32

 

 

Third Session, 47th General Assembly

63 Elizabeth II, 2014

BILL 32

AN ACT TO AMEND THE REGISTERED NURSES ACT, 2008

Received and Read the First Time.................................................................................................

Second Reading.................................................................................................................................

Committee..........................................................................................................................................

Third Reading.....................................................................................................................................

Royal Assent......................................................................................................................................

HONOURABLE STEVE KENT

Minister of Health and Community Services

Ordered to be printed by the Honourable House of Assembly

 

EXPLANATORY NOTES

This Bill would amend the Registered Nurses Act, 2008 to

·         add regulation making authority respecting quality assurance;

·         add quality assurance provisions to enhance public protection and accountability; and

·         allow the complaints authorization committee to refer an allegation to the quality assurance committee.

A BILL

AN ACT TO AMEND THE REGISTERED
NURSES ACT, 2008

Analysis


        1.   S.11 Amdt.
Regulations

        2.   S.23 Amdt.
Complaints authorization committee

        3.   Ss.35.1 to 35.5 Added
35.1 Quality assurance
        committee
35.2 Registered nurse
        shall comply
35.3 Conduct of review
35.4 Costs
35.5
Termination of review

        4.   Commencement

 


Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

SNL2008 cR-9.1
as amended

        1. Subsection 11(1) of the Registered Nurses Act, 2008 is amended by deleting the word "and" at the end of subparagraph (j)(viii) and by adding immediately after that subparagraph the following:

          (j.1)  the quality assurance program referred to in section 35.1; and

 

        2. Subsection 23(1) of the Act is amended by adding immediately after paragraph (a) the following:

         (a.1)  refer the allegation to the quality assurance committee;

 

        3. The Act is amended by adding immediately after section 35 the following:

Quality assurance committee

   35.1 (1) The council shall establish a quality assurance committee that shall have responsibility for, and shall establish and operate, a program of quality assurance for registered nurses.

             (2)  The committee may appoint persons registered as registered nurses under this or another Act, including an Act of another province or a territory of Canada, to act as assessors or to assist the committee to perform its duties and exercise its powers under this Act.

             (3)  The committee and a person appointed under subsection (2) shall have the powers, privileges and immunities that are conferred on a commissioner under the Public Inquiries Act, 2006.

             (4)  A person appointed under subsection (2) has the powers of the committee under paragraphs 35.3(2)(a), (b) and (c).

Registered nurse shall comply

   35.2 A registered nurse shall comply with a request or a directive of the committee, or a person appointed to act on behalf of the committee, in connection with the conduct of a quality assurance review with respect to the registered nurse or his or her practice by the committee.

Conduct of review

   35.3 (1) The quality assurance committee may itself initiate a quality assurance review of a registered nurse or his or her practice or at the request of the Director of Professional Conduct Review or the complaints authorization committee.

             (2)  In connection with a quality assurance review, the quality assurance committee may

             (a)  require a registered nurse, or another person who has information pertaining to or possession of records that relate to the registered nurse's practice, to provide information, including patient records, for inspection or review and to permit them to be copied by the committee or a person appointed by the committee for the purpose;

             (b)  order a registered nurse to undergo an examination, evaluation, assessment or review of his or her professional practices or capacity or fitness to practice, to the extent and under the circumstances required by the committee;

             (c)  engage in periodic or random reviews or audits of a registered nurse's performance including the consequential review of patient records; and

             (d)  order a registered nurse to

                      (i)  obtain counselling, including substance abuse counselling, until the registered nurse can demonstrate to the committee, or another body or a person designated by the committee, that a condition related to the counselling has been overcome,

                     (ii)  obtain medical treatment and authorize a person participating in the provision of that treatment to report on it to the committee,

                    (iii)  complete a course of studies or an educational or training program,

                    (iv)  restrict his or her registered nursing practice,

                     (v)  obtain supervised clinical experience as directed by the committee and to the satisfaction of the committee,

                    (vi)  continue his or her registered nursing practice under conditions the committee may specify, or

                   (vii)  report his or her compliance with an order of the committee and authorize a person to report to the committee on whether he or she is complying with an order.

             (3)  The quality assurance committee may accept the terms of an agreement entered into by the Director of Professional Conduct Review and a registered nurse as constituting compliance by the registered nurse with a requirement or order imposed by the committee on the registered nurse under subsection (2).

             (4)  Where a registered nurse fails to comply

             (a)  with a requirement or an order under subsection (2); or

             (b)  with an agreement referred to in subsection (3) within the time required by the committee for compliance,

the committee shall refer the failure to comply to the Director of Professional Conduct Review who shall refer it to the complaints authorization committee as an allegation within the meaning of paragraph 18(a).

             (5)  An action for damages does not lie against a registered nurse, or another person to whom a request is made, solely because he or she provides information requested of him or her under paragraph (2)(a).

             (6)  Where the quality assurance committee or a person appointed by the committee requires that a registered nurse or another person provide information under paragraph (2)(a), that information shall be provided within 7 days of receipt of the request or a different period as specified in the request.

             (7)  All records and specific information relating to the quality assurance program or a review or order under it are confidential.

             (8)  Paragraph (2)(a) and subsections (5) and (6) apply to the Crown.

Costs

   35.4 The costs incurred by a registered nurse in implementing an order under subsection 35.3(2) shall be paid by that registered nurse and shall not be a cost of the quality assurance committee, the council or the association.

Termination of review

   35.5 (1) Where the quality assurance committee believes, in the course of or as a result of a review, that a registered nurse may be guilty of conduct deserving of sanction within the meaning of section 18, the review, if still in progress, shall be terminated, the registered nurse shall be advised, and the matter shall be referred to the Director of Professional Conduct Review who shall refer it to the complaints authorization committee to be dealt with as an allegation.

             (2)  The quality assurance committee shall provide all information and documents in its possession relating to the review to the complaints authorization committee.

             (3)  An order of the quality assurance committee issued before it refers a matter to the complaints authorization committee under subsection (1) remains in effect notwithstanding the referral of the matter to the complaints authorization committee.

Commencement

        4. This Act comes into force on a day to be proclaimed by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council.