance of the
statement of policy.
(e) The Board
will not adopt statements of policy until the time for public comment has
elapsed. A minimum of 60 days from publication in the Pennsylvania
Bulletin of notice of intention to adopt shall be provided for public
comment. Following a review and consideration of comments received concerning a
proposed interpretation, the Board may adopt interpretations by a majority vote
taken at a scheduled public meeting of the Board.
(f) Interpretations adopted by the Board
under this chapter will be reviewed for form and legality under Chapter 3 of
the Commonwealth Attorneys Act (71 P.S. §§ 732-301-732-303) and, upon
approval, will be submitted to the Legislative Reference Bureau for recommended
publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin and
Pennsylvania Code as a statement of policy of the Board as a
part of this subchapter.
(g) If a
nurse executes a practice which the Board has interpreted to be within the
scope of nursing practice, the nurse shall only undertake the practice if the
nurse has the necessary preparation, experience and knowledge to properly
execute the practice. The execution of the procedures shall include the
identification and discrimination of expected and unexpected human responses
and the effective management of nursing actions.
(h) Interpretations of the Board will not be
deemed to impose requirements upon educational institutions to include the
teaching of practices within their curricula.
(i) The procedure for issuing interpretations
will not prohibit the Board from answering specific inquiries involving
individual factual situations, which answers will be limited in application to
the individual factual situation involved in the inquiry.
Notes
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