Skip to main content

Medications

7

(1)

(f)

in respect of a drug specified in Schedule I or IA of the Drug Schedules Regulation,

 

 

 

(i)

compound the drug,

 

 

 

(ii)

dispense the drug, or

 

 

 

(iii)

administer the drug by any method

The Regulation permits registered nurses to compound, dispense and administer certain medications with a client-specific order from a listed health professional. These medications are listed in Schedule I or IA of the provincial drug schedules. Schedule I medications are those requiring a prescription (e.g., antibiotics). Schedule IA medications are controlled drugs in the Controlled Prescription Program (e.g., methadone, morphine). The Regulation allows registered nurses to administer these medications by any means (e.g., orally, by injection, by intravenous, by inhalation, by instillation).

BCCNM Limits and Conditions

Registered nurses may, with a client-specific order from a listed health professional, administer experimental medications not yet listed in any drug schedule as part of a formal research program.

Registered nurses occasionally administer, with a client-specific order by a listed health professional, “non-marketed drugs” when needed for clients with serious or life-threatening diseases. These drugs are available through Health Canada’s Special Access Program and are used only when conventional therapies have failed, are unsuitable or are unavailable.

BCCNM Limits and Conditions

Registered nurses do not induce general anesthesia or give the first dose of anesthetic agents administered through a catheter.

Inducing a state of unconsciousness through the administration of anesthetic drugs is not within the scope of practice of registered nurses. Registered nurses do, however, induce procedural sedation. Although registered nurses do not give the first dose of anesthetic agents administered through a catheter, they maintain anesthetic agents being administered into the intrathecal, epidural and perineural spaces. Anesthetic agents are usually being used for pain management in these cases.

Resources

900 – 200 Granville St
Vancouver, BC  V6C 1S4
Canada

info@bccnm​.ca
604.742.6200​
​Toll-free 1.866.880.7101 (within Canada only) ​


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.​