Professional Practice

The College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) and other regulatory bodies have Standards of Practice that registrants are expected to meet in order to provide safe, ethical and quality patient/client/resident care within their scope of practice.

ONA has developed the Professional Responsibility and Workload (PRW) process to resolve professional practice and workload issues.

By engaging in the PRW process, you are playing a pivotal role in meeting your Accountability Standard for your regulatory college, while advocating for patient safety and quality patient care.

When to use the Professional Responsibility Form

Nurses are to use this tool when they believe they have been assigned a number of patients or  a workload that they have cause to believe they are being asked to perform more work than is consistent with proper patient care.

Therefore fill out forms when:

1. There is inadequate/inappropriate staff for acuity.
2. When there are new patients admitted to a unit with inadequate staff.
3. When staff is not given adequate orientation and or mentorship in their assigned areas.
4. When workloads in the opinion of the nurses could threaten the health and safety of patients and/or staff.
5. When there is a lack of adequate equipment and or supplies.
6. Where nurses believe that employer practices, policies or situations are detrimental to patient care.

This is the avenue for nurses to seek to improve quality of patient care, assist with problem solving to help them meet professional standards, and a means to resolve disputes through a process agreed to between the  parties to the Collective Agreement.

To review the process:

1. Nurses should be contacting their nurse manager during work hours or the supervisor outside of that to raise their concerns and try to effect a solution.
2. Failing an answer that is satisfactory to the nurse then file a workload complaint. The original copy should go to your manager with the other copies to your (EXECUTIVE CONTACT).
3. The Collective agreement now identifies that your manager is to discuss the issue with the staff filing the complaint within 5 days of the complaint being filed. Your manager should be providing you with a written response. Responses should be posted on your unit. If you have not received a response, or the response is not satisfactory then contact your executive member.
4. Responses are reviewed at Hospital Association and identified as resolved or an ongoing trend or concern.

If we, as the Union, believe that this is a systemic issue and believe that the employer is not providing the supports for staff to provide safe ,quality patient care then we have  the right to potentially have an outside assessment panel review the Hospital’s actions.