Case Information

*1 OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN

IIre. El&men Yeaoh, il. W., Seontary-Tre

imwd mrse xmmin~rr

1035 Idllam Building

8nn Autonlo, Texas

. cou&roiw, an *at pop- rovidms rot Federal ala tatea drelring to partlo- oslorated war-tlm* training nurm8. both a8 to thr rdhool and lndlrldual 330th mamt meet OSrtdn 8' th. re&Gationr &Wmul- %tsali mnkoe olrar the supplement tha training brOa4 rule-making power 18 antrusted Surgeon General o that the plan oay be adjumted to hamonls~ with the dlrmno @iate lnwr. The plan tarmlua,tes with the war nnd achoollr and rtudents not partioi- pr~tlng are unalreoteid by it.

592 yts. Xcseh, Fags C

From your request, we undsrotana, ft haa been

propoeed under the Voltoo irot" and the re5uletIons pro- mulgated thereunder that eccr*dltad Texas nursicg. schoola taklnQ: prrt In ths croexam will 5Ivo students applylne and quallrying thareror R thirty zsonthe oourse or "oomblned study end praotleo* oovsrln5 preearlbsd rundanental work and study end that tblr thirty month6 or twining will than be supplsmoatsd by nn eCdltlms1 six months of 'suparvlaod ex- perieacr" to be had slthar In the same nurelng school., aaothor mohool, or a Federal. honpltol.

You wish to know If the thirty months of woom-

blned study end praotloe" In the home aohool plus six months or' 'supervised sxperlenosW In another Inetitutlon under the y~darel plan nil1 comply with Art. 46186, Vernon's Ann. Clv. Statutes or Texae, rhkah requires "three (3) rull yaere of ocork and study- ae a prorequisite to (paduation lo Peue.

Further inquiry Ia made aa to nhetber Art. 4518e, Vsrnons Ann. Clv. Statutes 02 Texas, which requirea the ruU thms ysers or work and study "In such ~lohool~, would permit reoognltlon end allovionce orsait toward graduation ror the 81x montha or w8upenIssd praotIOeC propored to be oonpleted under the Federal plan In another Inrtitutlon ok Federal Horpltal a8 dIstinguished from the home a!ohool where the thirty nontho of waozlblned study end praatIo@ le done.

Article 4518 reads as folloxr: "ill speoial hoa::Itals api:raved by the -Board of Nurse Zxamlners, end general hospitala, whioh are equipped with not less than twenty-rive (25) bade, end’rrhloh havo 8 daily aanual avera@ of not less than fifteen (15) patients, end which teach the oourac or study preecribed by ths Board of Murae Examiners or the State of Texas, are hereby duly palif'led end aoorsdited nursing constituted aohoole. ir eensral hospital, 8% the term la hero used, 1s a public or private InatItutIon where men, women erd children are treated tar ill kinds Or ’

ti

aa. bbsoh, Pago 3

~ilaeaaea, bodily injury, or phyafoal dsforzultr by manna of both modloal end rurglaal treetmont, and whloh malntalna en 0rga20a 8tafr of phpaf- olena end aurgoona llaonaod to preotioo modloino in the Steto of Toxea.”

Artlolr 4513a Nada, in part, aa follows: Wo per&on shell be oertiflod aa a graduate or any l uah nuraing g aohool unloaa ruoh poraon hea had thraa (3) full years of work and study in uoh rohool under a roglatorad nurao, two (2) yoera or rhloh muat bo oontlnuoua in tho aohool of nuralng rrom nhioh &he her graduated or two (8) oontln- ,uoua yoara in a spaolal hoaritrl end one (1) oon- tlnuoua full year in a gonoral boapltal . . .* ivith toferenoe to the flrat queatlon, it la to be noted that undrr the latter &fat&e quoted, Vihroo (3) full yeera of work and study* are roqulred for graduation. se think it ia evident, both iroar the language cu the atetuta end e oonalderetlon or the purpose to be aoaompliahe&, thet this proviaion la rmndatory end that the per196 rsqdrbd for gndwtloa may not bo ahortenod. Howevbti., the term *work end rkiay" la not def'lned by the o$atute and we have no /ucUoisl iatorpretetion to fnlde a. It 18 raqnod that the UN of khla turni ia a roOO@tictn of the feOt that a oombinatloa of formal atudy and otual workla$ experlenoe la noaoasary bo- iore a rlnlahsd nurse sey be produoed. The 8, atuto doer not ettoupt pnaoribo tbo proportlon work t study la the t of trainIn&, nor dooa it require that-forml olaasoa proooaa ahell be held for Eho ontira thrar year period 0r training.

