Home and Community Care Nursing Handbook
Regulatory and Professional Nursing Organizations
Each province/territory has regulatory bodies, which provide a vital role:
- to ensure the public's right to quality health care service; and
- to support and assist professional members.
Health professionals such as nurses, doctors, pharmacists and many others are regulated and licensed by regulatory bodies as required by provincial/territorial legislation. All nurses are required to be licensed to practice with their designated provincial/territorial nursing regulatory body.
Nursing regulatory bodies, also known as Colleges or Associations, are responsible for the licensing of nurses within their respective province/territory. Nursing regulatory bodies receive their authority from legislation, which gives them the ability to:
- set and enforce standards of nursing practice;
- monitor and enforce standards for nursing education;
- monitor and enforce standards for nursing practice; and
- set the requirements for registration of nursing professionals.
All of these activities are vital to ensure protection of the public interest.
Each provincial/territorial jurisdiction has legislation in place governing their respective regulatory body. In some jurisdictions, the law is all encompassing and covers all health professions while in other areas it is specific to each discipline. Nursing Colleges and Associations establish their respective regulations in accordance with their own provincial/territorial legislation.
In order for regulatory bodies to guarantee the public that its members are adhering to the Standards of Practice and are delivering safe and competent care, they require members to participate in quality assurance programs. These quality assurance programs vary in each jurisdiction, are typically determined by the nursing regulatory bodies, promote continuing competence for practicing nurses, and enable nurses to undergo a reflective practice process. Compentencies describe integrated knowledge, skills, abilities, attitudes and judgement required of the Home and Community Care nurse to provide safe and effective care (practice).
Nursing self-assessment is a process whereby nurses identify the knowledge and skills they possess, as well as those they need to strengthen in order to improve their practice. Nurses then participate in a peer review process that confirms areas of strength and areas for future development. The next step in a reflective practice process is to develop a learning plan based on the identified developmental needs of the nurse. This is an ongoing annual process, as nurses must continually evaluate their learning needs and improve their practice.
Regulatory bodies have several methodologies that nurses can utilize to review their practice. Self-assessment is only one of many tools. They have also developed programs that will assist employers in assessing the workplace as a quality practice environment. More information on these and other practice review programs are available on each provincial/territorial regulatory body's website. Appendix B provides a list of all jurisdictions with associated contact information.
Many regulatory nursing bodies have established guidelines for employers of nurses regarding mandatory reporting requirements. For example, termination of a nurse from employment requires the employing agency to report this incident to the nursing regulatory body.
It is important for employers and nurses alike to verify the mandatory reporting requirements from their respective jurisdictional regulatory body (see appendix B for a full listing of regulatory bodies).
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