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[ Act No. 2808, March 01, 1919 ]
AN ACT REGULATING THE PRACTICE OF THE NURSING PROFESSION IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Legislature assembled and by the authority of the same:
SECTION 1. Board of Examiners for Nurses.—There is hereby created a Board of Examiners for Nurses, which shall be under the direct supervision and control of the Department of the Interior. The board shall consist of three members to be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior. One of the members of the board shall be a physician who must be a graduate of some legally chartered and reputable medical school, college or university, recognized as such by the Government and must hold the degree of doctor or licentiate of medicine and be authorized to practice in the Philippine Islands. The other two members of the board shall be reputable nurses who must have experience in the profession of nursing for at least five years.
SEC. 2. Functions and duties of board.—The Board of Examiners for Nurses is hereby vested with authority, conformably with the provisions of this Act, to issue and revoke certificates of registration for practitioners of the nursing profession. The board shall study the conditions affecting the practice of the nursing profession in all parts of the Philippine Islands and shall exercise the powers herein conferred upon it with a view to the maintenance of efficient ethical and technical standards in the nursing profession.
SEC. 3. Term of members of board.—Each member of the board shall hold office for a term of three years from the date of his or her appointment, the terms of the first appointees to be so adjusted that one expires each year. Interim vacancies shall be filled by appointment for the unexpired term only.
SEC. 4. Removal of member of board.—The Secretary of the Interior may remove any member of the board for neglect of duty, incompetency, or for unprofessional or dishonorable conduct.
SEC. 5. Officers of the board.—The physician-member of the board shall be the president and chief executive thereof. The secretary-treasurer shall be appointed by the president from among the two nurse-members at the annual meeting of the board, which shall be held on the second Monday of January.
SEC. 6. Duties of the secretary-treasurer.—The secretary-treasurer of the board shall keep a record of the proceedings of the board and a register of all persons to whom certificates of registration have been issued, setting forth the name, age, sex, and place of birth of each, his or her place of business, his or her post-office address, the name of the school, college or university, if any, from which he or she graduated or in which he or she has studied, and the date of such graduation or term of study, together with the time spent in the study of the profession elsewhere, if any, the names and locations of all institutions which have granted him or her degrees or certificates of attendance upon clinics or lectures in nursing, and all other degrees granted him or her from institutions of learning.
SEC. 7. Compensation of members.—The members of the -board, including the secretary-treasurer, shall receive from " Insular funds as compensation the sum of three pesos each for each candidate examined for registration as nurse. The secretary-treasurer shall receive from Insular funds an additional compensation of three hundred pesos per year, one-half of which amount shall be paid on the thirtieth of June and one-half on the thirty-first of December of each year.
SEC. 8. Annual report.—The board shall make an annual -report to the Secretary of the Interior, giving an account of its proceedings during the year covered by the report and a statement of moneys received and expenses incurred by it during such period.
SEC. 9. Regulations.—Regulations governing examination and determining the standards to be attained in them and generally such other regulations as may be necessary to carry the provisions of this Act into effect shall be promulgated by the board with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.
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 bedside care or treatments; administer medicines or attend and take care of sick persons in their houses, 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; 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.
SEC. 11. Persons exempt from registration. Registration certificates for the practice of their profession shall not be required of nurses of the United States Army or Navy in the Philippine Islands while on duty as such for the members of said Army or Navy.
SEC. 12. Examination prior to practice.—Except as otherwise specially provided all applicants for registration under the provisions of this Act shall be subjected to examination as hereinafter provided.
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 graduate from a duly recognized school or college of nursing during the year nineteen hundred and nineteen, and 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.
SEC. 14. Semiannual 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 June and December of each year. The board may meet and hold examinations for the same purpose in other points of the Archipelago, upon authorization by the Secretary of the Interior, who shall in each case designate the date when such examinations shall take place.
SEC. 15. Prerequisite qualification for examination.— Every person applying for examination under the provisions of this Act shall furnish to the board satisfactory proof that he or she is at least twenty-one years of age and of good moral character, and that he or she has received a diploma or a certificate from an institution duly recognized by the Government, in which the following branches are taught during three years: anatomy, physiology and urinalysis; dietetics; ethics; hygiene, bacteriology and contagious disease; materia medica; pediatrics and infant feeding; medical nursing; eye, ear, nose, and throat; surgical and gynecological nursing; obstetrical nursing; English or Spanish, (question on genito-urinary nursing to be substituted for questions on obstetrical and gynecological nursing for male candidates).
