What is the Temporary Class?
The Temporary Class is an option for applicants to practice nursing while they complete their remaining requirements to register in the General Class.
Registrants in this class practice under defined terms and conditions.
Before applying to the Temporary Class, you are encouraged to review the Temporary Class Learning Module on Nursing Regulation as a refresher. This refresher will help you understand the legal and ethical issues, as well as the professional accountabilities of the nursing profession in Ontario's health care system.
Registration requirements
To be eligible for the Temporary Class you must:
- have completed a nursing education program approved or recognized in any jurisdiction
- show recent Evidence of Practice
- successfully complete the Jurisprudence Exam
- demonstrate proficiency in English or French
- provide proof that you are authorized to work in Ontario
- report any past offences or findings
- declare any health or conduct issues that could affect your ability to practice
- have an offer of employment from an approved facility in this list:
- Boards under the Education Act
- Boards of Health under the Health Protection and Promotion Act
- Independent Health Facilities under the Independent Health Facilities Act
- Long-Term Care Homes under the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021
- Psychiatric Facilities under the Mental Health Act
- Hospitals under the Public Hospitals Act
- Agencies, Boards and Commissions as defined by the Government of Ontario
- Institutions funded by the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care as Community Health Centres (CHCs), Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics (NPLCs) or Family Health Teams, and physicians funded by Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care primary care alternate payment plan agreements
- Post-Secondary Educational Institutions
You will be eligible to join the General Class when you have successfully completed your nursing education and registration exam and any other remaining requirements for the General Class.
Registrants who have already failed the registration exam two times or more are not eligible for registration in the Temporary Class.
After you submit your application to the Temporary Class and CNO is satisfied that you have met all the requirements for that class, you will be notified that you are eligible to register in the Temporary Class.
Membership obligations
Once you are registered in the Temporary Class, you will receive a message from CNO telling you the date your certificate of registration for the Temporary Class expires.
Your Temporary Class registration expires when one of the following events occurs:
- your date of expiry is reached or
- you fail any approved registration exam for the second time
Use of protected titles
Registrants of the Temporary Class practicing nursing must identify themselves using the following titles:
- “Registered Nurse (Temporary)” or “RN (Temp)” in the case of registrants registered as RNs
- “Registered Practical Nurse (Temporary)” or “RPN (Temp)” in the case of registrants registered as RPNs.
Professional liability protection
All Temporary Class registrants must hold professional liability protection as set out in CNO’s by-laws. They must produce evidence of this protection whenever CNO asks for it.
RN prescribing practice
RNs are not authorized to prescribe medication or communicate diagnoses while they are registered in the Temporary Class.
If you completed CNO-approved RN prescribing education, the legal authority to prescribe certain medications and communicate diagnoses for the purpose of prescribing those medications comes into effect after you become registered as an RN in the General Class. Visit RN Prescribing Practice for more information about this practice.
Reporting requirements
Every Temporary Class registrant must tell the Registrar and CEO about any of the following:
- a finding of guilt in any jurisdiction relating to any offence
- a charge in any jurisdiction relating to any offence
- a finding of professional misconduct, incompetence or incapacity or any similar finding, in relation to the practice of nursing or another profession in any jurisdiction
- a current investigation, inquiry or proceeding for professional misconduct, incompetence or incapacity, or any similar investigation or proceeding, in relation to the practice of nursing or another profession in any jurisdiction
Also, the registrant must provide any information that is requested by the Registrar and CEO under the authority of the Nursing Act, 1991, the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991, regulations under those acts or CNO’s by-laws.
Citizenship/permanent residency/authorization to practice nursing
A Temporary Class registrant must be one of the following:
- a Canadian citizen
- a permanent resident of Canada
- someone authorized under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada) to practice nursing in Ontario
If a registrant ceases to be any of these, then that registrant must immediately stop practicing and inform the Registrar and CEO in writing.
Terms, conditions and limitations
Registrants practicing in the Temporary Class must:
- practice in an approved facility identified on their Temporary Class registration form and only within the scope of employment of that facility
- be monitored and directed by a nurse registered in the General Class or Extended Class
- not perform a controlled or authorizing act, unless the act is ordered by an authorized practitioner; to learn more read, CNO’s Scope of Practice standard
- not supervise, monitor or direct the performance of a controlled or authorized act or the practice of another nurse in any class
- not accept delegation of a controlled or authorized act
- not delegate a controlled or authorized act to any other person
- identify themselves as “Registered Nurse (Temporary)” or “RN (Temp)” when holding a temporary certificate as an RN, or “Registered Practical Nurse (Temporary)” or “RPN (Temp)” when holding a temporary certificate as an RPN.
Temporary Class registrants are also subject to the following terms and limitations
- Temporary Class registration expires:
- on the date the certificate of registration expires; CNO will send you this date when you register in the Temporary Class
- after successful registration in the General Class or
- after CNO receives confirmation that the you have failed the registration exam a second time.
- You must provide a copy of the Temporary Class Registration Letter of Verification to all potential employers.
- You must inform CNO if your employment is terminated or suspended for any reason, or if you choose to leave your job.
Performing controlled acts
Temporary Class registrants cannot perform a controlled act unless the act is ordered by a physician, dentist, midwife, chiropodist or Nurse Practitioner.
Nurses are authorized to do the following controlled acts:
- perform a prescribed procedure below the dermis or a mucous membrane
- administer a substance by injection or inhalation
- dispense a drug
- put an instrument, hand or finger
- beyond the external ear canal
- beyond the point in the nasal passages where they normally narrow
- beyond the larynx
- beyond the opening of the urethra
- beyond the labia majora
- beyond the anal verge
- into an artificial opening in the body
- treat, by means of psychotherapy technique, delivered through a therapeutic relationship, an individual’s serious disorder of thought, cognition, mood, emotional regulation, perception or memory that may seriously impair the individual’s judgement, insight, behaviour, communication or social functioning.
Having the authority to perform a procedure does not automatically mean that it is appropriate to do so. There are a number of factors to consider in determining whether performing a procedure or activity is appropriate (see the Scope of Practice for more information).
Monitoring and directing Temporary Class registrants
Temporary Class registrants may be monitored directly or indirectly, depending on:
- the registrant’s needs in relation to the demands of the patient population (for example, the complexity of the patients)
- the nature of the required care
- the degree of competence of the Temporary Class registrant
The employer is responsible for having sufficient resources to provide direct or indirect monitoring, consultation and collaboration to the registrant. The level of monitoring and directing required will vary according to the registrant’s learning needs, experience, expertise and familiarity with the practice setting.
A Temporary Class registrant is responsible for:
- the care they provide
- identifying situations where they require monitoring or directing
- identifying learning needs
- negotiating a plan to meet their learning needs
- complying with CNO’s standards and guidelines, along with the terms, conditions and limitations of their Temporary Class certificate of registration