Definitions

1   In this regulation:

"Act" means the Health Professions Act;

"certified practice registrant" means a person who

(a) is authorized under the bylaws to practice nursing or psychiatric nursing, and

(b) has successfully completed a certification program as described in

(i) section 8 (2) (b) (ii) of this regulation, or

(ii) section 7.1 (2) (b) (i) of the Nurses (Registered Psychiatric) Regulation;

"compound" means,

(a) in section 6 (1) (m), to mix 2 or more ingredients, and

(b) in any other case, to mix a drug with one or more other ingredients;

"dispense" has the same meaning as in the Pharmacy Operations and Drug Scheduling Act,

(a) excluding a sale as defined in that Act, and

(b) including receipt of payment on behalf of a registrant's employer for a drug dispensed or administered by the registrant, if the registrant's employer lawfully requires payment for that drug from a person in respect of the individual for or to whom it is dispensed or administered;

"Drug Schedules Regulation" means the Drug Schedules Regulation, B.C. Reg. 9/98;

"enteral instillation" means instillation directly into the gastrointestinal tract;

"health professional" means

(a) a person who is authorized under the Act to practise the designated health profession of dentistry, medicine, midwifery, naturopathic medicine, podiatric medicine or the practice of pharmacy,

(b) a certified practice registrant or nurse practitioner, or

(c) a person who, in Alberta, Yukon or the Northwest Territories, is the equivalent of a person described in paragraph (a) or (b), but only if

(i) the person has issued an order in respect of a patient who has been assessed by the person,

(ii) the patient has transferred from one of the other jurisdictions to British Columbia,

(iii) the patient, on transfer, requires immediate health services or treatment, and

(iv) the patient has not been assessed by the equivalent person described in paragraph (a) or (b);

"issue" means to issue by any method;

"medical assistance in dying" means the following:

(a) the administration of a substance

(i) by a nurse practitioner to a person who requests the substance, and

(ii) that is intended to cause the death of the person who requested the substance;

(b) the prescription or provision of a substance

(i) by a nurse practitioner to a person who requests the substance, and

(ii) that the person who requested the substance may administer to himself or herself for the purpose of causing his or her own death;

"nursing" means the health profession in which a person provides the following services:

(a) health care for the promotion, maintenance and restoration of health;

(b) prevention, treatment and palliation of illness and injury, primarily by

(i) assessing health status,

(ii) planning, implementing and evaluating interventions, and

(iii) coordinating health services;

(c) medical assistance in dying;

"nursing diagnosis" means a clinical judgment of an individual's mental or physical condition to determine whether the condition can be ameliorated or resolved by appropriate interventions of the registrant to achieve outcomes for which the registrant is accountable;

"order" means an instruction or authorization, issued by a health professional, for a registrant to provide a service that includes the performance of an activity described in section 7 (1) to or for a named individual whom the health professional has assessed, whether or not the instruction or authorization

(a) makes provision for the time or times at which the service is to be initiated by a registrant, or

(b) incorporates by reference, in whole or in part and with any changes the health professional considers necessary or appropriate, a guideline, protocol or other recorded description of a course of action or decision-making process to be used by a registrant in providing the service to or for a specified class of individuals;

"parenteral instillation" means instillation directly into the blood stream;

"prescribe" means to issue a prescription as defined in the Pharmacy Operations and Drug Scheduling Act, except a prescription issued in respect of an animal;

"registrant" means a registrant who is authorized under the bylaws to practise nursing;

"substance" includes air and water but excludes a drug specified in Schedule I, IA, II or IV of the Drug Schedules Regulation;

"wearable hearing instrument" has the same meaning as in the Speech and Hearing Health Professionals Regulation, B.C. Reg. 413/2008.

[am. B.C. Regs. 157/2009, s. 1; 226/2015, s. 1; 201/2016, Sch. 1, s. 1; 93/2018, Sch. 2, s. 1; 100/2023, Sch. 2, s. 1.]

College name

2   The name of the college responsible for carrying out the objects of the Act in respect of nursing is "British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives".

[en. B.C. Reg. 93/2018, Sch. 2, s. 2; am. B.C. Reg. 167/2020, Sch. 3, s. 1.]

Reserved title

3   (1) The following titles are reserved for exclusive use by registrants:

(a) nurse;

(b) registered nurse;

(c) licensed graduate nurse.

