Nosal-Tabor

I.

INTRODUCTION

The Nursing Practice Act (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 2700 et seq.) regulates the practice of nursing in California. The Nursing Practice Act permits nurses to perform certain functions that would otherwise be considered the illegal practice of medicine, when such functions are performed pursuant to a hospital’s “standardized procedures.” (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 2725, subd. (c).) The Nursing Practice Act further provides that the content of such standardized procedures shall be governed by guidelines promulgated by the Board of Registered Nursing and the Medical Board of California. (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 2725, subd. (c); see Cal. Code Regs., tit. 16, §§ 1470-1474; hereafter Guidelines.)

Karen D. Nosal-Tabor is a registered nurse who previously worked in the cardiology department at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center (Sharp). A significant portion of Nosal-Tabor!s job duties involved assisting with cardiac stress tests — a diagnostic test used to gather information concerning how well a patient’s heart is working when placed under physical or chemical stressors. In 2011, Sharp implemented “nurse-led” cardiac stress testing in which a physician is not physically…