Code of Professional Conduct

The Newfoundland and Labrador College of Nurses¹ is the regulatory body for all nurses in the province. The mandate of the College is to protect the public through regulation of the nursing profession in accordance with the Nurses Act.

The Code of Professional Conduct (the Code) is a professional standard² which describes the accountabilities that all RNs/NPs have to clients, employers, colleagues, and the public. The Code explains what the public can expect from RNs/NPs. The Code also describes what RNs/NPs must do to maintain professionalism, competence, and ethical behaviour to deliver safe client care. All RNs/NPs are responsible for understanding the Code principles and are accountable to apply them to their own nursing practice, regardless of their role, title, responsibility, or domain of practice.

To maintain public trust and confidence in the nursing profession’s integrity and care, the Code outlines safe and ethical practice requirements based on current evidence. The Code is also informed by legislation and recommendations in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action (2015).

The College applies the Code in regulatory processes and in reviewing the practice of RNs/NPs such as in Quality Assurance and Professional Conduct Review processes.

The Code puts clients at the center of nursing care and includes principles of cultural safety and cultural humility, diversity, equity, and inclusion to ensure client care is safe, compassionate, equitable, and discrimination free.

Throughout the Code, the word “client” is used broadly to include individuals, substitute decision-makers, families, caregivers, groups, communities and populations who receive nursing care.

RNs/NPs are expected to use the Code along with relevant federal³ and/or provincial⁴ legislation, regulatory documents⁵, and employer policies. The Code applies to RNs/NPs in all domains of nursing and any method an RN/NP uses to deliver health care services, such as in-person, virtually, or by telephone.

This document was adapted with permission from the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) from the Code of Conduct (2023). The original work is available on cno.org. It has been adapted to reflect Newfoundland and Labrador’s regulatory and health system context.

A glossary of bolded terms is provided at the end of this document. To provide further information related to these terms, a reference list is also included.

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