2746-2746.8
BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE
SECTION 2746-2746.8
2746. The board shall issue a certificate to practice nurse-midwifery to any person who qualifies under this article and is licensed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. 2746.1. Every applicant for a certificate to practice nurse-midwifery shall comply with all the provisions of this article in addition to the provisions of this chapter. 2746.2. Each applicant shall show by evidence satisfactory to the board that he has met the educational standards established by the board or has at least the equivalent thereof. The board is authorized to appoint a committee of qualified physicians and nurses, including, but not limited to, obstetricians and nurse-midwives, to develop the necessary standards relating to educational requirements, ratios of nurse-midwives to supervising physicians, and associated matters. 2746.3. Midwife's certificates issued by the Medical Board of California prior to the effective date of this article shall be renewable only by such board. 2746.4. Nothing in this article shall be construed to prevent the practice of midwifery by a person possessing a midwife's certificate issued by the Medical Board of California on the effective date of this article. 2746.5. (a) The certificate to practice nurse-midwifery authorizes the holder, under the supervision of a licensed physician and surgeon, to attend cases of normal childbirth and to provide prenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum care, including family-planning care, for the mother, and immediate care for the newborn. (b) As used in this chapter, the practice of nurse-midwifery constitutes the furthering or undertaking by any certified person, under the supervision of a licensed physician and surgeon who has current practice or training in obstetrics, to assist a woman in childbirth so long as progress meets criteria accepted as normal. All complications shall be referred to a physician immediately. The practice of nurse-midwifery does not include the assisting of childbirth by any artificial, forcible, or mechanical means, nor the performance of any version. (c) As used in this article, "supervision" shall not be construed to require the physical presence of the supervising physician. (d) A certified nurse-midwife is not authorized to practice medicine and surgery by the provisions of this chapter. (e) Any regulations promulgated by a state department that affect the scope of practice of a certified nurse-midwife shall be developed in consultation with the board. 2746.51. (a) Neither this chapter nor any other provision of law shall be construed to prohibit a certified nurse-midwife from furnishing or ordering drugs or devices, including controlled substances classified in Schedule II, III, IV, or V under the California Uniform Controlled Substances Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 11000) of the Health and Safety Code), when all of the following apply: (1) The drugs or devices are furnished or ordered incidentally to the provision of any of the following: (A) Family planning services, as defined in Section 14503 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. (B) Routine health care or perinatal care, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 123485 of the Health and Safety Code. (C) Care rendered, consistent with the certified nurse-midwife's educational preparation or for which clinical competency has been established and maintained, to persons within a facility specified in subdivision (a), (b), (c), (d), (i), or (j) of Section 1206 of the Health and Safety Code, a clinic as specified in Section 1204 of the Health and Safety Code, a general acute care hospital as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code, a licensed birth center as defined in Section 1204.3 of the Health and Safety Code, or a special hospital specified as a maternity hospital in subdivision (f) of Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code. (2) The drugs or devices are furnished or ordered by a certified nurse-midwife in accordance with standardized procedures or protocols. For purposes of this section, standardized procedure means a document, including protocols, developed and approved by the supervising physician and surgeon, the certified nurse-midwife, and the facility administrator or his or her designee. The standardized procedure covering the furnishing or ordering of drugs or devices shall specify all of the following: (A) Which certified nurse-midwife may furnish or order drugs or devices. (B) Which drugs or devices may be furnished or ordered and under what circumstances. (C) The extent of physician and surgeon supervision. (D) The method of periodic review of the certified nurse-midwife's competence, including peer review, and review of the provisions of the standardized procedure. (3) If Schedule II or III controlled substances, as defined in Sections 11055 and 11056 of the Health and Safety Code, are furnished or ordered by a certified nurse-midwife, the controlled substances shall be furnished or ordered in accordance with a patient-specific protocol approved by the treating or supervising physician and surgeon. For Schedule II controlled substance protocols, the provision for furnishing the Schedule II controlled substance shall address the diagnosis of the illness, injury, or condition for which the Schedule II controlled substance is to be furnished. (4) The furnishing or ordering of drugs or devices by a certified nurse-midwife occurs under physician and surgeon supervision. For purposes of this section, no physician and surgeon shall supervise more than four certified nurse-midwives at one time. Physician and surgeon supervision shall not be construed to require the physical presence of the physician, but does include all of the following: (A) Collaboration on the development of the standardized procedure or protocol. (B) Approval of the standardized procedure or protocol. (C) Availability by telephonic contact at the time of patient examination by the certified nurse-midwife. (b) (1) The furnishing or ordering of drugs or devices by a certified nurse-midwife is conditional on the issuance by the board of a number to the applicant who has successfully completed the requirements of paragraph (2). The number shall be included on all transmittals of orders for drugs or devices by the certified nurse-midwife. The board shall maintain a list of the certified nurse-midwives that it has certified pursuant to this paragraph and the number it has issued to each one. The board shall make the list available to the California State Board of Pharmacy upon its request. Every certified nurse-midwife who is authorized pursuant to this section to furnish or issue a drug order for a