Appendix A: California Department of Education (CDE) K.C. Settlement Agreement and Legal Advisory
unauthorized practice unless his or her conduct would otherwise violate those laws. To adopt the
Nurses‟ interpretation would thus re nder 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.,
supra , at p. 133, definition 4.) Building upon the former definition (“undertake”), the Nurses
contend a person “assumes to practice as a . . . nurse” (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 2727, subd. (e)) by
undertaking to perform — in other words, simply by performing — any of the patient care
functions listed in the NPA‟s definition of nursing ( id ., § 2725, subd. (b)(2)). This interpretation,
as noted, cannot be correct as it would leave the medical-orders exception without meaning.
In contrast, the medical- orders exception does have meaning if one “assume[s] to practice
as a . . . nurse” (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 2727, subd. (e)) by holding oneself out, explicitly or
implicitly, as being a nurse in fact. The broader statutory context supports this interpretation. The
list of statuses an unlicensed person who carries out medical orders may not “assume” —
BP 2006 – Provision of Healthcare Services
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Desert Mountain Special Education Local Plan Area (DMSELPA) (rev. 11/16)
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