(2) The titles "nurse practitioner" and "registered nurse practitioner" are reserved for exclusive use by nurse practitioners.

(3) All nurse practitioners may be known by the title "registered nurse".

(4) This section does not prevent a person from using the title "nurse" in a manner authorized by another regulation under section 12 of the Act.

Scope of practice

4   A registrant may practise nursing.

Patient relations program

5   The college is designated for the purposes of section 16 (2) (f) of the Act.

Restricted and provisional registrant classes

5.1   (1) Effective December 1, 2010, the college is authorized to establish, under section 19 (1) (i) of the Act, a class of restricted registrants for the purposes of section 20 (4.2) of the Act.

(2) The college is authorized to establish, under section 19 (1) (i) of the Act, a class of provisional registrants for the purposes of section 20 (4.3) of the Act.

[en. B.C. Reg. 157/2009, s. 2; am. B.C. Reg. 93/2018, Sch. 2, s. 3.]

Restricted activities that do not require an order

6   (1) A registrant in the course of practising nursing may do any of the following:

(a) make a nursing diagnosis identifying a condition as the cause of the signs or symptoms of an individual;

(b) for the purpose of wound care, including the suturing of skin lacerations, perform a procedure on tissue below the dermis or below the surface of a mucous membrane;

(c) for the purposes of collecting a blood sample or donation, perform venipuncture;

(d) for the purposes of establishing intravenous access, maintaining patency or managing hypovolemia,

(i) perform venipuncture, or

(ii) administer a solution by parenteral instillation;

(e) administer

(i) the following by inhalation:

(A) oxygen or humidified air;

(B) a mixture of oxygen and nitrous oxide, for the purpose of pain management during labour,

(ii) nutrition by enteral instillation, or

(iii) purified protein derivative by injection, for the purpose of tuberculosis screening;

(f) for the purposes of assessment or ameliorating or resolving a condition identified through the making of a nursing diagnosis, administer a solution

(i) by irrigation, or

(ii) by enteral instillation;

(g) for the purposes of assessment or ameliorating or resolving a condition identified through the making of a nursing diagnosis, put an instrument or a device, hand or finger

(i) into the external ear canal, up to the eardrum,

(ii) beyond the point in the nasal passages where they normally narrow,

(iii) beyond the pharynx,

(iv) beyond the opening of the urethra,

(v) beyond the labia majora,

(vi) beyond the anal verge, or

(vii) into an artificial opening into the body;

(g.1) put a wearable hearing instrument, or a part of or accessory for it, into the external ear canal, up to the eardrum;

(h) for the purposes of assessment or ameliorating or resolving a condition identified through the making of a nursing diagnosis, put into the external ear canal, up to the eardrum,

(i) air that is under pressure no greater than the pressure created by the use of an otoscope, or

(ii) water that is under pressure no greater than the pressure created by the use of an ear bulb syringe;

(h.1) manage labour in an institutional setting if the primary maternal care provider is absent;

(i) apply ultrasound for the purposes of bladder volume measurement, blood flow monitoring or fetal heart monitoring;

(j) apply electricity for the purpose of defibrillation in the course of emergency cardiac care;

(j.01) apply electricity for the purpose of providing transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation;

(j.1) in the course of assessment, issue an instruction or authorization for another person to apply, to a named individual,

(i) ultrasound for diagnostic or imaging purposes, including any application of ultrasound to a fetus, or

(ii) X-rays for diagnostic or imaging purposes, except X-rays for the purpose of computerized axial tomography;

(k) in respect of a drug specified in Schedule I of the Drug Schedules Regulation,

(i) prescribe the drug,

(ii) compound the drug,

(iii) dispense the drug, or

(iv) administer the drug by any method

for the purpose of

(v) treating

(A) anaphylaxis,

(B) cardiac dysrhythmia,

(C) opiate overdose,

(D) respiratory distress in a known asthmatic,

(E) hypoglycemia,

(F) post-partum hemorrhage, or

(G) conditions that are symptomatic of influenza-like illness, or

(vi) preventing disease using immunoprophylactic agents and post-exposure chemoprophylactic agents;

(l) in respect of a drug specified in Schedule II of the Drug Schedules Regulation,

(i) prescribe the drug,

(ii) compound the drug,

(iii) dispense the drug, or

(iv) administer the drug by any method;

(m) if nutrition is administered by enteral instillation, compound or dispense a therapeutic diet.