controlled substance shall register with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration. (2) The board has certified in accordance with paragraph (1) that the certified nurse-midwife has satisfactorily completed at least six months of physician and surgeon supervised experience in the furnishing or ordering of drugs or devices and a course in pharmacology covering the drugs or devices to be furnished or ordered under this section. The board shall establish the requirements for satisfactory completion of this paragraph. (3) A copy of the standardized procedure or protocol relating to the furnishing or ordering of controlled substances by a certified nurse-midwife shall be provided upon request to any licensed pharmacist who is uncertain of the authority of the certified nurse-midwife to perform these functions. (4) Certified nurse-midwives who are certified by the board and hold an active furnishing number, who are currently authorized through standardized procedures or protocols to furnish Schedule II controlled substances, and who are registered with the United States Drug Enforcement Agency shall provide documentation of continuing education specific to the use of Schedule II controlled substances in settings other than a hospital based on standards developed by the board. (c) Drugs or devices furnished or ordered by a certified nurse-midwife may include Schedule II controlled substances under the California Uniform Controlled Substances Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 11000) of the Health and Safety Code) under the following conditions: (1) The drugs and devices are furnished or ordered in accordance with requirements referenced in paragraphs (2) to (4), inclusive, of subdivision (a) and in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, of subdivision (b). (2) When Schedule II controlled substances, as defined in Section 11055 of the Health and Safety Code, are furnished or ordered by a certified nurse-midwife, the controlled substances shall be furnished or ordered in accordance with a patient-specific protocol approved by the treating or supervising physician and surgeon. (d) Furnishing of drugs or devices by a certified nurse-midwife means the act of making a pharmaceutical agent or agents available to the patient in strict accordance with a standardized procedure or protocol. Use of the term "furnishing" in this section shall include the following: (1) The ordering of a drug or device in accordance with the standardized procedure or protocol. (2) Transmitting an order of a supervising physician and surgeon. (e) "Drug order" or "order" for purposes of this section means an order for medication or for a drug or device that is dispensed to or for an ultimate user, issued by a certified nurse-midwife as an individual practitioner, within the meaning of Section 1306.03 of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, (1) a drug order issued pursuant to this section shall be treated in the same manner as a prescription of the supervising physician; (2) all references to "prescription" in this code and the Health and Safety Code shall include drug orders issued by certified nurse-midwives; and (3) the signature of a certified nurse-midwife on a drug order issued in accordance with this section shall be deemed to be the signature of a prescriber for purposes of this code and the Health and Safety Code. 2746.52. Notwithstanding Section 2746.5, the certificate to practice nurse-midwifery authorizes the holder to perform and repair episiotomies, and to repair first-degree and second-degree lacerations of the perineum, in a licensed acute care hospital, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code, and a licensed alternate birth center, as defined in paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 1204 of the Health and Safety Code, but only if all of the following conditions are met: (a) The supervising physician and surgeon and any backup physician and surgeon is credentialed to perform obstetrical care in the facility. (b) The episiotomies are performed pursuant to protocols developed and approved by all of the following: (1) The supervising physician and surgeon. (2) The certified nurse-midwife. (3) The director of the obstetrics department or the director of the family practice department, or both, if a physician and surgeon in the obstetrics department or the family practice department is a supervising physician and surgeon, or an equivalent person if there is no specifically identified obstetrics department or family practice department. (4) The interdisciplinary practices committee, if applicable. (5) The facility administrator or his or her designee. (c) The protocols, and the procedures which shall be developed pursuant to the protocols, shall relate to the performance and repair of episiotomies and the repair of first-degree and second-degree lacerations of the perineum, and shall do all of the following: (1) Ensure that all complications are referred to a physician and surgeon immediately. (2) Ensure immediate care of patients who are in need of care beyond the scope of practice of the certified nurse midwife, or emergency care for times when the supervising physician and surgeon is not on the premises. (3) Establish the number of certified nurse-midwives that a supervising physician and surgeon may supervise. 2746.7. An applicant for certification pursuant to this article shall submit a written application in the form prescribed by the board, accompanied by the fee prescribed by Section 2815.5. 2746.8. Each certificate issued pursuant to this article shall be renewable biennially, and each person holding a certificate under this article shall apply for a renewal of his certificate and pay the biennial renewal fee required by Section 2815.5 every two years on or before the last day of the month following the month in which his birthday occurs, beginning with the second birthday following the date on which the certificate was issued, whereupon the board shall renew the certificate. Each such certificate not renewed in accordance with this section shall expire but may within a period of eight years thereafter be reinstated upon payment of the biennial renewal fee and penalty fee required by Section 2815.5 and upon submission of such proof of the applicant's qualifications as may be required by the board, except that during such eight-year period no examination shall be required as a condition for the reinstatement of any such expired certificate which has lapsed solely by reason of nonpayment of the renewal fee. After the expiration of such eight-year period the board may require as a condition of reinstatement that the applicant pass such examination as it deems necessary to determine his present fitness to resume the practice of nurse-midwifery.