Modernizing Standards

CNO is working on modernizing practice standards to reflect the evolving health care needs of patients and the dynamic nature of the nursing profession.

Refer to this page regularly to be notified about ongoing work on the Modernizing Standards project.

Why is CNO modernizing standards?

CNO’s practice standards exist to promote safe nursing practice. With constant changes to the health care needs of patients and the nursing profession, our practice standards need to be modernized to better reflect current practice realities, public expectations and societal values.

A comprehensive review to modernize standards will:

reduce duplication
address gaps in content
promote consistency
increase accessibility
align with CNO’s strategic plan, and
ensure they are contemporary and relevant to complexities and risks of nursing practice

What will modern standards look like?

Modern standards will:

target risk by identifying specific and relevant risks of harm
be evidence-informed by leveraging insights from current data from sources such as literature, jurisdictional scans and stakeholder perspectives.
reflect current health care needs, nursing practice, health system environment and societal values (for example, including diversity, equity and inclusion principles).
be consistent with legislative requirements
move away from detailed clinical standards
focus on outcome-oriented standards and principles relevant to regulation, for example medication standard with principles focusing on authority, competence and safety
be clear and easy to understand by nurses, employers and the public
be easily accessible to nurses, employers and the public by leveraging current technology

Current work

On Dec. 7, 2022, Council approved CNO's modernized Code of Conduct (Code). The new version of the Code will take effect, June 5, 2023. This will allow time for CNO to develop resources to support the modernized Code and the system to adapt to this change.

Next steps

In 2023, we will start work on modernizing other practice standards.

We are very excited about these progressive changes. Please stay tuned to this webpage for details. .

Resources provided to council

Additional information

CNO Strategic Plan 2021-2024 Outcomes

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