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Dear Ask an RN,
I recently read in the Canadian Nurse April 2002, Volume 98, Number
4 about the CNA revising its Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses.
I understand that this is customary to review every five years.
I wondered who exactly is consulted, what the process of revision is before confirmed and how will direct care practitioners be updated on the revisions?
Thank you,
Sandra Darlington R.N.
Ask an RN Responds,
The consultation, undertaken by the Canadian Nurses Association, was extensive to ensure that as many nurses as possible could provide their input. All provincial/territorial nursing jurisdictions were surveyed in the summer of 2001 on the revisions they needed. That was followed by group discussions, teleconferences, and a review of current literature, including other codes of ethics. Nurses from across the country could also participate through the CNA Web site (www.cna-nurses.ca). Twelve nurse ethicists, led by Dr. Janet Storch, then went to work on recommendations for a revised draft sent far and wide inside and outside Canada for input from nursing and non-nursing associations.Nurses from across Canada reviewed the revised code, either from the Web site or through their associations, before it was sent to the CNA board of directors and on to the biennial convention in late June, where it was passed along with the Ethical Research Guidelines for RNs. Both will be available in mid-September. In Ontario, as the Ontario representative at the CAN table, RNAO participated intensely in the consultation. RNAO members will receive a copy of the Code of Ethics in the October issue of The Canadian Nurse.
It is important to note that while Ontario nurses use the CNA Code of Ethics as a very valuable guide, they must practice according to the Ontario College of Nurses Standards, specifically the Ethical Framework for Registered Nurses and Registered Practical Nurses in Ontario. Since CNO is our regulatory body, its material has "first line" relevance for practice in this province.
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