Standards and Best Practices
Standards are necessary to demonstrate to the public, government and other stakeholders that a profession is dedicated to maintaining public trust and upholding the criteria of its professional practice.
Nurses have been leaders in the field of standards development. Since Nursing is the largest health profession providing care to individuals, families, groups, communities and populations in a multiplicity of settings, standards have an important role in guiding nursing practice.
The Nursing Best Practice Guidelines Program was created to support Ontario nurses by providing them with best practice guidelines for client care.
Nursing is a self-regulating profession, meaning that the provincial/territorial governments delegate to the nursing profession, by statute, the power to regulate itself in the interest of the public.
One of the characteristics of a self-regulating profession is the development of standards of practice, based on the values of the profession. For nurses in Canada, these values are articulated in the Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses. Regulatory bodies for nursing have the legal requirement to set standards of practice for registered nurses to protect the public in their province or territory. Together, the code of ethics and standards provide the basis for nursing practice in Canada. Therefore, the provincial/territorial regulatory bodies establish, monitor and enforce standards of professional practice and conduct. Below are links to jurisdictional standards currently available.
College of Registered Nurses of British Columbia
College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta
Saskatchewan Registered Nurses’ Association
College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba
Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec
Nurses Association of New Brunswick
College of Registered Nurses of Nova Scotia
Association of Registered Nurses of Newfoundland and Labrador
Registered Nurses Association of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut
Standards enable nurses to promote safe, competent and ethical practice. Today nurses are developing standards at a variety of levels and in a range of settings. In the past decade, a number of specialty groups have become designated under the CNA Certification Program.
Updated: October 28, 2011
