November 18, 2024

National Nursing Students' Week: Celebrating the nurses of tomorrow

Happy National Nursing Students' Week! 

A group of nursing students sitting around a desk practicing their clinical skills.

Happy National Nursing Students' Week! From Nov. 18–24, the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) recognizes the hard work, dedication and passion of nursing students. As aspiring health care professionals, nursing students play a critical role in our health care system's future. Their academic journey lays the groundwork for the compassionate and competent care that patients need and deserve.

We recognize that nursing school can be an exciting and demanding undertaking. From complex courses and clinical training to long study sessions and the occasional sleepless night–it can be challenging. We thank you for your commitment to learning how to serve and care for others during their most vulnerable times. Nursing is a profession of lifelong learning, and we encourage you to stay motivated, seek support when needed and always remain open to new knowledge and experiences.

Resources for Nursing Students from CNO

CNO is the governing body for Registered Nurses (RNs), Registered Practical Nurses (RPNs) and Nurse Practitioners (NPs) in Ontario, working to protect the public through the promotion of safe nursing practice. One of the ways we achieve this is by articulating and promoting practice standards.

For students eager to understand the practice standards, guidelines and regulations that shape nursing in Ontario, CNO offers a range of resources. We recommend familiarizing yourself and exploring these resources as part of your educational journey:

Practice Standards and Guidelines

CNO provides practice standards and guidelines to support nurses in providing safe and ethical nursing care to the people of Ontario.

Prepping for Registration Examinations

There are several registration exams required to meet nursing qualifications in Ontario. CNO identifies which exams you need to complete and provides study materials and other essential information to support applicants throughout the process.

The Guide to Becoming a Nurse

This guide outlines the requirements that all nurses must meet to obtain certification to practice in Ontario. When you are ready to register as a CNO member, refer to this guide to ensure you have all the necessary qualifications.

Thank you for choosing nursing, for embracing the journey and for your dedication to caring for others. CNO celebrates you today and looks forward to the impact you will make tomorrow!

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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