(2) Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 226/2015, s. 2 (e).]

[am. B.C. Regs. 157/2009, ss. 3 and 4; 162/2009; 250/2009; 226/2015, s. 2.]

Restricted activities that require an order

7   (1) A registrant in the course of practising nursing may do any of the following:

(a) perform a procedure on tissue below the dermis, below the surface of a mucous membrane or in or below the surface of the cornea;

(a.1) cast a fracture of a bone;

(b) administer a substance

(i) by injection,

(ii) by inhalation,

(iii) by mechanical ventilation,

(iv) by irrigation,

(v) by enteral instillation or parenteral instillation, or

(vi) by using a hyperbaric chamber;

(c) put an instrument or a device, hand or finger

(i) into the external ear canal, up to the eardrum,

(ii) beyond the point in the nasal passages where they normally narrow,

(iii) beyond the pharynx,

(iv) beyond the opening of the urethra,

(v) beyond the labia majora,

(vi) beyond the anal verge, or

(vii) into an artificial opening into the body;

(d) put into the external ear canal, up to the eardrum, a substance that is under pressure;

(d.1) apply ultrasound for diagnostic or imaging purposes, including application of ultrasound to a fetus;

(e) apply electricity for the purposes of destroying tissue or affecting activity of the heart or nervous system;

(e.1) apply laser for the purpose of destroying tissue;

(f) in respect of a drug specified in Schedule I or IA of the Drug Schedules Regulation,

(i) compound the drug,

(ii) dispense the drug, or

(iii) administer the drug by any method;

(g) conduct challenge testing for allergies

(i) that involves injection, scratch tests or inhalation, if the individual being tested has not had a previous anaphylactic reaction, or

(ii) by any method, if the individual being tested has had a previous anaphylactic reaction;

(h) conduct desensitizing treatment for allergies

(i) that involves injection, scratch tests or inhalation, if the individual being treated has not had a previous anaphylactic reaction, or

(ii) by any method, if the individual being treated has had a previous anaphylactic reaction.

(i) and (j) Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 157/2009, s. 5 (e).]

(2) A registrant may provide a service that includes the performance of an activity described in subsection (1), other than the activity described in subsection (1) (a.1), only as follows:

(a) to the extent the activity is one described in section 6 (1), without an order as described in paragraph (b) of this subsection;

(b) to the extent the activity is not one described in section 6 (1), if the registrant provides the service for the purpose of implementing an order and, at the time that the registrant provides the service,

(i) the health professional who issues the order is authorized, under the Act or by the body in Alberta, Yukon or the Northwest Territories that regulates the health profession of that health professional, to

(A) provide the service without an order or equivalent instruction or authorization, or

(B) issue an order or equivalent instruction or authorization for the service to be provided, and

(ii) the registrant is authorized under the Act to provide the service.

(3) A registrant may provide a service that includes the performance of the activity described in subsection (1) (a.1) only if

(a) the registrant provides the service for the purpose of implementing an order issued by a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner, and

(b) at the time that the registrant provides the service,

(i) the medical practitioner or nurse practitioner who issues the order is authorized under the Act to provide the service or to issue an order for the service to be provided, and

(ii) the registrant is authorized under the Act to provide the service.

[am. B.C. Regs. 157/2009, ss. 5 and 6; 213/2010; 226/2015, s. 3.]

Restricted activities for certified practice registrants

8   (1) A registrant in the course of practising nursing may do any of the following:

(a) perform an activity described in section 7 (1) (a) or (b) to (h);

(a.1) in respect of a drug specified in Schedule I of the Drug Schedules Regulation,

(i) prescribe the drug,

(ii) compound the drug,

(iii) dispense the drug, or

(iv) administer the drug by any method;

(a.2) in respect of a drug specified in Schedule IA of the Drug Schedules Regulation and for the purpose of treating opioid use disorder,

(i) prescribe the drug,

(ii) compound the drug,

(iii) dispense the drug, or

(iv) administer the drug by any method;

(b) make a diagnosis identifying a disease, disorder or condition as the cause of the signs or symptoms of the individual.

(c) and (d) Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 157/2009, s. 7 (c).]

