Bill 21 (Legislature 4, Session 2)

L4 S2 10163

Alberta — Bills

BILL No. 21 of 1919. The Public Health Nurses Act. (Assented to 1919.) HIS MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Alberta, enacts as follows: TITLE. 1. This Act may be cited as "The Public Health Nurses Act." IN'l'ERPRETATION. 2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires (!) The expression "Minister" means the Minister of Health;

(2) The expression "Association" means the Public ~ervice Nurses' Association as defined by this Act;

(3) Wherever in this Act the feminine gender is used it shall be deemed to include the masculine. MEMBERSHIP. 3. Every present member of the Alberta Association of Graduate Nurses may become a member of The Public Rervic·e Nurses' Association, on or before the first day of May, 1919, or not later than such subsequent date a.'3 may be fixed by the Minister, and every future member of the fom1er association or other person may become a member of the latter asl:lociation upon complying with the rules or regulations as to membership thereof formulated by the association and approved d by the 1\iinister.

HEAL'l'H REGISTER. 4. There shall be kept by the Minister in his office a register, known as the Public Service Nurses' Hegister, in which each member of the Alberta Association of Graduate Nurses may record her name and address and may subscribe to the following written undertaking: "I agree that so long as I remain an active member of the nursing profession, I shall at all times, when possible, in ease the Provincial Board of Health declares that any diRease in any part of the provinee has become epidemi<'

2 or pandemic, obey the call of the Mini:->ter, or :->uch health offical or officials as may be properly authorized to issue such call, and I shall practise my profession while the said disease remains epidemic or pandemic, whenever and wherever I may be directed by the Minister or any such official" 5. Any present member of the Alberta Association of Graduate Nurses shall by so registering and subscribing become a member of the association. MANAGEMENT. 6.

The affairs of the association shall be managed by a council (herein ref erred to as "the Council"), consif-tin!!: of seven members, all of whom shall be members 'of the association, and shall be elected every second year. ELECTION OF OFFICERS. 7. Elections shall be conducted by the registrar; the superintendent of nurses for the province shall hold the office of registrar on the coming into force of this Act until the first day of June, 1919, and until her successor in office shall be appointed, and she shall have the manage ment of the first election.

The said superintendent shall perform the duties of secretary-treasurer until the first council elected makes a regular appointment to this office. 8. The first election of officers shall take place on the 20th. clay of May, 1919, and subsequent elections shall take place every second year thereafter, at such place, and on such date, as the council by by-law or regulation may determine, and the first council elected shall take office on the first day of June, 1919. 9. Each member of the association in good standing resident in the Province of Alberta, shall be eligible for election to the council. 10.

Every member of the association in good standing shall be entitled to vote at any election for members of the council, and may vote for not more nor less than seven persons, and in the event of any elector placing more or less than seven names on her voting paper, it shall not be counted. 11. At least two weeks prior to the holding of the election the registrar shall make out a list of the names and addresses of the members of the association, who are entitled to vote at such election, and transmit a copy of such list by post t? each member whose name appears thereon.

3 12. In case any member complains to the registrar at least one week before the election, of the improper omission or insertion of any name on the list, it shall be the duty of the registrar forthwith to examine into the complaint, and rectify such error, if any there be. 13. No person whose name does not appear on the said list as amended, if so be, shall be entitled to be voted for or to vote at such elections. 14. At all elections retiring members of the council shall be eligible for re-election. 15.

No person shall be entitled to vote or to be elected unless all fees and other moneys owin~ by her to the associa tion have been paid before the day of election. 16. Each voter shall vote by ballot, using the form A in the

schedule to this Act (or a form to the like effect) and may mail the same in a sealed envelope, marked 'Ballot'' postage prepaid, to the registrar, or may deliver the same to the registrar before the hour prescribed' for opening the voting papers. 17. All voting papers receive<l by the registrar prior to the hour of ·eleven o'clock in the foren,>on of the day of the election, shall at the prescribed hour and place be opened by the registrar, in the presence of such persons entitled to vote, as may attend, and the registrar shall then scrutinize and count the votes, and keep a record thereof. 18.

In case of au equality of votes between two or more persons which leaves the election of one or more persons undecided, then the registrar shall cast another ballot. so as to break the tie or ties. · 19. The seven members receiving the highest number of votes shall constitute the council for the next ensuing two years, and until their successors are appointed; and the registrar shall forthwith after the election notify the members elect of their election.

Any vacancy occurring in the council between elections shall be filled by the council from the members of the association, and any person so filling a vacancy shall hold office until the next subsequent election. 20. The voting papers relating to any election shall not be destroyed, but along with all other papers relating to the election shall be retained by the secretary, until :all questions relating to such election have been decided.

