2.1 Professional Foundations V2

Canadian Nurses Association

The Canadian Nurses Association (CNA, n.d.) is a professional organization that represents the national and global interests of Canadian nurses. They represent registered nurses, nurse practitioners, licensed and registered practical nurses, registered psychiatric nurses, and retired nurses across all 13 provinces and territories (CNA, 2021). The CNA developed the Code of Ethics for Nurses as a guide for carrying out nursing responsibilities in a manner consistent with quality in nursing care and the ethical obligations of the profession (CNA, 2025).

CNA Code of Ethics for Nurses

The CNA publishes the Code of Ethics for Nurses, which is a framework for ethical practice in nursing in Canada (CNA, 2025). The revised code of ethics encompasses all regulated nurses, which includes nurse practitioners, registered nurses, registered psychiatric nurses, and licensed practical nurses. It outlines the values the nursing profession upholds and conveys these values to clients, other healthcare professionals, employers, and stakeholders.

The code of ethics is an overarching framework with seven core professional values, each with guiding principle statements, context for practice, and ethical responsibilities.

How does this relate to pharmacology and medication administration? Consider Value 6 (CNA, 2025) and then reflect on this value in relation to practising safe medication administration:

Value 6: Providing Competent Professional Nursing Practice.

Guiding Principle 6.1: Nurses continually develop and maintain their nursing knowledge and skills to provide competent care.

Ethical Responsibilities: Include engaging in reflective practice, using the highest level of evidence possible, participating in formal and informal education, engaging in professional development to advance knowledge and skills, and seeking feedback from clients, peers, and supervisors to identify strengths and areas for performance improvement.

CNA Registered Nurse Practice Framework

The CNA (2015) publishes The Framework for the Practice of Registered Nurses in Canada. This framework promotes a common understanding of RN practice among nurses, students, and stakeholders (including other health professionals, employers, educators, policy-makers, and the public). Given the large number of regulated and unregulated care providers in Canada, it is essential for policy-makers, decision-makers, and employers to clearly understand RN competencies and contributions as well as to know when RN care is the most appropriate.

CNA Entry-Level Competencies

CNA entry-level competencies describe a competent level of behaviour in the professional role (CNA, 2021). The competencies refer to the knowledge, skills, judgment, and attributes required of an RN to practice safely and ethically in a designated role and setting.

A total of 101 competencies are grouped thematically under nine roles. Integration of all nine roles enables an entry-level registered nurse to provide safe, competent, ethical, compassionate, and evidence-informed nursing care in any practice setting. Some concepts are relevant to multiple roles. The roles include:

• Clinician: Provide safe, competent, ethical, compassionate, and evidence-informed care across the lifespan in response to client needs; integrate knowledge, skills, judgment, and professional values from nursing and other diverse sources into their practice.
• Professional: Commit to the health and well-being of clients; uphold the profession’s practice standards and ethics and be accountable to the public and the profession; demonstrate accountability, accept responsibility, and seek assistance as necessary for decisions and actions within the legislated scope of practice.
• Communicator: Use a variety of strategies and relevant technologies to create and maintain professional relationships, share information, and foster therapeutic environments.
• Collaborator: Play an integral role in the healthcare team partnership.
• Coordinator: Coordinate point-of-care health service delivery with clients, the healthcare team, and other sectors to ensure continuous, safe care.
• Leader: Influence and inspire others to achieve optimal health outcomes for all.
• Advocate: Support clients to voice their needs to achieve optimal health outcomes and support clients who cannot advocate for themselves.
• Educator: Identify learning needs with clients and apply a broad range of educational strategies towards achieving optimal health outcomes.
• Scholar: Demonstrate a lifelong commitment to excellence in practice through critical inquiry, continuous learning, application of evidence to practice, and support of research activities.

Provincial Regulation

Each Canadian province and territory has its own regulatory body for registered nurses. Each regulatory body or college has a mandate to ensure public safety by setting standards of practice that ensure each registered nurse practices safely, competently, and within their scope of practice. Each provincial regulatory body may have slight differences in their standards of practice. These regional bodies are responsible for further outlining the scope of practice, practice standards, and professional standards for their registrants. They also oversee the licensing process and maintain a registry of practising nurses. The regulatory body in British Columbia is the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM, n.d.a).

BCCNM Professional Standards and Practice Standards

Professional Standards are “one set of standards under the umbrella of BCCNM Standards of Practice, are statements about levels of performance that nurses are required to achieve in their practice” (BCCNM, n.d.c).

• Standard 1: Professional Responsibility and Accountability
• Standard 2: Knowledge-Based Practice
• Standard 3: Client-Focused Provision of Service
• Standard 4: Ethical Practice

Nurses are guided by professional standards in all aspects of their roles, including in medication administration.

Practice standards guide and direct nurses’ practice (BCCNM, n.d.b). ​They set out levels of performance that BCCNM nurse registrants are required to achieve in their practice. They all link to other practice standards, policies, and bylaws of BCCNM.

There is a specific practice standard related to medication administration for nurses.

BCCNM Practice Standard for Medication

In British Columbia, the BCCNM (2025) has developed a practice standard for medication administration for all nurses. This practice standard outlines nurses’ accountabilities for providing safe nursing care to clients when performing activities involving medication. The principles for the medication practice standard include all medication-related activities, including medication administration, dispensing medications, acting with autonomous scope of practice, and preventing medication errors. In the next unit, we will examine a nurse’s scope of practice with drug schedules.

References

British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives. (n.d.a). Home. https://www.bccnm.ca/Pages/Default.aspx

British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives. (n.d.b). Practice standards. https://www.bccnm.ca/RN/PracticeStandards/Pages/Default.aspx

British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives. (n.d.c). Professional standards. https://www.bccnm.ca/RN/ProfessionalStandards/Pages/Default.aspx

British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives. (2025). Practice standard for all BCCNM nurses: Medication [PDF]. https://www.bccnm.ca/RN/PracticeStandards/Lists/GeneralResources/RN_PS_Medication.pdf

Canadian Nurses Association. (n.d.). Home. https://www.cna-aiic.ca/en/home

Canadian Nurses Association. (2015). RN practice framework. https://www.cna-aiic.ca/en/nursing/regulated-nursing-in-canada/rn-practice-framework2

Canadian Nurses Association. (2021). Regulating nursing in Canada: The landscape in 2021. https://www.cna-aiic.ca/en/nursing/regulated-nursing-in-canada

Canadian Nurses Association. (2025). Code of ethics for nurses.  https://www.cna-aiic.ca/en/nursing/regulated-nursing-in-canada/nursing-ethics

Media Attributions

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• BCCNM logo thumbnail. © BCCNM. Used with permission.
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