May 08, 2023

CNO celebrates Nursing Week 2023

A message from Silvie Crawford, CNO’s Executive Director and CEO, during this week when we celebrate nurses

I want to say thank you to you, the nurses of Ontario. You make a difference every day. You are always there for us and deserve our thanks and support, not just this week, but every week. I appreciate your dedication, compassion, contributions, and the vital role you play in the health of all Ontarians.  

The theme of Nursing Week this year is Our Nurses. Our Future. And, to the people of Ontario, you are our nurses.

I also want to acknowledge that CNO understands the current challenges you face every day. There are a number of nurses working at CNO, myself included, who have worked in different practice settings. We can appreciate what you are going through in this current health care environment. We understand what it’s like to be in the field and to feel the pressure. It is this understanding that helps us support your practice to ensure patient safety.  

When I think of the our future part of the Nursing Week theme, I think of the many diverse opportunities for nurses in practice and how the range of nursing roles and scope will continue to grow. This growth and advancement will lead to new ways to promote accessibility across the health care sector, including in underserviced communities.  

But we can’t do it without you, our nurses.  

Wishing you all a happy Nursing Week and a sincere thank you for your ongoing commitment and dedication to the nursing profession.  

Silvie 

 

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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