As used in this part, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the term:

(1) "Hospital" means a public or private hospital or institution or part thereof licensed by the Agency for Health Care Administration and equipped to provide inpatient care and treatment facilities or any hospital under the supervision of the agency.

(2) With respect to the professionals referred to in this part:

(a) "Clinical psychologist" means a graduate of an accredited institution of higher learning with a doctor's degree in clinical psychology and 3 years of postdoctoral experience in the practice of clinical psychology, including experience prerequisite to licensure, who is licensed as a psychologist pursuant to the provisions of chapter 490.

(b) "Clinical social worker" means an individual who has received a master's degree or a doctor's degree, with a major emphasis in direct patient health care services, through a program of study which includes psychiatric social work, medical social work, social casework, psychotherapy, or group psychotherapy, from a graduate school of social work approved by the Council on Social Work Education, or that meets comparable standards, and who is licensed as a clinical social worker pursuant to the provisions of chapter 491.

(c) "Physician" means a medical practitioner licensed pursuant to chapter 458 or chapter 459 who has experience in the diagnosis and treatment of mental and nervous disorders.

(d) "Psychiatric nurse" means a registered nurse with a master's degree or a doctor's degree in psychiatric nursing and 2 years of post-master's clinical experience under the supervision of a physician.

(e) "Psychiatrist" means a medical practitioner licensed pursuant to chapter 458 or chapter 459 who has primarily diagnosed and treated mental and nervous disorders for a period of not less than 3 years, inclusive of psychiatric residency. For the purpose of providing services described in this act to patients at facilities operated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, which facilities meet the requirements of receiving and treatment facilities, a physician or psychologist employed by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs shall be considered to have met the licensure requirements set forth in this subsection.

(3) "Mentally ill" means an impairment of the emotional processes, of the ability to exercise conscious control of one's actions, or of the ability to perceive reality or to understand, which impairment substantially interferes with a person's ability to meet the ordinary demands of living, regardless of etiology; except that, for the purposes of this act, the term does not include retardation or developmental disability as defined in chapter 393, simple intoxication, or conditions manifested only by antisocial behavior or drug addiction.

(4) "Department" means the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services.

(5) "Secretary" means the secretary of the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services.

(6) "Facility" means any state-owned or state-operated hospital or state-aided community facility designated by the department to be utilized for the evaluation, diagnosis, care, treatment, training, or hospitalization of persons who are mentally ill, and any other hospital within the state approved and designated for such purpose by the department.

(7) "Community facility" means a facility which receives funds from the state under the Community Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Services Act, part IV of this chapter.

(8) "Receiving facility" means a facility designated by the department to receive patients under emergency conditions or for psychiatric evaluation and to provide short-term treatment, and also means a private facility when rendering services to a private patient pursuant to the provisions of this act. However, the term "receiving facility" does not include a county jail.

(9) "Treatment facility" means a state-owned, state-operated, or state-supported hospital, center, or clinic designated by the department for the treatment and hospitalization of persons who are mentally ill, including facilities of the United States Government, and also means a private facility when rendering services to a private patient pursuant to the provisions of this act. Patients treated in facilities of the United States Government shall be solely those whose care is the responsibility of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

(10) "Private facility" means any hospital or facility operated by a nonprofit corporation or association or a proprietary hospital approved by the department.

(11) "Patient" means any mentally ill person who seeks treatment under this part or any person for whom such treatment is sought.

(12) "Administrator" means the chief administrative officer of a receiving or treatment facility or his or her designee.

(13) "Staff member" means an employee of a receiving or treatment facility who has been designated as a staff member by the department.

(14) "Law enforcement officer" means any city police officer, officer of the Florida Highway Patrol, sheriff, deputy sheriff, correctional probation officer, or university police officer.

(15) "Guardian" means a natural guardian of a minor or a legal guardian appointed by a court to maintain custody and control of the person or of the property of an incompetent. "Guardian advocate" is one to whom the court has entrusted the custody and control of the patient's competence to consent to treatment.

(16) "Representative" means a person appointed to receive notice of proceedings for and during hospitalization and to take actions for and on behalf of the patient.

(17) "Court," unless otherwise specified, means the circuit court.

(18) "Clinical record" means all parts of the record required to be maintained and includes all medical records, progress notes, charts, admission and discharge data, and all other information recorded by a facility which pertains to the patient's hospitalization and treatment.

(19) "Express and informed consent" means consent voluntarily given in writing after sufficient explanation and disclosure of the subject matter involved to enable the person whose consent is sought to make a knowing and willful decision without any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, or other form of constraint or coercion.

(20) "Mental health personnel" includes all program directors, professional clinicians, staff members, and volunteers working in public or private mental health programs and facilities who have direct contact with unmarried patients under the age of 18 years. Students in the health care professions who are interning in a mental health facility licensed under chapter 395, where the primary purpose of the facility is not the treatment of minors, shall be exempt from the fingerprinting and screening requirements, provided they are under actual physical presence supervision of a licensed health care professional. Mental health personnel working in a facility licensed under chapter 395 who have less than 15 hours per week of direct contact with such patients or who are health care professionals licensed by the Agency for Health Care Administration or a board thereunder are exempt from the fingerprinting and screening requirements, except for those persons in mental health facilities where the primary purpose of the facility is the treatment of minors. A volunteer who assists on an intermittent basis for less than 40 hours per month is not included in the term "personnel" for the purposes of screening, if the volunteer is under direct and constant supervision by persons who meet the screening requirements of s. 394.457(6).

(21) "Screening" means the act of assessing the background of mental health personnel and includes, but is not limited to, employment history checks, local criminal records checks through local law enforcement agencies, fingerprinting for all purposes and checks in this subsection, statewide criminal records checks through the Department of Law Enforcement, and federal criminal records checks through the Federal Bureau of Investigation; except that screening for volunteers included under the definition of personnel includes only local criminal records checks through local law enforcement agencies for current residence and residence immediately prior to employment as a volunteer, if different, and statewide criminal records correspondence checks through the Department of Law Enforcement. History: s. 3, ch. 71-131; s. 1, ch. 72-396; s. 1, ch. 73-133; s. 25, ch. 73-334; s. 199, ch. 77-147; s. 2, ch. 79-298; s. 1, ch. 80-398; s. 5, ch. 82-212; s. 46, ch. 83-218; s. 3, ch. 84-285; s. 11, ch. 85-54; s. 11, ch. 86-145; s. 10, ch. 87-238; s. 17, ch. 87-252; s. 41, ch. 89-526; s. 28, ch. 90-306; s. 21, ch. 92-33; s. 65, ch. 93-268; s. 705, ch. 95-148; s. 54, ch. 95-228.