Four bills have been approved in the Upper House this week, including the Nursing Amendment Act 2010.

The Nursing Amendment Act addressed nursing practice, registration, education and disciplinary proceedings, among other things.

All senators in chambers on Wednesday were in favour of the amendments and spoke on the important contributions of nurses — both locally and globally.

Senator Thaao Dill said: "I have a family filled with health care professionals and they have dedicated their lives to making people's lives better."

The amendments are expected to bring the legislation in line with other health care professionals on the Island.

They sought to make continuing education mandatory for nurses renewing their registrations and to ensure professionals from overseas were proficient in English.

The act also highlighted the establishment of a Nursing Profession Complaints Committee.

It will consist of three or more members appointed by the Minister of Health, Walter Roban.

These members will be registered nurses in good standing, nominated by the Bermuda Nursing Association.

One must be nominated by the Bermuda Nursing Council and there will also be a lawyer admitted and enrolled in Bermuda on the committee.

Also passed was the Maritime Security Order 2010 outlining a series of harbours people won't be allowed to enter when a cruise ship is docked.

This is expected to make it more challenging for drugs or other illegal packages to be collected from ships.

All vessels will be prohibited from entering cruise ship terminals either 30 minutes before and ending 30 minutes after the departure of a cruise ship.

This includes terminals at Ordnance Island and Penno's Wharf in St. George's, terminals one, five and six in the City of Hamilton, King's Wharf in Sandys and Heritage Wharf in Dockyard.

It also includes the Hamilton Cargo Docks and the Commercial Berth in Dockyard.

The Marine Board Amendment Act 2010 was also approved. It stated people could be granted exemptions to go into these restricted areas, after consultation with the Ports Authority and if given permission by the Ministry.

The Labour Relations Amendment Act 2010 was changed so that the Labour Relations Officer was now referred to as the Director of Labour.