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.
All certificates shall be signed by a majority of the members of the board and shall be attested by its official seal.
SEC. 17. Examination or registration fees.—The secretary-treasurer shall collect ten pesos from each candidate for each examination for registration, as well as for each certificate of registration issued to those exempt from examination.
SEC. 18. Refusal of certificate for certain causes.—The Board of Examiners for Nurses shall refuse to issue a certificate of registration to any person convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction of any criminal offense involving moral turpitude, and to any person guilty of immoral or dishonorable conduct, or of unsound mind, and in the event of such refusal shall give to the applicant a written statement setting forth the reason for its action, which statement shall be incorporated in the record of the board.
SEC. 19. Revocation of certificate.—The board may also revoke a certificate for the causes specified in the last preceding section, or for unprofessional conduct, malpractice, incompetency or serious ignorance or malicious negligence in the practice of the profession; or for making use of fraud, deceit or false statements to obtain a certificate of registration.
SEC. 20. Appeal to Secretary of the Interior.—The revocation of a certificate of registration made by the board' after having duly notified and heard the party concerned, shall be subject to appeal to the Secretary of the Interior, whose decision shall be final in all cases.
SEC. 21. Illegal use of diplomas or titles.—No person , shall in any way advertise as a graduate nurse or append the letters R. N. to his or her name, who has not had duly conferred upon him or her by diploma from some school, college or university, or board of examiners qualified to confer the right to assume said title or to append said letters, as to represent falsely that he or she has received a degree of graduate nurse or certificate of registration as such.
SEC. 22. Violation of Nurses Law.—Any person violating any provision of the Nurses Law shall, upon conviction, be punished for each violation with a fine of not more than one thousand pesos, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by both, in the discretion of the court.
SEC. 23. Appropriation for the purposes of this Act.— The sum of three thousand pesos is hereby appropriated, out of any funds in the Insular Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this Act during the present year. Sufficient funds for the expenses of the Board of Examiners for Nurses created by this Act shall be appropriated in the annual appropriation act.
SEC. 24. Title of this Act.—The short title of this Act shall be the Nurses Law.
SEC, 25. Time of taking effect.—This Act shall take effect on its approval.
Approved, March 1, 1919.
SECTION 1. Board of Examiners for Nurses.—There is hereby created a Board of Examiners for Nurses, which shall be under the direct supervision and control of the Department of the Interior. The board shall consist of three members to be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior. One of the members of the board shall be a physician who must be a graduate of some legally chartered and reputable medical school, college or university, recognized as such by the Government and must hold the degree of doctor or licentiate of medicine and be authorized to practice in the Philippine Islands. The other two members of the board shall be reputable nurses who must have experience in the profession of nursing for at least five years.
SEC. 2. Functions and duties of board.—The Board of Examiners for Nurses is hereby vested with authority, conformably with the provisions of this Act, to issue and revoke certificates of registration for practitioners of the nursing profession. The board shall study the conditions affecting the practice of the nursing profession in all parts of the Philippine Islands and shall exercise the powers herein conferred upon it with a view to the maintenance of efficient ethical and technical standards in the nursing profession.
SEC. 3. Term of members of board.—Each member of the board shall hold office for a term of three years from the date of his or her appointment, the terms of the first appointees to be so adjusted that one expires each year. Interim vacancies shall be filled by appointment for the unexpired term only.
SEC. 4. Removal of member of board.—The Secretary of the Interior may remove any member of the board for neglect of duty, incompetency, or for unprofessional or dishonorable conduct.
SEC. 5. Officers of the board.—The physician-member of the board shall be the president and chief executive thereof. The secretary-treasurer shall be appointed by the president from among the two nurse-members at the annual meeting of the board, which shall be held on the second Monday of January.
SEC. 6. Duties of the secretary-treasurer.—The secretary-treasurer of the board shall keep a record of the proceedings of the board and a register of all persons to whom certificates of registration have been issued, setting forth the name, age, sex, and place of birth of each, his or her place of business, his or her post-office address, the name of the school, college or university, if any, from which he or she graduated or in which he or she has studied, and the date of such graduation or term of study, together with the time spent in the study of the profession elsewhere, if any, the names and locations of all institutions which have granted him or her degrees or certificates of attendance upon clinics or lectures in nursing, and all other degrees granted him or her from institutions of learning.
