Practice hours

BCCNM uses practice hours as an indication of an applicant’s or renewing registrant’s continued ability to practise safely and competently in the constantly evolving health care environment. BCCNM considers both currency and recency of practice and total number of hours practised within each period of time.

Requirement

To meet the practice hours requirement, registered nurses must practise:

At least 450 hours in the two years preceding renewal

OR

A minimum of 1,125 hours total in the five years preceding renewal

Alternative ways to meet the practice hours requirement

Successful completion of an initial RN education or re-entry program recognized by BCCNM or another Canadian nursing regulator.
Successful completion of a supervised practice experience approved by BCCNM.
Current full-time enrolment in an initial RN education program recognized by BCCNM or another Canadian nursing regulator.
Completion of a recognized competency-based assessment and required coursework (if required).

Reporting and record keeping

Practising RNs self-report their practice hours annually during registration renewal. Registrants may be asked to provide records and/or evidence of practice hours in the event of an audit by BCCNM.

Counting practice hours

What to count

The majority of practice hours should be completed through paid employment (including self-employment) in an RN role in clinical practice, education, administration, or research. To be eligible to count, hours must:

Be completed when you are authorized to practice as an RN
Fall within the Scope of Practice for Registered Nurses; and
Be completed according to the Practice Standards and Professional Standards for RNs.

Supplemental hours

You can supplement practice hours completed through employment with:

Professional development activities, such as structured education (e.g., a workshop, course, or program of study) undertaken as part of your RN practice
Regulatory college, nursing union or nursing association work
Volunteer RN hours can be counted if you are able to provide satisfactory evidence that the volunteer work completed meets the BCCNM Standards of Practice.

Do not count

You cannot use the following toward meeting the practice hours requirement:

Time absent from work for reasons such as sickness, vacation, maternity, education, disability, or another type of leave;
Hours worked in a role that does not require RN registration (e.g., care aide, housekeeper, dietary aide, emergency medication technician, licensed practical nurse, registered psychiatric nurse)
On-call hours (but not actually working);
Hours working in a job predominantly selling products;
Time spent caring for family members or friends/neighbours; or
Time spent in a learning capacity (e.g., a course or certificate program) that is not directly related to nursing practice.

Counting hours if you're registered in more than one nursing profession

If you are registered in more than one nursing profession with BCCNM, you may only claim hours worked towards the profession that you are practising. For example, if you hold RN and LPN registration but you are practising in an RN role, you can only count those hours towards the RN practising registration.