45:11-27. Practical nursing

a. Qualifications of applicants. An applicant for a license to practice practical nursing shall submit to the board evidence in such form as the board may prescribe that the applicant (1) has attained his or her eighteenth birthday; (2) is of good moral character, is not an habitual user of drugs and has never been convicted or has not pleaded nolo contendere, non vult contendere or non vult to an indictment, information or complaint alleging a violation of any Federal or State law relating to narcotic drugs; (3) has completed 2 years of high school or the equivalent thereof, as determined by the New Jersey State Department of Education; (4) has completed a course of study in a school of practical nursing approved by the board and holds a diploma therefrom, or holds a diploma from a school of practical nursing operated by a board of education in this State and is certified by the Department of Education as having completed the number of hours of instruction in the subjects in the curriculum prescribed by the board and an approved course of affiliation or has equivalent qualifications as determined by the board.

b. License.

(1) By examination. The applicant shall be required to pass a written examination in such subjects as the board may determine, which examination may be supplemented by an oral or practical examination or both. Upon successfully passing such examinations, the applicant shall be licensed by the board to practice practical nursing.

(2) By indorsement without examination. The board shall issue a license to practice practical nursing without examination to any applicant who has been duly licensed as a practical nurse or a person entitled to perform similar services under a different title by practical nurse examination or by original waiver under the laws of another State, territory or possession of the United States, or the District of Columbia, if in the opinion of the board the applicant has the qualifications required by this act for licensing of practical nurses or equivalent qualifications.

(3) Waiver. If application therefor is made, upon a form prescribed by the board, on or before September 1, 1958, the board shall issue without examination a license to practice practical nursing to an applicant who submits to the board evidence in such form as the board may prescribe that the applicant has qualifications (1) and (2) provided in subsection "a" of this section and had within 5 years prior to application at least 2 years of satisfactory experience in practical nursing, at least 1 year of which shall have been performed in this State except in cases of such nursing performed in an agency or service of the Federal Government; provided, that except in cases of such nursing performed in an agency or service of the Federal Government, such applicant is indorsed under oath by 2 physicians duly licensed to practice medicine and surgery in New Jersey who have personal knowledge of the applicant's qualifications and satisfactory performance of practical nursing and by 2 persons who have employed the applicant.

c. Fees. An applicant for license by examination shall pay to the board at the time of application a fee of $20.00 and at the time of each application for re-examination a fee of $10.00. At the time of application an applicant for license without examination shall pay to the board a fee of $10.00, and an applicant for license by waiver shall pay to the board a fee of $10.00.

d. Title used by licensee. Any person who holds a license to practice practical nursing under this act shall during the effective period of such license be entitled to practice practical nursing and to use the title "Licensed Practical Nurse" and the abbreviation "L.P.N." The effective period of a license or a renewal thereof shall commence on the date of issuance and shall terminate at the end of the calendar year in which it is issued, and shall not include any period of suspension ordered by the board as hereinafter provided.

L.1947, c. 262, p. 951, s. 5. Amended by L.1949, c. 65, p. 365, s. 1; L.1952, c. 352, p. 1137, s. 2; L.1955, c. 58, p. 201, s. 3; L.1957, c. 235, p. 791, s. 2; L.1966, c. 186, s. 3, eff. June 30, 1966.