SEC. 7. Compensation of members.—The members of the -board, including the secretary-treasurer, shall receive from " Insular funds as compensation the sum of three pesos each for each candidate examined for registration as nurse. The secretary-treasurer shall receive from Insular funds an additional compensation of three hundred pesos per year, one-half of which amount shall be paid on the thirtieth of June and one-half on the thirty-first of December of each year.
SEC. 8. Annual report.—The board shall make an annual -report to the Secretary of the Interior, giving an account of its proceedings during the year covered by the report and a statement of moneys received and expenses incurred by it during such period.
SEC. 9. Regulations.—Regulations governing examination and determining the standards to be attained in them and generally such other regulations as may be necessary to carry the provisions of this Act into effect shall be promulgated by the board with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.
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 bedside care or treatments; administer medicines or attend and take care of sick persons in their houses, 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; 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.
SEC. 11. Persons exempt from registration. Registration certificates for the practice of their profession shall not be required of nurses of the United States Army or Navy in the Philippine Islands while on duty as such for the members of said Army or Navy.
SEC. 12. Examination prior to practice.—Except as otherwise specially provided all applicants for registration under the provisions of this Act shall be subjected to examination as hereinafter provided.
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 graduate from a duly recognized school or college of nursing during the year nineteen hundred and nineteen, and 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.
SEC. 14. Semiannual 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 June and December of each year. The board may meet and hold examinations for the same purpose in other points of the Archipelago, upon authorization by the Secretary of the Interior, who shall in each case designate the date when such examinations shall take place.
SEC. 15. Prerequisite qualification for examination.— Every person applying for examination under the provisions of this Act shall furnish to the board satisfactory proof that he or she is at least twenty-one years of age and of good moral character, and that he or she has received a diploma or a certificate from an institution duly recognized by the Government, in which the following branches are taught during three years: anatomy, physiology and urinalysis; dietetics; ethics; hygiene, bacteriology and contagious disease; materia medica; pediatrics and infant feeding; medical nursing; eye, ear, nose, and throat; surgical and gynecological nursing; obstetrical nursing; English or Spanish, (question on genito-urinary nursing to be substituted for questions on obstetrical and gynecological nursing for male candidates).
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.
All certificates shall be signed by a majority of the members of the board and shall be attested by its official seal.
SEC. 17. Examination or registration fees.—The secretary-treasurer shall collect ten pesos from each candidate for each examination for registration, as well as for each certificate of registration issued to those exempt from examination.
SEC. 18. Refusal of certificate for certain causes.—The Board of Examiners for Nurses shall refuse to issue a certificate of registration to any person convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction of any criminal offense involving moral turpitude, and to any person guilty of immoral or dishonorable conduct, or of unsound mind, and in the event of such refusal shall give to the applicant a written statement setting forth the reason for its action, which statement shall be incorporated in the record of the board.
SEC. 19. Revocation of certificate.—The board may also revoke a certificate for the causes specified in the last preceding section, or for unprofessional conduct, malpractice, incompetency or serious ignorance or malicious negligence in the practice of the profession; or for making use of fraud, deceit or false statements to obtain a certificate of registration.
SEC. 20. Appeal to Secretary of the Interior.—The revocation of a certificate of registration made by the board' after having duly notified and heard the party concerned, shall be subject to appeal to the Secretary of the Interior, whose decision shall be final in all cases.
SEC. 21. Illegal use of diplomas or titles.—No person , shall in any way advertise as a graduate nurse or append the letters R. N. to his or her name, who has not had duly conferred upon him or her by diploma from some school, college or university, or board of examiners qualified to confer the right to assume said title or to append said letters, as to represent falsely that he or she has received a degree of graduate nurse or certificate of registration as such.
SEC. 22. Violation of Nurses Law.—Any person violating any provision of the Nurses Law shall, upon conviction, be punished for each violation with a fine of not more than one thousand pesos, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by both, in the discretion of the court.
SEC. 23. Appropriation for the purposes of this Act.— The sum of three thousand pesos is hereby appropriated, out of any funds in the Insular Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this Act during the present year. Sufficient funds for the expenses of the Board of Examiners for Nurses created by this Act shall be appropriated in the annual appropriation act.
SEC. 24. Title of this Act.—The short title of this Act shall be the Nurses Law.
SEC, 25. Time of taking effect.—This Act shall take effect on its approval.
Approved, March 1, 1919.