DMSELPA Policies and Procedures

Appendix A: California Department of Education (CDE) K.C. Settlement Agreement and Legal Advisory

prescribed by a licensed physician . . . .” (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 2727, subd. (e).) This me dical-

orders exception, as we shall explain, is broad enough to cover unlicensed school personnel who

act as volunteers for specific students, at their parents‟ request, to carry out physicians‟ medical

orders in accordance with section 49423 and its implementing regulations.

2. The Medical-orders Exception .

The medical- orders exception provides in full as follows: “This chapter [the NPA] does

not prohibit: [¶] . . . [¶] (e) The performance by any person of such duties as required in the

physical care of a patient and/or carrying out medical orders prescribed by a licensed physician;

provided, such person shall not in any way assume to practice as a professional, registered,

graduate or trained nurse .” (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 2727, subd. (e), italics added.) The meaning of

the first clause and its application to this case are clear: Unlicensed school personnel acting

pursuant to section 49423 and its implementing regulations “perform[] . . . duties as required . . .

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

BP 2006 – Provision of Healthcare Services

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Desert Mountain Special Education Local Plan Area (DMSELPA) (rev. 11/16)