Reporting tools now online
On June 4, new reporting requirements came into effect for facility operators and employers of nurses.
The new requirements are part of the Ontario government’s amendments to the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 (RHPA), and are meant to increase the openness and transparency of College processes. They are also intended to enhance College responsiveness to public needs.
To help facility operators and employers meet the new reporting requirements, the College of Nurses of Ontario developed new documents: Mandatory Reporting: a process guide for employers, facility operators and nurses and Incapacity: a process guide. These guides are available at www.cno.org in the documents list and the employer section.
Facility reports are important parts of self-regulation in Ontario. Reports alert the College to situations in which nurses may not be practising safely, and allow the College to take any appropriate steps to protect the public and help nurses return to safe nursing practice.
In the guides, employers and nurses learn about the purpose of the College’s mandatory reporting process; what constitutes professional misconduct, incompetence and incapacity in regards to nursing; and how the College addresses reports.
Providing clarity
The guides clarify who within a facility should make the report to the College. For example, the term “facility operator” is defined as the person or group of persons responsible for the day-to-day operation or administration of an institution where one or more members of a regulated health profession practise. Because most of Ontario’s nurses are employed directly by organizations, the facility operator and nurse employer are usually the same entity.
The person operating the facility is required to make the report to the College, not individual staff members. To help facility operators, the College has modified its mandatory reporting form to reflect the new obligations. The form can be found in the employers section of the website. To ensure that the College receives all of the information needed to assess the report properly and determine a course of action, employers and facilities should use this form when making a report and return it to the College, along with any supporting documentation.
By contacting the College with their concerns about a nurse’s practice or health, employers support the College’s mandate to protect the public interest.
Public register
Health regulatory colleges are also required to increase public awareness of, and access to, information about their members. The College has met this requirement by launching an online Find a Nurse register, which went live in June. (See the related article in this issue.)
For more information on the new reporting obligations, as well as other amendments to the RHPA, see the fall 2008 and spring 2009 issues of The Standard.