PART V.

Nursing.

41. —(1) The Board shall, in accordance with rules, maintain a register of nurses which shall be divided into the divisions specified in such rules and such divisions shall include a division applicable to midwives.

(2) Any reference in this Act to the register of nurses shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be deemed to include a reference to any division of the register and the words “registered” and “registration” shall be construed accordingly.

(3) The Board shall publish the register of nurses or any division or divisions thereof at such times and in such manner as the Minister may direct.

(4) Any change in the name or address of a nurse shall be notified to the Board by the nurse.

(5) The Board shall take such steps as they may consider necessary from time to time to ensure that the names and addresses of persons registered in the register of nurses are accurate.

42. —(1) The Board shall, in accordance with rules, register in the register of nurses every person who satisfies the Board that such person complies with the prescribed conditions for such registration.

(2) The Board may, subject to the prescribed conditions, register a person in more than one division of the register of nurses.

43. —The Board may, in accordance with rules, register in the register of nurses a person who shows to the satisfaction of the Board that such person has, outside the State, undergone such courses of training and passed such examinations as are specified for the purposes of this section in the rules.

44. —The Board may by rules make provision with respect to—

(a) the issue of certificates (in this section referred to as certificates of registration) to persons registered in the register of nurses,

(b) the uniforms and badges which may be worn by nurses registered in any division of the register of nurses, and

(c) the return and cancellation of certificates of registration and certificates issued under the Act of 1944.

45. —(1) The Board may, in accordance with rules and subject to section 46 of this Act, remove the name of a person from the register of nurses, or from a division or divisions of the register of nurses, and in the case of the removal of the name of a midwife shall inform every local supervising authority concerned and the Minister.

(2) The rules made for the purposes of this section shall, in particular, provide that, where it is proposed to remove the name of any person from a division of the register of nurses other than the midwives division proceedings in that behalf shall be instituted before the Board and that in those proceedings the defendant shall have the opportunity of answering the allegations made against the defendant.

(3) The rules made for the purposes of this section shall prescribe the causes for which and the conditions under which the name of a nurse may be removed from a division of the register of nurses other than the midwives division, and different rules may be made under this section governing the removal of names from different divisions of the register of nurses.

46. —(1) The Committee may, in accordance with rules, recommend to the Board that the name of a midwife should be removed from the midwives division and the Board shall give effect to such recommendation.

(2) The Board shall not, save on the recommendation of the Committee, remove the name of a midwife from the midwives division.

(3) The rules made for the purposes of this section shall, in particular, provide that, before the Committee exercise their powers under subsection (1) of this section in respect of a midwife, the Committee shall afford the midwife an opportunity of answering before them the charges made against her.

(4) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the rules made for the purposes of this section shall prescribe the causes for which and the conditions under which the Committee may recommend the removal of the name of a nurse from the midwives division.

(5) Where the Committee recommends the removal of a name of a midwife from the midwives division, they may also recommend to the Board that the Board should exercise their powers under subsection (1) of section 30 of the Act of 1944 and the Board shall exercise these powers accordingly.

47. —The Board may, in accordance with rules and subject to section 48 of this Act, restore to the register of nurses for any reason which they consider sufficient the name of a person whose name has been removed therefrom.

48. —(1) The Committee may recommend to the Board that the name of a person should be restored to the midwives division and the Board shall give effect to such recommendation.

(2) The Board shall not restore the name of a person to the midwives division save on the recommendation of the Committee or pursuant to paragraph (c) of subsection (3) of section 49 of this Act.

49. —(1) Where, under this Act, the name of a person has been removed from the register of nurses or where the Committee has refused to recommend the restoration of the name of a person to the midwives division or the Board has refused to register the name of a person in the register of nurses or refused to restore the name of a person to the register of nurses, the person may appeal from the decision of the Board or the Committee as the case may be either to the High Court or the Minister (but not to both) within three months after the notification to the person of such removal or such refusal as the case may be.

(2) The decision of the High Court or the Minister (as the case may be) on an appeal under this section shall be final.

