Practice Standards for Registrants

In Alberta, the government delegated the College of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CRNA), through the Health Professions Act (HPA, 2000), the responsibility for establishing, monitoring, and enforcing standards of practice and a code of ethics for registrants (HPA, s 3[1][c][d]), and outlines the process of adoption to be used (HPA, s 133). Standards of practice are foundational to the provision of safe, competent and ethical registered nurse (RN) and nurse practitioner (NP) practice.

The CRNA Practice Standards for Registrants

•  outline the minimum practice expectations of registrants; 
•  inform the public, employers, and other stakeholders about what they can expect from 
  registrants with respect to professional nursing practice; 
•  regulate, guide and provide direction for registrants in all domains of practice (clinical 
  practice, administration, education and research) of their professional obligations
•  guide and evaluate nursing professional service;
•  are a legal reference for reasonable and prudent practice;
•  assist registrants in decision-making within their RN or NP practice; 
•  enable the client to judge the adequacy of nursing professional service; 
•  provide a framework for developing further standards of practice; 
•  help explain the role of RN or NP practice within the health-care team; and
•  are used by registrants when assessing their practice to determine annual professional 
  development plan to meet continuing competence program (CCP) requirements as 
  outlined in the CRNA Continuing Competence Standards (2022).