S-2286               _______________________________________________

                                         SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL NO. 4107

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By Senate Committee on Judiciary (originally sponsored by Senators Talmadge, Zimmerman, Moore, Pullen, Kreidler, Williams, McManus and Johnson)

Read first time 3/8/85.

AN ACT Relating to privileged communications for registered nurses; adding a new chapter to Title 5 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     The legislature finds that:

          (1) Registered nurses licensed under chapter 18.88 RCW are accountable to their patients for the quality of health care provided;

          (2) The practice of nursing has undergone change in recent years such that registered nurses in many settings are providing primary health care without the direct supervision of physicians, or are offering care to patients under protocols or the general supervision of physicians not involving the physical presence of a physician or a preexisting relationship between a physician and a patient in a variety of settings;

          (3) Registered nurses are subject to a professional responsibility to protect the confidences of their patients;

          (4) Confidentiality is critical to enable the nurse to adequately treat or act for patients, and the relationship of registered nurse and patient is one which ought to be diligently fostered; and

          (5) It is the policy of the state of Washington to promote proper treatment by registered nurses by facilitating and encouraging full disclosure of relevant information and protecting patients from embarrassment that might result from revelation of intimate details of health care and nursing treatment.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

          (1) "Registered nurse" means a registered nurse licensed under chapter 18.88 RCW.

          (2) "Protocol" means a regimen to be carried out by a registered nurse and prescribed by a licensed physician under chapter 18.71 RCW, which is consistent with  chapter 18.88 RCW and the rules adopted under chapter 18.88 RCW.

          (3) "Primary care" means screening, assessment, diagnosis and treatment for the purpose of promotion of health and detection of disease or injury.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.     No registered nurse providing primary care or practicing under protocols, whether or not the physical presence or direct supervision of a physician is required, may be examined in a civil or criminal action as to any information acquired in attending a patient in the registered nurse's professional capacity, if the information was necessary to enable the registered nurse to act in that capacity for the patient, unless:

          (1) The patient consents to disclosure or, in the event of death or disability of the patient, his or her personal representative, heir, beneficiary, or devisee consents to disclosure;

          (2) The information relates to the contemplation or execution of a crime in the future, or relates to the neglect or the sexual or physical abuse of a child; or

          (3) The patient brings charges or initiates a claim against the registered nurse in any civil, criminal, administrative, peer review, or other proceeding.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.     Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this chapter, the privilege created in this chapter is subject to the same limitations and exemptions contained in RCW 26.26.120, 26.44.060(3), 51.04.050, and 71.05.250 as those limitations and exemptions relate to the physician/patient privilege of RCW 5.60.060.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.     Sections 2, 3, and 4 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 5 RCW.