A Registered Nurse, Clinical Informatics Specialist and Masters student
Professional Obligations
The College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) is the governing body for all registered nursing professionals in Ontario, Canada. As a Registered Nurse (RN), it is my professional obligation to obtain and to maintain a nursing license annually through the CNO in order to be able to practice in any nursing capacity in Ontario. Aside from annual license renewal, registered nurses in Ontario are also expected to complete an annual quality assurance program, to obtain professional liability protection (PLP), as well as to adhere to all practice standards set out by the college.
Although the CNO has a duty to regulate the nursing profession, its main goal is to protect the public. In following its mission to protect the public, the CNO has developed a practice standard for all of its members to follow. The Code of Conduct Practice Standard (2019), outlines six principles and their corresponding statements, which define the values that nurses must use to fulfill their professional obligations.
1. NURSES RESPECT THE DIGNITY OF PATIENTS AND TREAT THEM AS INDIVIDUALS
2. NURSES WORK TOGETHER TO PROMOTE PATIENT WELL-BEING
3. NURSES MAINTAIN PATIENTS' TRUST BY PROVIDING SAFE AND COMPETENT CARE
4. NURSES WORK RESPECTFULLY WITH COLLEAGUES TO BEST MEET PATIENTS' NEEDS
5. NURSES ACT WITH INTEGRITY TO MAINTAIN PATIENTS' TRUST
6. NURSES MAINTAIN PUBLIC CONFIDENCE IN THE NURSING PROFESSION
Nursing Legislation
& the Ontario Health System
In Canada, provincial and territorial jurisdictions are primarily responsible for the administration and delivery of health care services. These health care services are in turn funded by the transfer payments (tax money) received from the federal government on the basis of adherence to the Canada Health Act (1984) principles: public administration, comprehensiveness, universality, portability, and accessibility (Petrucka, 2009, p. 18). In Ontario, The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care is the entity responsible for the delivery of health care services and the publicly funded health insurance plan OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Plan). The health system in Ontario is further broken down at the regional level through Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) which are responsible for "planning, integrating, and funding local health care, and also improving access and patient experience" (LHIN, 2014). As a resident of Hamilton, I fall under the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant LHIN.
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As a registered nurse licensed and primarily working in the institutional sector (hospital) in Ontario, I am accountable under the Nursing Act (1991), which defines the scope of practice for the nursing profession in Ontario, and the Regulated Health Professions Act (1991), which applies to all self-regulated professions in Ontario and mandates their regulatory colleges.
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Since the Canada Health Act was formed in the 1980s, our health care system in Canada has been faced with many issues and challenges. Petrucka (2009) did a great a job of further categorizing these challenges as either cost accelerators or as cost associated with trying to provide equal care and access to care for all" (p. 25). Modernization of the Canada Health Act is necessary and I strongly believe that nurses, along with other allied health professions, should be at the forefront of any future health care policy development if we ever truly want to achieve a system that actually serves and reflects the medical priorities of Canadians in the 21st century today.
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References
College of Nurses of Ontario. (2019). Code of conduct. Retrieved from https://www.cno.org/globalassets/doc
s/prac/49040_code-of-conduct.pdf
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Local Health Integration Network. (2014). Ontario's LHINs. Retrieved from https://www.lhins.on.ca/
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Petrucka, P. (2009). The Canadian health care system. In J. C. Ross-Kerr, & M. J. Wood (Eds.), Canadian fundamentals of nursing (pp. 18-25). Location: Elsevier Canada.
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