Dear CNO

I work at a teaching hospital with nursing students and clinical externs. Some nursing students and clinical externs document and refer to themselves as “student nurse,” “student RN” and “clinical nurse extern.” Is this allowed?

Thanks for the question! As there are more nursing students in health care settings, we can all use a refresher on what the correct terms are.

To answer your question, no, the title of “nurse” and any variation is protected under the Nursing Act, 1991. That means, in Ontario, only nurses registered with CNO can use the term.

Students can use the specific term “nursing student” to describe themselves, both in person and in any documentation. Students should always follow the signature requirements defined by their nursing program, when in clinical placement. Terms like “student nurse,” “nurse,” “Registered Nurse (RN)” “Registered Practical Nurse (RPN),” “Nurse Practitioner (NP),” or any other variation are prohibited from being used by those not registered with CNO. Similarly, the term “clinical nurse extern” is not allowed because it uses the title “nurse,” which is protected by legislation.

These restrictions exist to provide the public with clarity as to who is qualified to use the title. This builds trust with the public, because health professionals using the title have met, and continue to meet, the annual registration requirements, which hold them accountable to the standards of practice.

The schools that nursing students attend have clear policies on how students should identify themselves, and they can learn more by getting in touch with the program faculty and their own employer to learn more about the clinical extern role.

I’m a nurse with a masters in public health and would like to document using the credential (MPH). Am I allowed to do this?

Yes, you can! You can use educational credentials you obtained as these are not protected in the Nursing Act, 1991.

If you would like to include this credential, there are some general rules around how to identify yourself. CNO’s Code of Conduct, principle 3.1, states that “Nurses identify themselves to clients consistent with CNO’s public register, using their name, title (RN, RPN, or NP) and their role within the health care team.” That means that you can include your MPH credential, but it must be in the context of this other information in keeping with the Code of Conduct.

Thanks for writing,
Yvonne Yu, RN, BScN, MScN, Advanced Practice Consultant

Have a question for our Practice Quality team? You can reach out to them at Practice Support Form.

Do you have a question you would like featured in Dear CNO? Email us at editor@cnomail.org.