Sexual assault: medical evidentiary examinations.

Existing law requires the Office of Emergency Services to establish a protocol for the examination and treatment of victims of sexual assault and attempted sexual assault and the collection of evidence therefrom. Existing law requires a qualified health care professional who conducts an examination for evidence of a sexual assault or an attempted sexual assault to use the standard form and to make those observations and perform those tests required to record the data required by the form. Existing law defines qualified health care professional for this purpose to include a physician and surgeon, or a currently licensed nurse, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant who is working in consultation with a physician and surgeon who conducts examinations or provides treatment in a general acute care hospital or in a physician and surgeon's office. This bill would revise the definition of a qualified health care professional as it pertains to a physician assistant and nurse or nurse practitioner by removing the requirement that the consulting physician and surgeon conduct examinations or provide treatment. The bill would also define a licensed and certified nurse-midwife who is working in consultation with a licensed physician and surgeon as a qualified health care professional.