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   Last modified: March 2, 2006

Here For You

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Here for You - Vol 5, Issue 1

Your Update on Nursing in Ontario

Volume 7 issue 1

Contents

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What is the College?

Welcome to the College of Nurses of Ontario’s (CNO) annual newsletter for the public. Inside, you’ll learn how nurses, in collaboration with the public, regulate the nursing profession. The College’s role includes setting standards for nursing practice and providing nurses with knowledge and advice so they can provide you with safe, ethical and effective care. The College’s Council, which shapes policies that influence the quality of nursing care, is made up of nurses and members of the public. Together with College staff and members of the nursing profession, we work to fulfil the College’s mission to protect your right to quality nursing services.

Despite the name “college”, CNO isn’t an educational institution, but a self-regulating body. It is one of 21 colleges that regulate health care professionals in Ontario. No one can practise as a nurse in Ontario without a valid Certificate of Registration from CNO. Like other health colleges, CNO decides what education is necessary to become a nurse. CNO also publishes practice standards and guidelines that assist nurses in their everyday practice, and support nursing educators who design teaching programs.

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Who is Your Nurse?

In Ontario, we receive care from Registered Nurses (RNs), Registered Practical Nurses (RPNs) and Registered Nurses in the Extended Class (RN[EC]s), who are also known as primary care nurse practitioners.

As of November 2005, there were approximately 89,000 RNs, 24,000 RPNs and 600 nurse practitioners working in Ontario. To become an RPN in Ontario today, students need to take a two-year community college practical nurse diploma program. To become an RN, students need to complete a four-year university degree in nursing. Primary care nurse practitioners have additional education that prepares them to make some diagnoses and order certain tests and treatments.

Once registered with the College, nurses commit to keeping their knowledge and skills up to date.

The profession of nursing combines both the science and the art of caring. The science comes from the knowledge gained from their education and ongoing professional development. The art comes from experience and from attending to a range of health care needs.

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Setting the Standards

Not only does the College set the standards of the profession, it continually monitors and updates them. Every year, CNO publishes and distributes a number of practice standards and guidelines that are based on the most reliable research and the input of practising nurses.

These documents cover a variety of topics, from the nurse-client relationship to ethics, from resuscitation to infection prevention and control. The College’s standards and guidelines contain a wealth of information that promotes safe, ethical and effective nursing care.

The College also provides support to nurses as they use the standards. For example, an online Learning Centre offers nurses interactive learning opportunities 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our Practice Consultants — nurses with expert knowledge of the standards — respond to questions from nurses via the phone, e-mail and workshops. They handle more than 13,000 inquiries a year and help us keep in touch with working nurses across the province.

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Building Trust & Respect

When you’re a patient, you want knowledgeable, trustworthy and respectful caregivers. Nurses take pride in their ability to build trusting relationships.

A nurse knows that one way to establish a respectful relationship with you is to introduce her or himself, address you by the name you prefer, and listen to your concerns without interrupting to give advice or pass judgment.

Nurses understand the importance of acknowledging and respecting your values, opinions, needs and cultural beliefs. You are an individual with a cultural and social identity, a sexual orientation, religious beliefs and unique ways of making decisions. Nurses know that how they react to you affects the quality of the nurse-patient relationship and the outcome of the care you receive.

The responsibility for maintaining professional relationships with their patients and their families lies with the nurse. Nurses recognize that they have unique privileges in these relationships because of their knowledge, position in the health care system, and the influence they have over the quality of care that patients receive.

Nurses are aware of what constitutes patient abuse. They know that any behaviour that undermines a patient’s sense of security or is disrespectful is abusive. The College provides nurses with education and support so they can identify and stop abusive situations. Abuse can be verbal, physical, emotional, financial or take the form of neglect.

Every patient in Ontario deserves to be treated with respect. For more information, contact the College or visit our website at www.cno.org.

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Privacy: It's Your Right

As a resident of Ontario, you have a great deal of control over the use and disclosure of your personal health information. The provincial government’s Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) states that those handling your health information — nurses included — must ensure that the information you share stays confidential.

