Pennsylvania Code › Title 49 - PROFESSIONAL AND VOCATIONAL STANDARDS › Part I - DEPARTMENT OF STATE › Subpart A - PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL AFFAIRS › Chapter 21 - STATE BOARD OF NURSING › Subchapter D - INTERPRETATIONS › GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 21.401 - Interpretations: scope of practice

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a)
						The Board may, upon request of a licensed nurse, nursing association, health
						care facility or licensed health care professional, or upon its own motion,
						issue interpretations of this chapter as they apply to the question of whether
						the execution of specific practices are within the scope of professional or
						practical nursing.
(b)
						Interpretations issued by the Board will not conflict with this chapter, or
						enlarge or restrict this chapter, but will solely address the matter of
						applying principles set forth in this chapter to specific practices.
(c) Interpretations issued under this section
						do not constitute an exercise of delegated legislative power by the Board and
						will be expressly subject to modification by the Board in an adjudicative
						proceeding based upon the particular facts and circumstances relevant to a
						proceeding. Interpretations are not intended to be legally enforceable against
						a licensed person by the Board. In issuing adjudications, the Board may
						consider, but is not bound by, interpretations.
(d) Prior to issuing interpretations, the
						Board will submit to the Legislative Reference Bureau for recommended
						publication in the
Pennsylvania Bulletin
a notice indicating
						its intent to adopt interpretations, and making available upon request to
						interested persons copies of proposed or draft interpretations. The notice
						shall also indicate the date and place for the conduct of hearings proposed
						regarding the interpretations. The notice shall contain the full statement of
						policy or a description of the substance of the statement of policy.
(e) The Board will not adopt statements of
						policy until the time for public comment has elapsed. A minimum of 60 days from
						publication in the
Pennsylvania Bulletin
of notice of
						intention to adopt shall be provided for public comment. Following a review and
						consideration of comments received concerning a proposed interpretation, the
						Board may adopt interpretations by a majority vote taken at a scheduled public
						meeting of the Board.
(f)
						Interpretations adopted by the Board under this chapter will be reviewed for
						form and legality under Chapter 3 of the Commonwealth Attorneys Act
						(71
						P.S. §§
													732-301-732-303) and, upon
						approval, will be submitted to the Legislative Reference Bureau for recommended
						publication in the
Pennsylvania Bulletin
and
Pennsylvania Code
as a statement of policy of the Board as a
						part of this subchapter.
(g) If a
						nurse executes a practice which the Board has interpreted to be within the
						scope of nursing practice, the nurse shall only undertake the practice if the
						nurse has the necessary preparation, experience and knowledge to properly
						execute the practice. The execution of the procedures shall include the
						identification and discrimination of expected and unexpected human responses
						and the effective management of nursing actions.
(h) Interpretations of the Board will not be
						deemed to impose requirements upon educational institutions to include the
						teaching of practices within their curricula.
(i) The procedure for issuing interpretations
						will not prohibit the Board from answering specific inquiries involving
						individual factual situations, which answers will be limited in application to
						the individual factual situation involved in the inquiry.