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Nursing professional responsibility includes professional, legal, and ethical responsibilities and cultural safety. Nurses have a professional responsibility to demonstrate knowledge and judgment and be accountable for their actions and decisions. Nurses must also be aware of how their actions and decisions reflect on their reputation, their employer’s/organization’s reputation and the nursing profession in general.

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FAQs​

As an NP, what should I consider when building my panel of primary care clients?

NPs accepting clients onto their panels are responsible to ensure clients have access to a primary care provider by:

  • ensuring systems are in place to provide continuity and follow up of care and diagnostic tests
  • advising their clients how to access care after hours and in their absence
  • working with their Primary Care Network to ensure their clients are covered if the NP is going to be unavailable for any extended absences

NPs decide to accept or decline new clients in good faith and not on personal judgments about the client or the client’s lifestyle. Under the BC Human Rights Code it may be considered discrimination to refuse clients for reasons of race, colour, ancestry, place of origin, religion, marital status, family status, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or age.

NPs consistently apply and document their client selection process. If NPs choose to limit their practice based on legitimate reasons (e.g., at practice capacity, competence, work-life balance) these limitations should be clearly and publicly available (e.g., by a sign in the office, on a practice’s website), and communicated to persons seeking care.

If NPs have introductory meetings to get to know new clients and learn of their health concerns and histories, the decisions to accept or decline clients should be made on the basis of the nature and scope of their practice and composition of their panel, not on the simplicity or complexity of the clients.

NPs convey decisions to decline someone as a client honestly and respectfully, and offer assistance to find an alternative health care provider as appropriate.​

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We acknowledge the rights and title of the First Nations on whose collective unceded territories encompass the land base colonially known as British Columbia. We give specific thanks to the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ speaking peoples the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) and sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations and the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh-ulh Sníchim speaking Peoples the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), on whose unceded territories BCCNM’s office is located. We also give thanks for the medicines of these territories and recognize that laws, governance, and health systems tied to these lands and waters have existed here for over 9000 years.

We also acknowledge the unique and distinct rights, including rights to health and wellness, of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples from elsewhere in Canada who now live in British Columbia. As leaders in the settler health system, we acknowledge our responsibilities to these rights under international, national, and provincial law.​