STATE REGISTRATION FOR NURSES INTRODUCTION IN the appended material the author has made an effort to compile a comparative summary of the laws in the United States governing the registration of nurses, and to present it in such shape as to furnish an easy reference for those states contemplating new legal enactments or the revision of laws already in existence, a means of ready reference for the trained nurse in choosing her field of professional activity-whether temporary or permanent and to serve as a basis in the collection of data for a complete history of the registration movement in the United States. All the laws provide for a period during which nurses with varying lengths of training may be registered, usually without examination, thus protecting suitable nurses who trained or practised prior to the time when legal enactments were thought of and standards of training were in the formative period. Upon the going into effect of the provisions of the acts there is no state which registers an applicant who has had less than two years' training and the majority of the states require three years' training. Many of the laws specify that this training shall be received in a general hospital, while some recognize the training given in the special hospital when it is supplemented by a specified time spent in an institution of a general character. Two new provisions are coming into the laws of later date: For the inspection and registration of training-schools. Another provision, found in a very few laws and worthy of general adoption by the states, is that of defining what is meant by "nurse" and "training-school," which is equivalent to restricting the use of the word "nurse" to the trained, graduate, or professional woman, and gives the training-school a place among educational institutions. All the laws give the licentiate the title of "Registered Nurse," with the right to use the abbreviation "R. N." In amending the laws some of the states neglected to rearrange the wording in different sections applicable to the same provision. This mistake will lead to a misunderstanding on the part of the nurse practitioner and may eventually bring unnecessary legal complications. Another source of possible trouble, noticed in a few instances, is to make a positive statement and follow it up in the same section with a proviso that negatives it. This opportunity gives the author the privilege of extending her thanks to the secretaries of the different State Boards and State Associations for the copies of the laws furnished and the granting of such other information made necessary for the completion of this revision; also to those who kindly assisted in the sorting and compilation of the material for publication, and in the proof-reading of the copy that came from time to time. DENVER, COLORADO, LOUIE CROFT BOYD. |