introduced Jan. 13, 1939 [adding Bus. & Prof. Code, § 2796], with Assem. J. (1939) p. 515 [floor amend. of Mar. 13, 1939, adding Bus. & Prof. Code, § 2727, subd. (e)].) The broader statutory context provides additional evidence supporting our conclusion. The same section of the NPA that contains the medical-orders exception (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 2727, subd. (e)) also creates a narrower exception covering “[i]ncidental care of the sick by domestic servants or by persons primarily employed as housekeepers as long as they do not practice nursing within the meaning of this chapter .” ( Id ., subd. (b), italics added.) Read in the context of the whole statute, the italicized language expresses the thought that domestic servants and housekeepers caring for sick persons may not perform nursing functions, without regard to how they hold themselves out. The Nurses would interpret the medical-orders exception similarly, yet the same Legislature, in the same act and section, chose the different words — “ assume to practice as a . . . nurse” — ( ibid ., italics added) to qualify the exception for unlicensed persons who merely carry out medical orders. The inescapable inference is that the Legislature, by using different words to define the two exceptions, intended them to have different meanings. The single prior interpretation of the medical-orders exception is consistent with our conclusion. The Attorney General has described that exception, and the NPA’s related penal provisions, as “show[ing] a legislative intent to prohibit any person from holding out to the public that [he or] she is specially trained or registered in the nursing profession unless said person is licensed by the state of California in this field.” ( Registered Nurse , 32 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 159, 160 (1958), referring to Bus. & Prof. Code, §§ 2727, subd. (e) [medical- orders exception; unlicensed person carrying out medical orders may not assume to practice as a nurse], 2795 [unlawful to use any title, sign, card or device to indicate nursing licensure], and
Chapter 23 – Provision of Healthcare Services, Charter SELPA As of 09/08/2017 CAHELP Governance Council Approved
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