4 21. In the event of any dispute as to the election of all or any of the persons declared by the registrar to have been elected to the council, the same may be decided in a

summary way by any judge of the Supreme Court of Alberta, upon application made by any member of the Association within ten days from the date of the election. The decision of the Judge shall be final, and the costs of the application shall be in his discretion. The judge shall, in and about such application, have the powers of a Judge in Chambers upon the hearing of a summons in an action pending in such court. 22. No person shall sign the name of any other person to any voting paper, under this Act, or alter or add to or falsify or fill up any blank in any voting paper signed by another person. 23.

In the event of there being no registrar (for the time being) of the association, at the time at which any election under this Act is to be held, or in the event of Huch registrar being unable from illness or other unavoid able cause to act at such election, then and in such case the president for the time being of the association shall appoint under her hand, some other person to act as registrar; and Huch person sq appointed shall perform all the duties of Huch registrar as prescribed by this Act. 24.

It shall be the duty of the council to make such by-laws and regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, as may best promote the interests of the association, and from time to time to amend the same as in their judgment seems WISe. OFFICERS OF ASSOCIATION. 25. Each council elect shall at its first meeting, from among the members of the council, appoint the following officers, namely: President, first vice-president, second vice-president, secretary, treasurer and registrar; provided, however, that any appointee may hold the position of the three last mentioned officers or any two of them. 26.

The first council elected shall be summoned by the secretary to meet in the City of Edmonton not later than the 31st day of .July, 1919. 27. In the case of the absence or inability of the president, the first vice-president, or in case of her absence or in ability, the second vice-president, shall act instead of the president. 28. The council shall cause to be kept by the ref!;istrar a book or register to be known as "The Register of the

5 Public Rervice Nurses' Association" (herein called "the register") in which shall be entered the name of every member of the Association. 29. A majority of the council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. FUNDS OF ASSOCIATION. 30. All fees, dues and subscriptions payable under the provisions of thiR Act shall be the property of the association and shall be paid to the treasurer of the association. :u.

The funds of the association shall be deposited by the treasurer to the credit of the association in a chartered bank, and shall be withdrawn only by cheque signed by the treasurer and countersigned by the president, or in her absence, one of the viee-president:;;. :12. The funds of the association shall be disbursed and appropriated under the direction of the council. CEHTII<'ICATE 01" RF.:GISTRA'l'ION. 33.

Every member of the association shall pay to the treasurer or to any person deputed by the treasurer to receive it, the sum of one dollar, as a membership fee, for the year 1919, and on or before the first day of January in each and every calendar year shall pay such annual fee as may be determined upon by the council, but which fee Rhall not be less than one dollar and not more than five dollars.

Upon the payment of the said fee each member shall be entitled to receive a certificate, under the seal of the a:;;sociation, stating that he nr ;:;];c iR a public scn·ice nurse, and that the certificate is in force for the remainder of the calendar year in which it is issued, and no member or person shall be entitled to· use the letters "P.S.N." unless and until Ruch fee is paid; provided always that if any member of the asHoeiation shall, in writing, notify the treasurer that she desires to dbcontinue nursing in this province for a definite or indefinite period, then during the said period the member shall not be required to pay the annual fee.

Any member so serving such notice shall be entitled to practise her profession at a later period by notifying the treasurer of her intention to so practise, and paying the fee for the year in which such notice is given. a4. Every member of the association Rhall, subject to

section 33 of this Act, be entitled to practise professional nursing in the Province of Alberta, and to append to her

6 name the letters "P.H.N." showing that she has been regis tered in accordance with this Act, and that all fees are paid. a5.

The council may revoke any certificate by an unnnim ous vote for dishonesty, a habit of rendering a nurse unsafe to be trusted with or unfit for the care of the sick, conduct derogatory to the morals or standing of the profession of nursing, or any wilful fraud or misrepresentation practised in procuring such certificate, or the fraudulent use of the certificate; provided the holder of such certificate shall have been given at least thirty days' notice in writing of the specific charge against such holder, and of the time and place of the hearing of the charge by the council, at which time and place the holder shall be entitled to be heard, and be represented by counsel.

Upon the revo cation of any certificate the same shall be null and void, and the holder thereof shall cease to be a member of the association and cease to be entitled to any of the privileges conferred by such certificate or registration, and it shall be the duty of the registrar to strike the name of the holder thereof from the roll of registered nurses. RIGHTS AND LIABILI'riES :~().

