May 10, 2022

CNO celebrates National Nursing Week 2022

This National Nursing Week, held from Monday, May 9 – Sunday, May 15, CNO joins its partners in the health care system in thanking nurses for all their contributions to safe patient care.

Nursing Week is arriving at an extraordinary time for Ontario’s 183,785 nurses and the public who relies on them for quality care. COVID-19 continues to impact the health care system in many different ways and Ontario’s nurses are continuing to answer the call — the theme of Nursing Week 2022 — with a deep commitment to patient safety in communities across Ontario.

Nurses wearing masks

This National Nursing Week, held from Monday, May 9 – Sunday, May 15, CNO joins its partners in the health care system in thanking nurses for all their contributions to safe patient care.

Nursing Week is arriving at an extraordinary time for Ontario’s 183,785 nurses and the public who relies on them for quality care. COVID-19 continues to impact the health care system in many different ways and Ontario’s nurses are continuing to answer the call — the theme of Nursing Week 2022 — with a deep commitment to patient safety in communities across Ontario.

“You make a difference every day, upholding CNO’s practice standards and continually reflecting on ways to improve your practice,” says Carol Timmings, Acting Executive Director and CEO of CNO. “Nursing Week is a time to acknowledge nurses’ dedication and contributions to the health and well-being of Ontarians. I want to express appreciation to Ontario’s nurses for all you do, caring for patients and supporting the health care system.”

At CNO, our purpose is to protect the public by promoting safe nursing practice. Throughout the global pandemic, nurses continue to answer the call for safe patient care.

“We thank you for your valuable contributions as leaders in care, educators, role models and continuous learners. CNO will continue to work with nurses to support safe care and protect the public,” adds Timmings.

Since 1985, National Nursing Week has coincided with Florence Nightingale’s birthday, May 12. One of the world’s most famous nurses, Nightingale helped to make nursing an evidence-based profession.

National Nursing Week focuses on the nursing profession’s accomplishments as a discipline and is celebrated with many events across the country. This week, watch for our posts sharing nursing resources and highlighting the stories of nurses, including those at CNO, who are making a difference in communities across Ontario and truly answering the call.

Happy Nursing Week!

About CNO

The College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) is the regulator of the nursing profession in Ontario. It is not a school or a nursing association. CNO acts in the public interest by:

  • assessing qualifications and registering individuals who want to practice nursing in Ontario.
  • setting the practice standards of the profession that nurses in Ontario are expected to meet.
  • promoting nurses' continuing competence through a quality assurance program.
  • holding nurses accountable to those standards by addressing complaints or reports about nursing care.

The College was founded in 1963. By establishing the College, the Ontario government was acknowledging that the nursing profession had the ability to govern itself and put the public's well-being ahead of professional interests.

For the latest information, please see our Nursing Statistics page.

Anyone who wants to use a nursing-related title — Registered Nurse (RN), Registered Practical Nurse (RPN) or Nurse Practitioner (NP) must become a member of CNO.

Frequently Asked Questions

Go to the public Register, Find a Nurse, to conduct a search for the nurse. Contact us if you can't find the person you are looking for.

All public information available about nurses is posted in the public Register, Find a Nurse, which contains profiles of every nurse in Ontario. Publicly available information about nurses include their registration history, business address, and information related to pending disciplinary hearings or past findings.

Unregistered practitioners are people who are seeking employment in nursing or holding themselves out as being able to practice nursing in Ontario, but who are not qualified to do so. They are not registered members of CNO. Only people registered with CNO can use nursing-related titles or perform certain procedures that could cause harm if carried out by a non-registered health professional. CNO takes the issue of unregistered practitioners seriously. See Unregistered Practitioners for more information.

To ensure procedural fairness for both the patient (or client) and the nurse, the Regulated Health Professions Act requires that information gathered during an investigation remain confidential until the matter is referred to the Discipline Committee or Fitness to Practise Committee. CNO will not disclose any information that could identify patients (or clients) or compromise an investigation. See Investigations: A Process Guide for more information.

Information obtained during an investigation will become public if the matter is referred to a disciplinary hearing. If a complaint is not referred to a hearing, no information will be available publicly.

See CNO's hearings schedule, which is updated as hearing dates are confirmed. Hearings at CNO are open to the public and the media. For details on how to attend a hearing, contact the Hearings Administration Team.

A summary of allegations and the disciplinary panel outcomes can be found on the public Register, Find a Nurse. Full decisions and reasons are also available.

Where a disciplinary panel makes a finding of professional misconduct, they have the authority to reprimand a nurse, and suspend or revoke a nurse's registration. Terms, conditions and limitations can also be imposed on a nurse's registration, which restricts their practice for a set period. Nurses can also be required to complete remedial activities, such as reviewing CNO documents and meeting with an expert, before returning to practice.

For detailed information see the Sexual Abuse Prevention section.

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