We thorofon aoeno rooaon why t.ho Boerd oou14 not approve by it& rogulatlona s plan whlcrh wotild lntenalfy the fm~b study. during the eerllar part of tha t&roe ysttr :erioli and oomploto it aith more &tress on the *or& 0%~ pnrctiyil ~~perienoo. As w road the E~odoral plan, th) ~‘B~~t~rn.,Act!’ ;4 do the Regulations of tho Surgeon CJeneral, wrk to a0 just that ‘Ls y iatonritylng formal baaiu trelnlng 0r the etudont nurse, ropulrlng 0onplrtlon 0r the aourse In e ImxilEWB of thirty months (etoept in ceaoa of students ontaring the sahool prior to January 1, *4 gra. Jioaah, i ase 4

1942, w&e provision la mado for thirty-two months of be&lo training), and by peraittlng tho atudont thereafter to oom- pleto the rlod of trainin& requlrod for &Nduatlon under the State ew by six month8 of eddltlonel -ruponiaod r oxpor- ienoe” in enothor institution. Worlded other requlreaeatr of our Texea etatutoa are met, we oonolude thet thirty montha of 'Oon~bined study and ptaOtioe” plua six months oi qaUpenlaed l xperlenaew would antirip Texoa requirement of a VU.1 threo (3) yoera of work and 8tutlf*.

Psrein& to the next quoatlon, Art. 4518a requires U~l~,;ree full yeera of work on6 study be done "in ruoh “. %e think it oleer that thlr provleion doer not that the ‘UtiN:.,thN‘ year8 muet be spent in the oont‘mplat‘ aeme aobool, but on the aontrary, moana that the three yoera nuat be spent In a aohool or aohoola aoaredltod under the requlromenta of Art. 4518 and the rogulationa ot the Board of Nurse Exaatinera. In frot, the statute ltaolf reoognlzea tho tNU8tOr of atudonta among aohoola by requlrlng, in the on80 0r work dono in a genenl aohool, that two years of tho work end rtudy *muet bo oontlnuoua In the aohool auralag from whloh .*. And in the oes# OS training bed &be has graduated In a apoofal hoapit;l: *two (2) ount~nuoua years in a apoolel hoopltel end ono (1) oontlnuoua full yoer in e general hor- pita1 . : .* aro required. Tranafora have also been reaognlzad ma errootu4tod un,dor the rogulatlcna Board or Nurse p. 10, *~ollolea, Zeguletlon8 1Sxestnera. Se0 ~Tmmrora*, end Recczimondetlonr for tho Aoorodltetion or Texas Sahoola Of F;ural~.”

In vleu of this interpretetlon of Art. 4518a, we

see no lo&al objootlon to the trefnlng OS e atudoat for i?iontha.in on0 eooreditod gonenl hoapitel nuralry thirty ohool and for en addltlonel air anonthe tre$nlng in enothor eooredltod aohool, provided euch ubaequent tra&.sfer ir ep- proved by tho board and otber requlrementa for f;roduatlon h‘aturally this would involve en lnveatigetlon end l r o art. rpprovel for eooredltotlon by tho Board of Nurse Exanlnorr Of any 1netltution or Fodorel hoo~itel to whioh it war pro- Poaod to transfer a student for tho lost &lx aontha of ho2 *5 t

595 Nra. Keaob, PaEe 5

training, end euoh en lnstltution would nooeaaerlly have to meet tho requirements of Art. 4518 beforo it could be OCoNd- itea. Xn this aonneotlon, M wlah to solnt out that where thirty months of trbining wua had in the l tudont~a haao aohool rohool) an4 l ubaoqueBt transfer a Pederal hoqlt- (8 general lwhloh had been duly aooredlted wore nIlowed, then it would for the rtudent aftor tho oowletlon of rix be neoeaaer~ month& &ddltfon&l training to re4renaror to the home rohool ror gradwtlon, otharwlao statutory requirement of two *in the ohool of nursing training froar year6 of oontinuour whioh &he h&a greduetod” would not be met.

80 trust th&t wo h&vu &atl&f&&torlly anawored your ~nqulrlea in thL& a&tter en4 the d&t& furnished u6 end whicrh you requeatod us to return la enoloaed.

Qory truly yourr AX’QRNEY PSXERAL O?’ TEXhS BY + LCug‘M Alvlr Aa$irtant e