Empowered
As a registered nurse, you have completed your foundational registered nursing education, met the entry-to practice requirements to become a member of this profession, and annually recommit to fulfill your regulatory obligations to practice as a registered nurse. You annually confirm that you are growing your professional registered nursing practice to expand your practice from novice to expert.
Empowering your professional practice means practicing fully to your designation and scope of practice. That means you know and practice the professional regulatory responsibilities and obligations that have been established by your regulatory body. When you cannot fulfill these responsibilities and obligations found in standards, competencies, code of ethics, scope of practice, and best practice as a registered nurse, you must use your voice and seek solutions.
Being a registered nurse is a privilege and not something that just anyone can do – and there is no directive from your employer that can relieve you of those accountabilities. We are held to the requirement to provide safe, competent, ethical, and high-quality patient care in all practice settings.
The responsibilities of a registered nurse cannot be delegated to another healthcare provider. If we all had the same requirements and responsibilities, there would not be three nursing designations in Saskatchewan – there would only be one.
Take pride in your chosen profession and designation – represent yourself proudly as a registered nurse.
Importance
When registered nurses are absent, replaced, eliminated, or insufficient in practice settings, or there are barriers to practicing to the full extent of your requirements – patients and staff are at risk. When registered nurses are not doing initial assessments, coordinating, and assigning care, providing adequate supervision to the healthcare team, and not using the nursing process appropriately we are not fulfilling professional responsibilities, accountabilities, and expectations.
When situations in practice cause risk, registered nurses must communicate and find solutions. When solutions cannot be found, and the Manager/designate has been involved, then registered nurses need to complete Work Situation Reports (WSRs) to escalate their concerns anytime that it occurs.
Informed
The definition of professional practice for registered nursing comes directly from the Government of Saskatchewan and is delegated to each of the regulatory bodies based on legislation (The RN Act & The RPN Act) and the corresponding regulatory body bylaws.
Bylaws define the processes, procedures, and requirements of the organization, the profession, and members. They define how to become a member, who can be a member, and under what conditions and requirements.
Entry-level competencies, professional standards, code of ethics, scope of practice interpretation, and other regulatory requirements are then created based on the foundation of the Act & Bylaws. Together they create the foundation and minimum expectation of practice by a registered nurse. They provide the authority for coordination of care, assessment, planning implementation of nursing care along with the responsibilities for counseling, teaching, supervision, administration, and research required to implement healthcare services.