Nursing Laws in Canada
Regulation of the Nursing Profession
Nursing laws in Canada provide the mandate for the
nursing profession to be self
regulating and require nursing standards of practice to be identified and enforced. These laws are set
by each of the thirteen provincial and territorial governments
and enforced by the regulatory nursing organizations in the
public interest.
What does "in the public interest" mean?
In recognition of the vulnerability of users of the
Canadian health care system,
governments pass laws and create regulations within those laws to ensure the safety of the public.
The Canadian public feels as though they are the owners of the health care system and
that the system exists to serve them.
They also expect that they will not be placed at
risk when they use a system that is funded by their own tax dollars.
Nursing laws are put in place by governments to minimize the risk to the public. This is part of the very important and highly valued
public accountability framework that forms the foundation for the
Canadian health care system.
Typically these laws will specify a legal definition of nursing, specify the
authority and mandate of the regulatory authority, and set other requirements for ensuring safe practice such as the requirement for establishing and enforcing
nursing standards of practice and defining entry level
nursing competencies.
Each of the regulatory nursing organizations will have a
link to the nursing laws under which they receive their authority.
Here is one example of the
13 nursing laws in operation in Canada.
This one is for the province of British Columbia and links to the
Health Professions Act, Nurses (Registered) and Nurse Practitioner Regulation as posted on the provincial government website.
There are two types of legislation that regulate nursing in Canada.
The trend in most provinces is
now moving towards legislation
called the Health Professions Act (or Regulated Health Professions Act). A Health Professions Act regulates
health care professions under the same legislation
and then provides regulation for each specific profession.
Those provinces that do not have a health professions act
would have specific laws directed at each regulated health profession such as the Medical Practitioners Act for doctors
or the Nurses Act for nurses.
Under the model of a Health Professions Act specific reserved,
controlled, or restricted acts may be specified and limited to specific professions (such as limiting surgery to physicians, or limiting the
administration of certain forms of energy such as Xrays to a radiologist or X-ray technician.)
A regulated health professional could not perform such
restricted or controlled acts unless they were a member of the regulated profession to which those acts are restricted.
Additionally the nursing laws in each province can set limits and conditions on nursing practice such as setting
limits set on the practice of a licensed practical nurse
to work only under the direction of a registered nurse or medical practitioner, as is the case in British Columbia.
