2023 Montana Code Annotated › Title 37. Professions and Occupations › Chapter 8. Nursing › Part 1. General › 37-8-102. Definitions

37-8-102. Definitions.
Unless the context requires otherwise, in this chapter, the following definitions apply:
(1) "Advanced practice registered nurse" means a registered professional nurse who has completed educational requirements related to the nurse's specific practice role, in addition to basic nursing education, as specified by the board pursuant to 37-8-202.
(2) "Board" means the board of nursing provided for in 2-15-1734.
(3) "Department" means the department of labor and industry provided for in Title 2, chapter 15, part 17.
(4) "Medication aide I" means a person who in an assisted living facility uses standardized procedures in the administration of drugs, as defined in 37-7-101, that are prescribed by a physician, naturopathic physician, physician assistant, optometrist, advanced practice registered nurse, dentist, osteopath, or podiatrist authorized by state law to prescribe drugs.
(5) "Medication aide II" means a person who in a long-term care facility licensed to provide skilled nursing care, as defined in 50-5-101, uses standardized procedures in the administration of drugs, as defined in 37-7-101, that are prescribed by a physician, naturopathic physician, physician assistant, optometrist, advanced practice registered nurse, dentist, osteopath, or podiatrist authorized by state law to prescribe drugs.
(6) "Nursing education program" means any board-approved school that prepares graduates for initial licensure under this chapter. Nursing education programs for:
(a) professional nursing may be a department, school, division, or other administrative unit in a junior college, college, or university;
(b) practical nursing may be a department, school, division, or other administrative unit in a vocational-technical institution or junior college.
(7) "Practice of nursing" embraces the practice of practical nursing and the practice of professional nursing.
(8) (a) "Practice of practical nursing" means the performance of services requiring basic knowledge of the biological, physical, behavioral, psychological, and sociological sciences and of nursing procedures. The practice of practical nursing uses standardized procedures in the observation and care of the ill, injured, and infirm, in the maintenance of health, in action to safeguard life and health, and in the administration of medications and treatments prescribed by a physician, naturopathic physician, physician assistant, optometrist, advanced practice registered nurse, dentist, osteopath, or podiatrist authorized by state law to prescribe medications and treatments. These services are performed under the supervision of a registered nurse or a physician, naturopathic physician, physician assistant, optometrist, dentist, osteopath, or podiatrist authorized by state law to prescribe medications and treatments.
(b) These services may include a charge-nurse capacity in a long-term care facility that provides skilled nursing care or intermediate nursing care, as defined in 50-5-101, under the general supervision of a registered nurse.
(9) "Practice of professional nursing" means the performance of services requiring substantial specialized knowledge of the biological, physical, behavioral, psychological, and sociological sciences and of nursing theory as a basis for the nursing process. The nursing process is the assessment, nursing analysis, planning, nursing intervention, and evaluation in the promotion and maintenance of health, the prevention, casefinding, and management of illness, injury, or infirmity, and the restoration of optimum function. The term also includes administration, teaching, counseling, supervision, delegation, and evaluation of nursing practice and the administration of medications and treatments prescribed by physicians, naturopathic physicians, physician assistants, optometrists, advanced practice registered nurses, dentists, osteopaths, or podiatrists authorized by state law to prescribe medications and treatments. Each registered nurse is directly accountable and responsible to the consumer for the quality of nursing care rendered. As used in this subsection (9):
(a) "nursing analysis" is the identification of those client problems for which nursing care is indicated and may include referral to medical or community resources;
(b) "nursing intervention" is the implementation of a plan of nursing care necessary to accomplish defined goals.
History: En. Sec. 2, Ch. 243, L. 1953; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 291, L. 1967; amd. Sec. 114, Ch. 350, L. 1974; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 180, L. 1975; R.C.M. 1947, 66-1222; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 248, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 274, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 504, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 584, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 25, Ch. 308, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 136, L. 1997; amd. Sec. 117, Ch. 483, L. 2001; amd. Sec. 12, Ch. 54, L. 2003; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 317, L. 2003; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 448, L. 2003; amd. Sec. 42, Ch. 467, L. 2005; amd. Sec. 12, Ch. 502, L. 2007; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 392, L. 2011.