Pupil health: licensed nurses.

Existing law establishes the public elementary and secondary school system in this state. Under this system, school districts throughout the state provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, at the public elementary and secondary schools. Existing law provides that any pupil who is required to take, during the regular schoolday, medication prescribed for him or her by a physician and surgeon may be assisted by the school nurse or other designated school personnel, or may carry and self-administer prescription auto-injectable epinephrine if the school district receives the appropriate written statements, as prescribed, from the physician and the parent, foster parent, or guardian of the pupil. Existing regulations of the State Department of Education specify procedures to be followed in the administration of medication to a pupil. The existing Nursing Practice Act regulates the practice of nursing, which is defined in the act as those functions, including basic health care, that help people cope with difficulties in daily living that are associated with their actual or potential health or illness problems or the treatment thereof, and that require a substantial amount of scientific knowledge or technical skill. This bill would express findings and declarations of the Legislature with respect to a Superior Court ruling relating to the administration of medication to pupils in California public elementary and secondary schools. The bill would require, with certain exceptions, that any medication that is administered to a pupil who is required to take, during the regular schoolday, medication prescribed for him or her by a physician or surgeon be administered by a health care professional operating within the scope of his or her practice. The bill would specify that, for the purposes of these provisions, the practice of nursing is defined as specified in the Nursing Practice Act. The bill would also codify the regulations of the State Department of Education with respect to the administration of medication to a pupil that are referenced above, with certain exceptions.