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Publications & Resources > The Standard > June 2005

   Last modified: June 6, 2005

President's Message

Sandra Ireland

OUR MISSION is to protect the public's right to quality nursing services by providing leadership to the nursing professions in self-regulation.

OUR VISION is excellence in nursing practice everywhere in Ontario.

You won’t be disappointed.

As I end my term as Council President, I feel very proud and privileged to have contributed to the accomplishments of the College of Nurses of Ontario.

Highlights of my presidency include the passing of the regulatory changes needed to implement the new entry-to-practice educational requirements for RNs and RPNs, the implementation of the College’s strategic plan, and the launch of The Standard, the new membership publication.

All of these are shining reflections of the many exciting changes that have taken place in the past two years at your College.

As health care professionals regulated by the Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA), we are required to reflect continually on our practice, obtain peer feedback on our performance and develop learning plans to improve our knowledge, skill and judgment.

As the regulatory body for Ontario nurses, the College similarly reflects on its role, obtains feedback from stakeholders and is strategic in its planning to ensure that it provides strong and credible leadership to the profession to protect the public interest.

The College’s strategic plan for the next five years will see it use its knowledge and expertise in nursing regulation to broaden its influence on practice settings and provincial level policy development. We want to ensure that practice settings and provincial policy and legislation support nurses in maintaining the practice standards, which protect the public’s right to safe and effective nursing care. (To learn more about the strategic plan, see the March 2005 issue of The Standard.)

The College also has an opportunity to act on its public protection mandate by sharing its knowledge of self-regulation during the government’s upcoming review of the RHPA.

When the RHPA became law in 1994, it gave flexibility to self-regulating professional groups through scope-of-practice models.

Nursing and other health care professions were provided with scope-of-practice statements that recognize that the practices of health care professionals overlap and must change and adapt to meet the needs of the public. Throughout 2005, the College will be responding to the review with a number of recommendations.

These recommendations, and the final revisions that the government enacts to the RHPA, have the potential to affect how we deliver care. Read about the College’s involvement in this important review.

By sharing its knowledge and expertise in this way, the College provides leadership and support for our practice and protects the public. Without your participation, however, the College would not have the input from members that is crucial for informed decision making. In my messages to you over the past two years, I have given you concrete examples of how all of us can actively participate in self-regulation at a meaningful level.

As nurses, we are accountable to make sure that our profession demonstrates its ability to self-regulate and, in so doing, continues to earn the public trust.

In my final message as President, I challenge each of you to increase your participation in the self-regulation of our profession. I can assure you that increasing your commitment to the College will broaden your understanding of the profession and health care, and improve your practice, while providing you with opportunities to develop your leadership skills further.

Start by making sure that you and your colleagues vote in the next Council and committee election and go from there. You won’t be disappointed!

Sandra Ireland Signature
Sandra Ireland, RN, BScN, MSc
President

 

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