Glossary
Additional education: structured education (e.g. workshop, course, program of study) designed so that nurse practitioners can attain the competencies required to carry out a specific activity as part of nurse practitioner practice. Additional education builds on the entry-level competencies of nurse practitioners, identifies the competencies expected of learners on completion of the education, includes both theory and application to practice, and includes an objective, external evaluation of learners' competencies on completion of the education. The term does not refer to a course or program approved by BCCNM for BCCNM certified practice.
Client: An individual, family, group, population or entire community who requires nursing expertise. In some clinical settings, the client may be referred to as a patient or a resident. In research, the client may be referred to as a participant.
Competence: The integration and application of knowledge, skills and judgment required for safe and appropriate performance in an individual's practice.
Limits and conditions: As related to scope of practice, what nurse practitioners are not permitted to do (limits) and the circumstances under which nurse practitioners may carry out an activity (conditions).
Nursing: 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.
Order: An "order" is any instruction or authorization given by a regulated health professional to provide care for a specific client, whether or not the care or service includes any restricted activity. Orders can include instructions that set out the usual care for a particular client group or client problem and are made client-specific by the ordering regulated health professional. The order must be documented in the client's permanent record by the regulated health professional; include all the information needed for the ordered activity to be carried out safely (e.g. time, frequency, dosage, etc.); and include a unique identifier such as a written signature or an electronically generated identifier. Once given, orders may be transcribed in other documents such as a client care plan.
Restricted activities: Higher risk clinical activities that must not be performed by any person in the course of providing health services, except members of a regulated profession that have been granted specific legislative authority to do so, based on their education and competencies.
Scope of practice: The activities nurses are educated and authorized to perform as set out in the
Nurses (Registered) and Nurse Practitioners Regulation under the Health Professions Act and complemented by standards, limits and conditions established by BCCNM.
Standard: An expected and achievable level of performance against which actual performance can be compared. It is the minimum level of acceptable performance.
» Next: Appendix B: Resources
« Previous: Limits and conditions: Medical assistance in dying