December 19, 2023
December 2023

Council approves RN prescribing education and standards for safe practice

On Dec. 6, 2023, the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) Council approved RN prescribing education programs and a new Registered Nurse (RN) Prescribing practice standard to support the safe implementation of RN prescribing in Ontario.  

On Dec. 6, 2023, the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) Council approved RN prescribing education programs and a new Registered Nurse (RN) Prescribing practice standard to support the safe implementation of RN prescribing in Ontario. These initiatives are designed to ensure that only those who are qualified, educated and competent can prescribe the medications set in regulation and communicate a diagnosis associated with prescribing those medications.

After completing the program review process, Council approved four RN prescribing education programs. “The approval of these programs supports the safe implementation of RN prescribing, which is upheld by a robust body of research,” says Katie Dilworth, Manager of Education. “The programs also meet additional requirements, including a coordinated approach to safe clinical placements and full integration of the RN prescribing competencies.” 

Registered Nurses who complete approved RN prescribing education will have a notation posted on CNO’s public Register, Find a Nurse to verify they are authorized to prescribe. 

To support safe nursing practice, CNO also developed a new standard of practice. The new RN Prescribing practice standard outlines the legislated scope of practice for RNs who have gained the authority to prescribe. In addition, updates to existing standards, such as Scope of Practice, Medication and Nurse Practitioner, were completed to align with the changes in regulation. 

“The practice standard focuses on the expectations of nurses to prescribe safely, effectively and ethically. The standard is based on the principles of authority, competence and safety,” says Catriona Mill, Manager of Practice Quality. 

CNO continues its work collaborating with employers and other system partners to ensure that RN prescribing is implemented safely and to develop additional resources nurses need to apply it in practice. 

Visit RN Prescribing Practice for more information on this expanded scope.

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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