By Madden H.B. No. 1492
74R6061 CAG-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the regulation of certain nursing activities by the
1-3 Board of Vocational Nurse Examiners.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 6(b), Chapter 118, Acts of the 52nd
1-6 Legislature, 1951 (Article 4528c, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
1-7 is amended to read as follows:
1-8 (b) The Board in its discretion may waive the requirement in
1-9 Subsection (a) of this section for completion of a course in an
1-10 approved school for educating vocational or practical nurses upon
1-11 presentation of satisfactory sworn evidence that the applicant has
1-12 completed an acceptable level of education in a nursing school
1-13 approved by the State Board of Nurse Examiners of Texas or in some
1-14 other school of professional nurse education located in another
1-15 state, the District of Columbia, a possession of the United States,
1-16 or a foreign country. The Board by rule shall determine acceptable
1-17 levels of education. The Board shall have the written portion of
1-18 the examination, if any, validated by an independent testing
1-19 professional. An examination under this section may be graded or
1-20 reviewed by a national testing service or agency. If the applicant
1-21 received training in another state, the District of Columbia, a
1-22 possession of the United States, or a foreign country, the
1-23 applicant must present evidence satisfactory to the Board that the
1-24 nursing education received is equivalent to that required for
2-1 licensure as a vocational nurse in this state.
2-2 SECTION 2. Section 10, Chapter 118, Acts of the 52nd
2-3 Legislature, 1951 (Article 4528c, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
2-4 is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (h) to
2-5 read as follows:
2-6 (a) The Board may refuse to admit persons to its
2-7 examinations, may refuse to issue or renew a license, may refuse to
2-8 issue a temporary permit, may issue a warning or reprimand, may
2-9 place on probation a person whose license has been suspended, may
2-10 require the payment of a probation fee, or may suspend or may
2-11 revoke the license of any practitioner of vocational nursing for
2-12 any of the following reasons:
2-13 (1) violation of this Act or of any rule, regulation,
2-14 or order issued under this Act;
2-15 (2) commission of fraud or deceit in procuring or
2-16 attempting to procure a license to practice vocational nursing;
2-17 (3) conviction of a crime of the grade of felony or a
2-18 crime of a lesser grade which involves moral turpitude;
2-19 (4) use of any nursing license, certificate, diploma,
2-20 or permit or transcript of the license, certificate, diploma, or
2-21 permit, which has been fraudulently purchased, issued,
2-22 counterfeited, or materially altered;
2-23 (5) impersonation of or the acting as a proxy for
2-24 another in any examination required by law to obtain a license to
2-25 practice vocational nursing;
2-26 (6) knowingly aiding or abetting any unlicensed person
2-27 in connection with the unauthorized practice of vocational nursing;
3-1 (7) revocation, suspension, or denial of a license to
3-2 practice vocational or practical nursing in another jurisdiction or
3-3 revocation, suspension, or denial of a license to practice
3-4 professional nursing in this state or in another jurisdiction;
3-5 certified copy of the order of denial, suspension, or revocation
3-6 shall be conclusive evidence of that fact;
3-7 (8) intemperate use of alcohol or drugs;
3-8 (9) unprofessional or dishonorable conduct that, in
3-9 the opinion of the Board, is likely to deceive, defraud, or injure
3-10 the public;
3-11 (10) adjudication of mental incompetency; or
3-12 (11) lack of fitness to practice by reason of mental
3-13 or physical health that may result in injury to patients or the
3-14 public.
3-15 (h) The Board by rule shall adopt a broad schedule of
3-16 sanctions, including the imposition of a probation fee, for
3-17 violations of this Act and shall outline a policy for the use of
3-18 sanctions by the Board.
3-19 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
3-20 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-21 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-22 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-23 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-24 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.