August 29, 2019
June 2020

Examining the evidence, improving our processes

Our 2019 Annual Report, Innovating with Evidence, is out now! 

 

The report highlights some of the ways CNO has used evidence over the last year to improve its processes and better protect the public.

 

The report focuses on three of our key accomplishments in 2019: reducing risk, putting patient safety first and good governance.

 

It’s rare but real: some health care providers do set out to harm patients. To find out why this happens and how to prevent it, we conducted extensive literature reviews about health care serial killers, sexual abuse and other forms of harm. We used this evidence to develop interventions to detect nurses who hurt patients — and prevent this from happening. Now stakeholders in Canada and beyond are looking to us to learn more, and we’re taking every opportunity to share this information.

Our 2019 Annual Report, Innovating with Evidence, is out now! The report highlights some of the ways CNO has used evidence over the last year to improve its processes and better protect the public.

The report focuses on three of our key accomplishments in 2019: reducing risk, putting patient safety first and good governance.

Reducing risk
It’s rare but real: some health care providers do set out to harm patients. To find out why this happens and how to prevent it, we conducted extensive literature reviews about health care serial killers, sexual abuse and other forms of harm. We used this evidence to develop interventions to detect nurses who hurt patients — and prevent this from happening. Now stakeholders in Canada and beyond are looking to us to learn more, and we’re taking every opportunity to share this information.

Patient safety
Findings from the Long-Term Care Homes Public Inquiry showed us that there was an opportunity to clarify what concerns about a nurse’s behaviour or practice should be reported to CNO. We published a new, easy-to-navigate online Reporting Guide to help employers, nurse colleagues and anyone else working with a nurse better understand when and how to submit a report to CNO. Before publishing the new guide, we piloted it with employers and used their feedback to make further improvements.

Good governance
We also initiated changes to our processes to make us more effective in protecting the public. These include reducing the number of directors on our Board to improve communication and decision-making. We also added new requirements for nurses who want to join our committees to ensure those making decisions about patient safety are the most qualified.

In the report, you’ll also find statistics and facts in an easy-to-read visual format. Take a few minutes to check out our 2019 Annual Report, and please share your comments and questions with us.

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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