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Last modified Dec. 2, 2004  

Connecting with Council

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September 2004

Connecting with Council provides updates on key decisions made at the most recent Council meeting. The meeting agenda and motions passed at the Council meeting are on www.cno.org.

Highlights of key decisions made at the September 22 and 23 Council meeting

Council Approves Registration Regulation Amendments

To meet the changing health care needs of the Ontario public, the education requirement for applicants applying for registration as RNs in Ontario will become a baccalaureate degree in nursing starting January 1, 2005. It is also anticipated that on that date the education requirement for applicants for registration as RPNs will become a diploma from a College of Applied Arts and Technology. In June 2004, Council approved proposed amendments to address the following three issues (see The Standard, September 2004):

  • To allow applicants who have met the 2004 registration requirements by December 31, 2004, and who have evidence of safe nursing practice, to write the examination for registration until November 1, 2005, and, if successful, to register with the College.
  • To establish a time-limited Transitional Class (until December 2010 for RNs and December 2008 for RPNs) to allow applicants who will have graduated after December 31, 2004 and who are registered in another Canadian province or territory and who will not meet the new education requirements for registration to register. Applicants will need to be registered in an educational program that meets the new educational requirements and will have specific timeframes to complete the required education and move to the General Class.
  • To provide fairness by allowing all qualified applicants, including nurses who were educated internationally and who were registered in good standing in other Canadian jurisdictions before January 1, 2005, to be registered in Ontario.

An announcement of the proposed amendments and request for feedback was circulated with the June issue of The Standard. The proposals were also sent to key nursing and regulatory stakeholders.

Fifty-eight responses were received: 45 from nurses, three from applicants and 10 that could not be identified as nurses or applicants. Thirty-five respondents supported all of the proposals. Most of the other respondents supported one or two of the proposals.

There were five respondents who did not support the proposal to extend the opportunities to pass the registration examination to November 2005.

The individual responses to the Transitional Class provisions were diverse, and included suggestions that the timeframe be extended (five respondents), shortened (two respondents), that nurses coming from another Canadian province be registered, regardless of their educational preparation (four respondents) and that no one be registered without the new educational preparation (one respondent).

Both the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario and the Registered Practical Nurses Association of Ontario supported the proposed amendments.

A number of regulatory bodies from other Canadian provinces also responded, primarily to the proposals for the Transitional Class. Again, the perspectives were diverse, although most of the regulatory bodies from other provinces suggested either extending or removing the sunset provisions.

All respondents, both individual and organizations, supported the proposal that internationally educated nurses who were registered in another Canadian province before January 1, 2005 be eligible for registration in Ontario.

The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care sent a letter identifying its concerns with the sunset provisions for the Transitional Class.

Council considered all of the feedback in making its final decision on the regulation. A major factor in Council’s deliberation was that the new educational requirements were established after extensive research and consultation indicated they were required to prepare new nursing practitioners to provide quality care in the increasingly complex health care system.

To meet the requirements for interprovincial mobility, Council was comfortable in providing a time-limited opportunity for new graduates from other provinces to come to Ontario and practise nursing while working toward the required education.

However, Council felt strongly that it was not in the public interest to either extend the sunset provision beyond the times proposed in the regulation or to remove the provision altogether. Council believes it is critical that the public have access to nurses who have the knowledge, skill and judgment that extensive research and consultation has shown is required to meet their needs.

In the public interest, for the reasons identified above, Council approved the regulation to be forwarded to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care for approval.

Bylaw Approval: Practical Nurse Program Approval Committee

To ensure that graduates of practical nurse programs meet the needs of the public, the College is putting into place a rigorous program approval process. In June 2004, the role and structure of the Approval Committee was established, and its members were appointed. At the September 2004 meeting, Council approved changes to the bylaw to establish the Practical Nurse Program Approval Committee as a standing committee of the College. The amended bylaw is on the College’s website at www.cno.org.

Practice Standard: Privacy and Confidentiality

The Personal Health Information and Privacy Act came into effect in November 2004. To support nurses in understanding and integrating the legislated expectations for confidentiality and privacy of health information into their practice, Council approved the Privacy and Confidentiality practice standard, which is enclosed in this issue of The Standard.

Statutory Committee Reports

Semi-annual reports of statutory committees were presented to Council.

Examination Fee Increase – Bylaw Amendment Proposed for Consultation

A proposed bylaw amendment to increase the fee to write the RN national exam was accepted for publication. Council will review the proposal in March in the light of feedback it receives.

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