(3) Where an appeal under this section is successful—

(a) in the case of an appeal to the High Court, the court may award costs against the Board,

(b) the Board shall (where the appeal was to the High Court) give notice of the result of the appeal to the Minister, and where the appellant was a midwife, shall give notice of the result of the appeal to every local supervising authority concerned,

(c) the Board shall, as the case may require, restore the name of the appellant to the register of nurses or register the name of the appellant in the register of nurses, and

(d) the Board may, if they so think fit, pay to the appellant such sum as they consider reasonable compensation for any loss of practice sustained by the appellant between the decision of the Board and the determination of the appeal.

50. —The Board may, in accordance with rules, provide or make provision for the courses of training and examinations to be taken by candidates for registration in the register of nurses and may prescribe the manner in which and the conditions under which training shall be provided and such rules may, in particular, provide—

(a) for the approval by the Board for the purposes of such rules of lecturers and teachers,

(b) for the conditions of admission to the examinations, and

(c) for the granting of certificates to persons taking the courses and passing the examinations.

51. —The Board may, in accordance with rules, provide or make provision for courses of training and examinations for nurses, and for the granting to nurses taking such courses and passing such examinations of certificates or diplomas, and may prescribe the manner in which and the conditions under which training shall be provided, and such rules may, in particular, provide—

(a) for the approval by the Board for the purposes of such rules of lecturers and teachers, and

(b) for the conditions of admission to the examinations.

52. —(1) The Board may hold the examinations provided for by rules and may, by such rules, regulate the conduct of such examinations.

(2) The examiners (none of whom shall be a member of the Board) at every examination held under this section shall be appointed by the Board, shall hold such qualifications and have such experience in relation to nursing as the Board think proper, and shall be remunerated in accordance with a scale fixed by the Board with the approval of the Minister.

53. —(1) Where the Board, on application made to them in that behalf, are satisfied that a hospital or institution is suitable for the training of nurses or of candidates for registration in the register of nurses, the Board shall approve of the hospital or institution for such training.

(2) For the purposes of giving effect to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section the Board may, by rules, specify conditions of suitability for hospitals and institutions.

(3) The Board may, with the consent of the Minister, withdraw an approval under this section of a hospital or an institution.

(4) A hospital or an institution of which the Board has refused to approve may apply to the Minister to direct the Board to approve of it and if the Minister, after consideration of the facts of the case, grants the direction, the Board shall approve of the hospital or institution.

54. —The Board may, on such terms and conditions as the Minister may approve, provide institutional, hostel or other accommodation for persons attending courses of training who are nurses, or candidates for registration in the register of nurses.

55. —The Board may, in accordance with rules made with the approval of the Minister for Finance, provide scholarships, or arrange with other bodies for the provision of scholarships, for nurses or candidates for registration in the register of nurses.

56. —(1) Any person who—

(a) not being a person registered in the register of nurses, takes or uses the name or title of registered nurse or midwife, either alone or in combination with any other words or letters, or any name, title, addition, description, uniform, certificate or badge, implying that the person is registered in the register of nurses or is recognised by law as a registered nurse or a midwife or, save in the case of a registered medical practitioner, implying that such person is specially qualified in midwifery, or

(b) being a person whose name is included in any division of the register, takes or uses any name, title, addition, description, uniform, certificate or badge, or otherwise does any act of any kind, implying that the person is registered in any other division of the register of nurses in which the person's name is not included, or

(c) with intent to deceive, makes use of any certificate issued under this Act to such person or any other person,

shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding, in the case of a first offence, ten pounds, and in the case of a second or any subsequent offence, fifty pounds.

(2) If any person wilfully makes, or causes to be made, any falsification of any mater relating to the register, he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine of one hundred pounds.

(3) This section shall come into operation on the establishment date.

57. —(1) Where the Minister is satisfied that any profession or calling is ancillary to nursing, he may by order provide that the register of nurses may be extended to the profession or calling and may by such order require the Board to appoint a committee in respect of the profession or calling.

(2) Where an order is made under this section—

(a) the Board may by rules maintain a division of the register in respect of the profession or calling to which the order relates, and

(b) the provisions of this Part of this Act shall apply in relation to such profession or calling with such (if any) modifications as may be specified in such rules.