, . 

THE ,~?lTORNEY GENERAL 

OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN ~~.TExA~ 

September 9, lg.59 

Honorable George M. Hilliard 

Board of Vocational Nurse Examiners 

904 Lavaca Street 

Austin 1, Texas 

Opinion No. W-697 

Re: Whether a Licensed Vocational Nurse, as defined 

by Article 4528c, Vernon's 

Civil Statutes, is equivalent to a Licensed Practlcal Nurse: whether one 

Registered Nurse may be in 

charge of nursing at two 

or more hospitals afflllating In one vocational nursing school; and related 

Dear Dr. Hilllard: questions. 

Your request for an opinion from this office concerns two questions. Each will be dealt with separately. 

Your first question Is as follows: 

"Is a Licensed Vocational Nurse, as defined by the subject statute, (Art. 4528c, 

VRCS), equivalent to Licensed Practical Nurse, 

as the latter term is defined and regulated by 

statute In other states, or are there In Texas 

an indefinite number of classifications of 

persons who may practice trie nursing arts for 

hire without qualifying as professional Registered 

Nurses or as Tubercular Nurses, only one of which 

classifications, Licensed Vocational Nurse, Is 

regulated by statute?" 

The laws of the State of Texas provide for the 

establishment and set out the qualificatfons for the following types of nurses. First, a Registered Nurse, who Is under 

the control and supervision of the Board of Nurse Examiners of 

the State of Texas. Second, there are Tuberculosis Nurses, 

who are under the control and supervision of a Board of 
Honorable George M. Hilliard, page 2 (W-697) 

Tuberculosis Nurses Examiners. A third group is called 

Licensed Vocational Nurses, and their status has been provided for under Cha ter 118, Acts of the 52nd Legislature, lg.51 

(Art. 4528c, R.C.S. '5. 

Article 4528, Revised Civil Statutes, provides as 

follows: 

"This law shall not be construed to apply 

to the gratutious nursing of the sick by friends, 

nor any person nursing the sick for hire who does 

not in any way assume or profess to practice as a 

graduate certified registered nurse.” (Emphasis 

ours). 

.Section 3 of Article 4528c, Revised Civil Statutes, 

provides as follows: 

"The provisions of this Act shall not apply 

to gratutious nursing of the sick by friends or 

members of the family; nor shall the provisions 

of this Act apply to persons licensed by the Board 

of Nurse Examiners; nor shall the provisions of 

this Act apply to those persons who have graduated 

or may hereinafter graduate from the State Tuberculosis Sanatorium School of Nurses, so long as 

such persons nurse only tubercular patients; nor 

to persons employed by hospitals as maids, porters 

or orderlies; nor shail the provisions of this Act 

apply to persons who do not hold themselves out to 

the public as being Licensed Vocational Nurses or 

using the abbreviation L. V. N." (Emphasis ours). 

From these two sections above quoted, it is seen 

that we have then a fourth classification of nurses, they being 

the ones that do not fall under ,the category of a Registered 

Nurse, a Graduate Tuberculosis Nurse or a Licensed Vocational 

Nurse. But, nurses of the fourth classification can neither 

use the title of Registered Nurse, Graduate Tuberculosis Nurse 

or Licensed Vocational Nurse, nor hold themselves out at any 

time to be in any of the first three categories. 

Your letter also concerns the interpretation of 

Section 7 of Article 4528c, in regard to the intention of the 

Legislature in granting reciprocity to applicants coming into 

this State. Said Section reads as follows: 

"Any applicant of good character who holds a 

license as an Attendant Nurse, Nursing Attendant, 
Honorable George M. Hilliard, page 3 (WW-6%‘) 

Nurse Aid, Nursing Aid, Practical Nurse, Technical Nurse, Nurse Technician, Vocational Nurse or 

any similar title used for a non-professional nurse 

unqualified for licensure as a Registered Nurse 

from another state whose requirements are equal to 

those of Texas, and whose individual qualifications 

shall be equivalent to those required by this law, 

may be granted a license to practice non-professional 

nursing as a Licensed Vocational Nurse in this State 

without examination provided a fee of Ten Dollars 

($10) is paid to the Board by such applicant." 

It is our opinion that the Legislature Intended by 

Section 7 of this Act to provide any applicant outside the 

State of Texas who holds a license below that of a Registered 

Nurse and who has completed a course of study and has complied 

with the general qualifications similar to those, provided for 

by the Texas law to be given reciprocity without an examination 

regardless of the licensed name used by such applicant. 

Your second question is as follows: 

"Under Section 12a of our law, may the same 

'Registered Nurse' be in charge of nursing at 

two or more hospitals affiliating in one vocational nursing school?" 

Section 12a of Article 4528~ reads as follows: 

"Any general hospital in regular use for 

patients which has a registered nurse in charge 

of nursing, and whose staff consists of one or 

more licensed physicians licensed by the State 

Board of Medical Examiners, may qualify as an accredited hospital for Vocational Nurse Training, 

provided it can and will meet requirements of the 

Board for the training of Vocational Nurses." 

The above statute requires that a hospital which 

seeks to come under the provisions of this Act by qualifying 

as an accredited hospital for Vocational Nurse Training have 

a Registered Nurse in charge of nursing. 

It is therefore our opinion that under Section 12a 

of Article 4528c, it is possible that a Registered Nurse may 

be in charge of nursing at two or more hospitals affiliating 

in one vocational nursing school. 
. . 

Honorable George M. Hllliard, page 4 (W-697) 

SUMMARY 

A Licensed Vocational Nurse Is equivalent 

to a Licensed Practical Nurse, as the term 

is defined and regulated by statute in other 

states, where the statutes of other states 

set out the same general qualifications that 

the statutes of Texas set out and reciprocity 

will be given by Texas to an applicant who 

holds a license from a state having these same 

general qualifications without examination regardless of the licensed name used by,such applicant. 

Under Section 12a of Article 4528c, the same 

Registered Nurse may be In charge of nursing 

at two or more hospitals affiliating in one 

vocational nursing school. 

Yours very truly, 

WILL WILSON 

Attorney General of Texas 

- ieon F. Pesek 

Assistant 

LFP:mg 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

Geo. P. Blackburn, Chairman 

Raymond V. Loftin, Jr. 

Elmer McVey 

Robert A. Rowland 

REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

BY: W. V. Geppert