(2) Subject to subsection (4), a registrant may provide a service that includes the performance of an activity described in subsection (1) only as follows:

(a) to the extent the activity is one described in section 6 (1), without an order as described in section 7 (2) (b) or certification as described in paragraph (b) (ii) of this subsection;

(b) to the extent the activity is not one described in section 6 (1),

(i) if the registrant provides the service for the purpose of implementing an order and, at the time that the registrant provides the service, the requirements described in section 7 (2) (b) are met, or

(ii) if, before providing the service, the registrant has successfully completed a certification program established, required or approved under the bylaws to ensure that registrants are qualified and competent to provide that service in the practice setting in which it is to be provided by the registrant.

(3) Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 226/2015, s. 4 (b).]

(4) A certified practice registrant may provide a service that includes the performance of an activity described in subsection (1) (a.2) without an order only if

(a) standards, limits or conditions have been established, under section 19 (1) (k) or (l) of the Act, respecting the activity, and

(b) the provision of the service is in accordance with those standards, limits and conditions.

[am. B.C. Regs. 157/2009, ss. 7 to 9; 226/2015, s. 4; 93/2018, Sch. 2, s. 4; 100/2023, Sch. 2, s. 2.]

Restricted activities for nurse practitioners

9   (1) A nurse practitioner in the course of practising nursing may do any of the following:

(a) perform an activity described in section 7 (1) (a) or (b) to (h) or 8 (1) (b);

(b) cast a fracture of a bone;

(c) set a closed simple fracture of a bone;

(d) reduce a dislocation of a joint;

(e) apply X-rays for diagnostic or imaging purposes, except X-rays for the purpose of computerized axial tomography;

(f) issue an instruction or authorization for another person to apply, to a named individual,

(i) ultrasound for diagnostic or imaging purposes, including any application of ultrasound to a fetus,

(ii) electromagnetism for the purpose of magnetic resonance imaging,

(iii) X-rays for diagnostic or imaging purposes, including X-rays for the purpose of computerized axial tomography, or

(iv) laser for the purpose of destroying tissue;

(g) prescribe a drug specified in Schedule I or IA of the Drug Schedules Regulation;

(h) if nutrition is administered by enteral instillation or parenteral instillation, select ingredients for a therapeutic diet.

(2) A nurse practitioner may provide a service that includes the performance of an activity described in subsection (1) (a) only as follows:

(a) to the extent the activity is one described in section 6 (1), without

(i) an order as described in section 7 (2) (b),

(ii) certification under section 8 (2) (b) (ii), or

(iii) the establishment of standards, limits or conditions as described in subsection (3) of this section;

(b) to the extent the activity is not one described in section 6 (1), in accordance with

(i) an order as described in section 7 (2) (b), or

(ii) the standards, limits or conditions established under subsection (3) of this section.

(3) A nurse practitioner may provide a service that includes the performance of an activity described in subsection (1) only if

(a) standards, limits or conditions have been established, under section 19 (1) (k) or (l) of the Act, respecting the activity, and

(b) the standards, limits and conditions described in paragraph (a) are established on the recommendation of a committee that

(i) is established under section 19 (1) (t) of the Act, and

(ii) has the duty and power to develop, review and recommend those standards, limits or conditions.

(4) A registrant may provide a service that includes the performance of an activity described in subsection (1) (c) to (e), (f) (ii), (f) (iii) in respect of X-rays for the purpose of computerized axial tomography, (f) (iv), (g) in respect of prescribing a drug specified in Schedule IA of the Drug Schedules Regulation for a purpose other than treating opioid use disorder, or (h) only if the registrant is a nurse practitioner.

[am. B.C. Regs. 157/2009, ss. 10 to 12; 226/2015, s. 5; 201/2016, Sch. 1, s. 2; 100/2023, Sch. 2, s. 3.]

Restricted activities limited to registrants

9.1   Only a registrant may provide a service that includes the performance of an activity set out in section 6 (1), 7 (1), 8 (1) or 9 (1).

[en. B.C. Reg. 167/2020, Sch. 3, s. 2.]

Repealed

10   Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 284/2008, s. 10 (2), as am. by B.C. Reg. 255/2009.]

Limits and conditions on services

11   A registrant may provide the service of medical assistance in dying only

(a) if the registrant is a nurse practitioner, and

(b) in accordance with the standards, limits and conditions established by the board for the provision of the service of medical assistance in dying.

[en. B.C. Reg. 201/2016, Sch. 1, s. 3.]