Protecting your privacy is part of building a trusting relationship. In most cases, nurses need your consent to share information about your health status with people outside your health care team. Only in an emergency or under exceptional circumstances — such as when an individual is badly injured and unable to communicate, the police request health information under a court order or there are child safety concerns — can nurses share information without consent.

PHIPA allows you to review your health care records. If you see any information that you believe is incorrect or inaccurate, you can ask for it to be changed. You can also ask that specific aspects of your health record not be revealed to anyone outside your immediate circle of caregivers. Your nurse can answer questions you have about the use of your personal health information.

For more information on your privacy rights, visit the Privacy Commissioner’s website at www.ipc.on.ca or access the PHIPA legislation at www.e-laws.gov.on.ca.

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Addressing Your Concerns

To the College, protecting the interests of the public doesn’t just mean ensuring that nurses meet the requirements to provide high quality nursing care. It means taking action if you have a concern about a nurse’s practice.

The College investigates every complaint it receives regarding nursing practice. When necessary, a number of options are available to deal with concerns. Some are rehabilitative or remedial and others disciplinary, depending on the severity of the issue. Issues include making medication errors, failing to conduct a complete health assessment, theft, fraud, and even physical and sexual abuse. Disciplinary options can range from a reprimand to revoking the nurse’s Certificate of Registration. We take your concerns about nursing care very seriously. Our focus is to protect the public while helping nurses learn and improve their practice.

Some individuals who claim to be nurses aren’t registered with the College. In some cases, these people were nurses in another province or country who simply aren’t registered. In other cases, they are former College members who have resigned or had their registration revoked. And sometimes, they’ve had no nursing education or experience at all.

Illegal practitioners of any type undermine your trust in nurses and may endanger your safety. If you suspect someone is practising as a nurse who shouldn’t be, contact us. A quick check in our Public Register will confirm whether the person is registered with the College of Nurses of Ontario. We can investigate the situation and stop the illegal practice.

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Praise for Nurses: In Your Own Words

Have you recently encountered an exceptional nurse? If so, the College of Nurses of Ontario wants to hear from you. Tell us about your experience, and your letter may be published in our quarterly membership magazine, The Standard. Letters can be sent to the attention of the Editor of The Standard at the College’s address on page 7. Here are some letters that we’ve received from people across Ontario.

In August, my husband suffered a heart attack. He is only 39 years old. Once we arrived at the William Osler Health Centre, he was taken into the expert care of the emergency-room staff. The staff members made my husband feel safe and treated him with the utmost respect, letting him know everything that was happening to him.

It was in the waiting room, when I was all alone, that I realized the severity of our situation and I broke down crying. Immediately, one of the ER nurses came running out to me. She put her arm around me and told me that he was now stable and I could come see him.

The nurse made us feel at ease and explained everything that she was doing. She was there with us that first evening until about 8 p.m., and then was back the next day. Never have I been treated with such respect and caring by any nurse.

– T.O., Georgetown

Our mother was a resident of Sheridan Villa, Mississauga. We would like to commend the staff on the second floor, from the head nurse to the volunteers, for their care, support and understanding of our mother and of us.

Mother was mentally alert but declining physically, and was treated with respect and dignity.

– R. and E.B., Mississauga

I came into the McMaster emergency department in July with a tongue and throat infection. It was difficult to talk, and my ability to swallow was hampered. Being diabetic, I was put on an IV antibiotic to be repeated for three days.

You nurses are amazing, every single one of you. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the work you do and cannot truly comprehend the pressure you must be under, which is why I wanted to write. I want you to know that you are appreciated.

Efficiency is one thing, but humanity is another. I believe that a sense of humour and a smile go a long way in nursing.

Thank you for doing what you do. You make a difference. Maybe you don’t hear this nearly enough, but if it wasn’t for you, I would not be here today. You save lives and I, for one, am extremely grateful.

– M.C., Hamilton

Copyright © College of Nurses of Ontario, 2006.

Material published in Here for You may be re-printed without permission, provided that credit is given to the publication and to the College of Nurses of Ontario. To order a printed copies of Here for You, please contact publications@cnomail.org.

ISSN 1708-9638

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