Every public service nurse shall be subject to any rules and regulations which the Minister may prescribe, and shall be at the call of the Minister at any and all times to do public nursing, and while so nursing shall be entitled to such additional salary over and above that paid to a registered nurse as the Minister may from time to time determine. SPECIAL COURSE OF S'l'UDY. 37. There shall be established in connection with the Provincial University a special course of study for public service nurses, free of charge.

The said course shall include sanitation, personal hygiene, bacteriology, public health, examination of eye, ear, nose, throat and teeth, the pre-natal period, infant welfare, child welfare, inspection and instruction of school children, communicable diseases, preventive medicine and methods, and such other studies as from time to time the Senate of the University may prescribe. 38. The length of the term of said course of studies shall be determined from time to time by the Minister, and at the close of each· term, an examination, partly written and partly oral, shall be held.

The examiners shall be appointed by the Senate of the University of Alberta.

7 an. Every candidate who receives fifty per cent. of the total number of marks for both the written and the oral examination shall be entitled to a certificate or diploma Hhowing that she is a g;raduate of the public health com·Re of :-;twlies, and she Hhall then be designn.ted a public health nurse, and shall be entitled to affix after her name the letters "P.H.N." 40. Every public health nurse shall be qualified and is hereby declared to be qualified to inspect the children in any and all schools. 41.

The trustees of any school· district, whether city, town, village or rural, may employ any such public health nurse to physically inspect the children in attendance at any school under their charge, and may, out of the funds of the district, pay such public health nurse for such inspection, a sum not greater than one dollar for every pupil inspeeted. INSPECT I. ON. 42.

Any such public health nurse so employed shall lmve the right, during school hours, to inspect any and all children in attendance, and it shall be the duty of every child so in attendance to submit to physical inspection by such public health nurse. 4:1.

In case such public health nurse is of the opm10n that any child so in attendance at school is suffering from any defect, or ailment, that may be improved or cured, it shall be the duty of such public health nurse to direct that such child shall report at once to the family physician, or to such physician, as its parent or ~uardian may direct, and it shall be the duty of the parent or guardian, as soon as it is convenient, to take such child to the family physician, or such physician as the parent or guardian may choose, in order that the said child may be thoroughly examined, and if in the opinion of the examining physician, the child in any way needs treatment, it shall be the duty of the parent or guardian to procure for such child, such treatinent, 44.

In case the parent or guardian refuses or neglects to carry out the provisions of the next preceding section, the said parent or guardian shall be liable to a fine before a justice of the peace not exceeding ten dollars and costs. 45. The trustees may in their discretion suspend any such child from attendance at school until such time as the child has received such treatment, and produces a certificate from the attending physician to that effect.

46. It Hhall be the duty of such public health nurHc, during or immediately after the time she has been inHpccting the children in any particular district, if it can be so arranged, to address a meeting of the ratepayers of the district, on the question of public health, and to instruct and advise the parents of children who may have defects or ailments with reference to the same. It shall also be the duty of such public health nurse to address public meeting,s, a;; opportunity offers, on questions of public henlth. 47.

From and after the ,first day of September, 1919, no nurse shall be employed by any school board, board of health, municipal council, or the board, or -other governing authority of any·hospital receiving any grant of money from provincial funds unless she has registered her name, address, and the hospital or training school of which she is a graduate, in a register to he kept in the Minister's dfice, to be known as the Nurses' Fublic Register, as may be required by regula tions. 48. Any person, acting as nurse, guilty of a breach of the requirements of the next preceding

section shall be liable on

summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty five dollars, for each breach. 49. The Minister may from time to time make rules and regulations not inconsistent with this Act, prescribing the duties of trustees and public health nurses in connection with the inspection of schools.

SCHEDULE A. FoRM A. I hereby vote for the seven persons whose names appear below as members of the Council of the Public Service Nurses' Association. 1. 2. a. 4. . ..... . 5. . . . . . . . . ....... . 5. . . . . . . . . ..... . 6. . ........... . 7. . ...................... . N.B.-(

a) Seven persons and no more must be voted for. (

b) No person is entitled to vote or to be voted for unless his or her name appears on the list of members of the association sent herewith or on that list as amended under the provisions of The Public Health Nurses Act.

No. 21. SECOND SESSION FOURTH LEGISLATURE 9 GEORGE V 1919 BILL The Public Health Nurses Act. Received and read the First time ................. . Second time ............... . Third time ................ . HoN. A. G. MAcKAY. EDMONTON: J. W. Jun:aY, KINo'• PaiNT&B A. D. JlllQ. Title: 1919 (4th, 2nd) Bill 21, The Public Health Nurses Act

Document details

Collection	Alberta — Bills
Citation	L4 S2 10163
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	L4 S2 10163
Language	en
Format	json
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	ac4e84f1a8fedcd9e5ef13fba700007d3dc682c9

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