Legal basis and amended provisions
- Act No. 3025 amends Act No. 2808 (the Philippine Nursing Law regulating the practice of the nursing profession in the Philippine Islands).
- Section 1 of Act No. 3025 amends Section 10 of Act No. 2808.
- Section 2 of Act No. 3025 adds rules on Red Cross aids and welfare workers, focusing on registration and fees.
- Sections 3 to 5 of Act No. 3025 amend Sections 13, 14, and 16 of Act No. 2808.
Prohibited nursing practice without registration
- Section 10 of Act No. 2808, as amended by Section 1 of Act No. 3025, prohibits any person from practicing nursing in the Philippine Islands without first obtaining a proper certificate of registration from the Board of Examiners for Nurses, unless exempt from registration as later provided.
- A person is deemed practising the profession of nursing if the person, for compensation or reward (direct or indirect), performs nursing services such as:
- giving bedside care or treatment; or
- administering medicines; or
- attending and taking care of sick persons in their houses under the direction of a medical man; or
- being employed as a graduate nurse in any hospital, institution, school, office, corporation, or society (public or private); or
- engaging as an instructor in any training school for nurses.
- Section 10, as amended, does not apply to student nurses practicing in a legally chartered school or college of nursing, or in any clinic or hospital under the direction of:
- a professor of such school or college; or
- a physician or dental surgeon of such clinic or hospital.
- Section 10, as amended, does not apply to Red Cross aids or welfare workers employed by public or private institutions engaged in welfare work.
- Section 10, as amended, must not be construed to interfere with the legitimate practice of physicians, surgeons, or midwives when done in conformity with the Medical Law.
Red Cross aids, welfare workers—registration and fee
- Section 2 of Act No. 3025 requires Red Cross aids and welfare workers to be registered with the Board as such.
- Registration of Red Cross aids and welfare workers is allowed upon furnishing evidence of qualifications required by rules and regulations promulgated by the Board, subject to approval by the Department Head.
- Section 2 of Act No. 3025 imposes a registration fee of one peso for Red Cross aids and welfare workers.
Nursing exemptions from examination and reciprocity
- Section 13 of Act No. 2808, as amended by Section 3 of Act No. 3025, allows certificates of registration to be issued without examination to nurses who, at the time of promulgation of Act No. 3025, are in actual practice in the Philippine Islands and have diplomas issued by a duly recognized school or college of nursing, upon payment of the proper fees.
- Section 13, as amended, allows certificates of registration to be issued without examination to nurses who graduated from a duly recognized school or college of nursing during the year nineteen hundred and nineteen, upon payment of the proper fees.
- Section 13, as amended, allows certificates of registration to be issued without examination to nurses who are:
- in the Government service, or
- in the service of reputable private hospitals,
who have served for at least five consecutive years, and who have other additional qualifications as the Board of Examiners for Nurses may prescribe with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior; and upon payment of the proper fees.
- Section 13, as amended, allows certificates of registration to be issued without examination to nurses registered under the laws of any State or territory of the United States or any foreign country.
- Section 13, as amended, conditions this foreign-state exemption on reciprocity:
- the requirements for registration or licensing in the particular state, territory, or country must be substantially the same as those prescribed by Section 15 of Act No. 2808; and
- the laws of such state, territory, or country must grant Filipino nurses the same privilege granted to nurses from that state, territory, or country applying for registration in the Philippine Islands.
Board examinations—schedule and authorized locations
- Section 14 of Act No. 2808, as amended by Section 4 of Act No. 3025, requires the Board of Examiners for Nurses to meet in the city of Manila for examining candidates who desire to practice nursing in the Philippine Islands.
- Examinations must be held on the second Monday of April and October of each year.
- The Board may meet and hold examinations more often as often as the Board may deem necessary, but only upon authorization by the Secretary of the Interior.
- The Board may hold examinations in other points of the Archipelago upon authorization granted by the Secretary of the Interior, who in each case designates the date when the examination shall take place.
Certificate issuance—RN designation and provisional certificates
- Section 16 of Act No. 2808, as amended by Section 5 of Act No. 3025, provides that every candidate who successfully passes the examinations receives a certificate of registration as nurse.
- Successful candidates are entitled to append the letters R. N. to their name.
- Section 16, as amended, allows the Board to issue a provisional certificate to any graduate from a duly recognized school of nursing.
- A provisional certificate is valid until the Board cancels it.
- Section 16, as amended, also allows provisional certificates to be issued to American and foreign nurses pending the approval of their application for permanent registration under Section 3 of Act No. 3025 (which amends Section 13 of Act No. 2808).
- All certificates of registration must be:
- signed by a majority of the members of the Board; and
- attested by the Board’s official seal.