An Act Amending Certain Sections of Act Numbered Twenty-Eight Hundred and Eight, Entitled "An Act Regulating the Practice of the Nursing Profession in the Philippine Islands"

March 8, 1922

ACT NO. 3025

AN ACT AMENDING CERTAIN SECTIONS OF ACT NUMBERED TWENTY-EIGHT HUNDRED AND EIGHT, ENTITLED "AN ACT REGULATING THE PRACTICE OF THE NURSING PROFESSION IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS"

SECTION 1. Section ten of Act Numbered Twenty-eight hundred and eight is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 10. Inhibition against practice of nursing by unregistered persons. — Unless exempt from registration as hereinafter provided, no person shall practice the profession of nursing in the Philippine Islands without having previously obtained the proper certificate of registration from the Board of Examiners for Nurses.

"A person shall be deemed practising the profession of nursing, within the meaning of this section, who shall, for compensation or reward, either direct or indirect to himself or other person, perform nursing services, that is, give bed-side care or treatment; administer medicines or attend and take care of sick persons in their houses under the direction of a medical man, or be employed as graduate nurse in any hospital, institution, school, office, corporation or society, either public or private, or engage as instructor in any training school for nurses; but this provision shall not apply to student nurses practising in any legally chartered school or college of nursing, or in any clinic or hospital under the direction of a professor of such school or college or of a physician or dental surgeon of such clinic or hospital, or to Red Cross aids or welfare workers employed by public or private institutions engaged in welfare work; nor shall this section be construed to interfere with the legitimate practice of physicians, surgeons or midwives in conformity with the provisions of the Medical Law."

SECTION 2. Qualifications, registration of Red Cross aids, and registration fees. — Red Cross aids and welfare workers shall be registered with the Board as such upon furnishing evidence of qualifications required by rules and regulations promulgated to that effect by the Board, subject to the approval of the Department Head, and payment of a fee of one peso.

SECTION 3. Section thirteen of Act Numbered Twenty-eight hundred and eight is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 13. Persons exempt from examination. — Certificates of registration may be issued without examination to nurses who at the time of the promulgation of this Act are in actual practice in the Philippine Islands and have their diplomas issued by a duly recognized school or college of nursing, upon payment of the proper fees. Certificates of registration may also be issued without examination, upon payment of the proper fees, to nurses who shall have graduated from a duly recognized school or college of nursing during the year nineteen hundred and nineteen, to nurses at present in the Government service or in the service of reputable private hospitals who have served as such for at least five consecutive years and have such other additional qualifications as the Board of Examiners for Nurses may, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, prescribe; and to nurses registered under the laws of any State or territory of the United States or of any foreign country: Provided, That the requirements for the registration or licensing of nurses in the particular state, territory or country, are substantially the same as those prescribed by section fifteen of this Act: And provided, further, That the laws of such state, territory or country grant the same privilege to Filipino nurses as is hereby granted to nurses from such state, territory or country applying for registration under the laws of the Philippine Islands."

SECTION 4. Section fourteen of Act Numbered Twenty-eight hundred and eight is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 14. Semi-annual examinations. — The Board of Examiners for nurses shall meet in the City of Manila for the purpose of examining candidates desiring to practice the profession of nursing in the Philippine Islands on the second Monday of April and October of each year or as often as the Board may deem necessary upon authorization by the Secretary of the Interior. The Board may meet and hold examinations for the same purpose in other points of the Archipelago upon authorization granted by the Secretary of the Interior, who shall in each case designate the date when such examination shall take place."

SECTION 5. Section sixteen of Act Numbered Twenty-eight hundred and eight is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 16. Issuance of certificate of registration. — Every candidate who successfully passes the aforesaid examination shall receive a certificate of registration as nurse, and shall be entitled to append the letters R. N. to his or her name: Provided, That a provisional certificate may be issued by the Board to any graduate from a duly recognized school of nursing, which provisional certificate shall be valid until the Board cancels it. Provisional certificates may also be issued to American and foreign nurses pending the approval of their application for permanent registration as provided in section three of this Act.

"All certificates shall be signed by a majority of the members of the Board and shall be attested lay its official seal."

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect on its approval.

Approved, March 8, 1922.