Ontario Expanding the Role of Nurse Practitioners and Registered Nurses

Press Release

November 28, 2024

TORONTO — The Ontario government is making it easier and more convenient for people to connect to the care they need. Upcoming regulation changes will expand the scope of practice for nurse practitioners and registered nurses to order more tests and provide additional services in a variety of settings including hospitals, interprofessional primary care teams and long-term care homes.

“Ontario is proud to be home to world-class health care professionals and our government continues to make innovative changes to allow them to work to the full extent of their expertise and training,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “Expanding the roles of highly skilled nurse practitioners and registered nurses is another step our government is taking to provide more people with the right care, in the right place.”

Scope of practice changes improve access to care, especially for Indigenous communities and those living in rural, northern and remote areas of the province. Starting July 1, 2025, nurse practitioners will be able to:

Order and apply a defibrillator to provide faster care to someone in cardiac arrest.
Order and apply a cardiac pacemaker to make it faster for people to receive care if their heart isn’t beating regularly.
Order and perform electrocoagulation, a process to treat skin conditions and lesions, such as skin tags, helping people get them removed sooner.
Certify a death in more circumstances, improving the end-of-life experience for families after the death of a loved one.

Additionally, these scope of practice changes will allow registered nurses to certify a death when the death is expected, helping ensure death registration is completed in a more timely manner while preserving dignity of the deceased for their family.

Expanding scope of practice for nurse practitioners and registered nurses builds on the government’s over $500 million investment to bring more nurses into the healthcare system by educating new nurses, increasing opportunities for current nurses to access specialized training to upskill while on the job and reducing barriers for internationally educated nurses, allowing them to register to work in Ontario faster and start caring for Ontarians sooner.

As part of the Your Health plan, the Ontario government is maximizing health providers’ scope of practice to ensure people and their families have more connected and convenient access to high-quality care when they need it, close to home.

Quick Facts

Nurse practitioners and registered nurses already have the expertise and education to support this role expansion and will continue to receive the tools they need, including standards of practice, policies and guidelines to support their professional practice.
The province has consulted with the College of Nurses of Ontario and other health care partners to make these scope of practice changes.
Since 2018, Ontario has seen a record-breaking number of new health care professionals join the workforce, adding nearly 100,000 new nurses with another 30,000 nurses currently studying at Ontario colleges and universities.
Last year, Ontario added a record of more than 18,000 new nurses.
Ontario continues to build on work to date to grow the health care workforce by adding 6,500 new spaces in Ontario’s nursing programs over the last three years. This is on top of the 150 new nurse practitioner training positions over the last year.
Since expanding the role of registered nurses to prescribe medications, 291 registered nurses have completed the training and are authorized to prescribe.
Ontario is investing $743 million over three years to continue to address immediate health care staffing needs, as well as to grow the workforce for years to come.

Quotes

“CNO is here to help nurses understand changes to their scope of practice, what these changes mean for their practice and how they can be implemented safely. Changes to scope of practice can increase access to quality care. We look forward to supporting these changes by sharing educational resources with Ontario nurses that inform safe practice.”
– Silvie Crawford
Registrar/Executive Director & CEO, College of Nurses of Ontario

“This is a welcome change that will be pivotal to optimizing patient care and enhancing the patient experience. It will be an essential element of maintaining a strong and adaptable healthcare system, and foster growth within the profession.”
– Pam Hubley
Vice President, Health Disciplines & Chief Nurse Executive, University Health Network (UHN)

“NPAO applauds the provincial government’s initiative to expand Nurse Practitioners’ scope of practice. These changes represent a necessary shift to enhance our ability to provide timely and comprehensive care across a plethora of practice settings, improving access for all Ontarians. By leveraging the full extent of our training and expertise, Nurse Practitioners can play a crucial role in ensuring a more integrated health system in Ontario.”
– Dr. Michelle Acorn
CEO of the Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario (NPAO)

“The changes announced today to expand the scope of practice for NPs and RNs will ease system challenges that people in Ontario are facing accessing timely care. They demonstrate confidence in the knowledge and skills of nurses who are at the very centre of our health system. These expanded scope will lead to a higher functioning system and improved health outcomes for Ontarians.”
– Dr. Doris Grinspun
CEO of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO)

Additional Resources

Ontario Expanding the Role of Nurse Practitioners and Registered Nurses

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