in carrying out medical orders . . . .” (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 2727, subd. (e).) What the italicized proviso means is less clear, especially in its use of the word “assume.” On this point the legislative history is uninformative, reflecting only that section 2727 was added as part of the original NPA (Stats. 1939, ch. 807, § 2, p. 2349), and that the medical-orders exception was added on the Assembly floor for unrecorded reasons (Assem. J. (1939) p. 515). The Nurses argue a person “assume[s] to practice as a . . . registered . . . nurse” (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 2727, subd. (e)) simply by performing any health care function that falls within the NPA‟s definition of nursing practice ( id ., § 2725, subd. (b)). But this cannot be what the proviso means, as it would vitiate the medical-orders exception. A person who carries out a physician’s medical orders with respect to a patient does not need an exception from the laws prohibiting unauthorized practice unless his or her conduct would otherwise violate those laws. To adopt the Nurses‟ interpretation would thus render the exemption entirely meaningless — a result we would hesitate to accept “unless absolutely necessary.” (E.g., People v. Arias (2008) 45 Cal.4th 169, 180 .) But we need not accept it. The statute’s language, broader statutory context and interpretive history all point to a different meaning: To “assume to practice as a professional, registered, graduate or trained nurse” (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 2727, subd. (e)), means to hold oneself out, explicitly or implicitly, as being a nurse in fact. We begin with the language. To “assume” to do a thing has two possible meanings in the present context. It might mean to “undertake” to do a thing, or “[t]o take [a thing] upon oneself” — in effect simply to do it. (Oxford Eng. Dict. Online (2013) definition II.4.a; see Webster’s 3d New Internat. Dict. (2002) p. 133, definition 2.) Alternatively, to “assume” might mean “[t]o put forth claims or pretensions,” to do a thing “in appearance only, . . . to pretend, simulate, feign.” (Oxford Eng. Dict. Online, supra , definition III.8, 9; see Webster’s 3d New Internat. Dict.,
Chapter 23 – Provision of Healthcare Services, Charter SELPA As of 09/08/2017 CAHELP Governance Council Approved
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