Glossary

The obligation to acknowledge the professional, ethical, and legal aspects of one’s activities and duties, and to answer for the consequences and outcomes of one’s actions. Accountability resides in a role and can never be shared or delegated.

This term is used in health care to refer to people's daily self-care activities. These activities can include getting dressed, preparing meals and attending to personal hygiene.

A level of severity of an illness. An acuity level is based on the type and number of nursing interventions required in a 24-hour period to provide safe, competent and ethical nursing care for a client.

An ongoing process of reflection, communication and documentation regarding a person’s values and wishes for future health and personal care in the event they become incapable of consenting to or refusing treatment or other care. Conversations to inform health-care providers, family and friends — and especially a substitute decision-maker — are regularly reviewed and updated. Such conversations often clarify their wishes for future care and options for their end of life. Attention must also be paid to provincial/territorial legal and health guidelines

Reflects the integration and application of a broad range of theoretical and evidence-based knowledge that occurs as part of graduate nursing education. ANP encompasses all the domains of nursing practice, the entire field of nursing and does not necessarily refer only to direct clinical care. Nurses in ANP roles may include those with graduate education working in policy, administration, nursing informatics, etc.

Advanced knowledge, skills and judgment gained through additional education, training and clinical experience outside the core knowledge, skills and judgment obtained through entry-level nursing programs. These competencies are not currently part of RN or NP work expectations, and are being introduced into nursing practice in specific practice settings.

Any noxious and unintended response to a drug that is caused by the administration of any dose of the drug. Nurses are employed throughout the healthcare system and play a crucial role in identifying and reporting any incidents, drug reactions, adverse events and “near misses”. The Protecting Canadians from Unsafe Drugs Act (Vanessa's Law) includes rules that strengthen the regulation of therapeutic products and improve the reporting of adverse reactions by healthcare institutions.

Actively supporting, protecting and safeguarding clients’ rights and interest. It is an integral component of nursing and contributes to the foundation of trust inherent in nurse-client relationships.

One component of the program approval framework used to approve entry-level nursing education programs. A subset of the program approval indicators (the outcome indicators) are examined yearly for each program and the program’s approval score is calculated. Programs are approved annually based on the annual monitoring review results or the comprehensive review as required.

This term designates an education program has met the prescribed standards set out in the Nurses Association of New Brunswick (NANB) program approval process. Program approval is a mandatory process based on the entry-to-practice competencies for RNs or NPs.

Systematically gathering data, sorting and organizing the collected data, and documenting the data in a retrievable format; an assessment can include nursing history and behavioural and physical exam such as inspection, palpation, auscultation, and percussion. May include but is not limited to: observation, interview, history taking, interpretation of laboratory data, mental health assessment, physical assessment, etc.

An assignment is the allocation of clients or client care responsibilities or interventions that are within the provider’s scope of practice and/or scope of employment. Assignment describes the distribution of work that each staff member is to accomplish.

Allocation of duties (e.g., responsibility for client care, interventions, or specific tasks as part of client care) to individuals whose scope of practice or scope of employment authorizes the performance of these duties.

A practitioner lawfully entitled to prescribe treatments or medications. According to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, a practitioner means a person who is registered and entitled under the laws of a province to practise in that province the profession of medicine, dentistry or veterinary medicine, and includes any other person or class of persons prescribed as a practitioner. In addition, a practitioner is defined by the New Classes of Practitioners Regulations as midwives, nurse practitioners and podiatrists. In NB current authorized prescribers include physicians, nurse practitioners, optometrists, dentists, pharmacists, midwives, veterinarians and physician assistants.

Having the authority to make decisions and the freedom to act in accordance with one’s professional knowledge base.

A boundary in the nurse-person relationship is the point at which the relationship changes from professional and therapeutic to unprofessional and personal (see professional boundaries).

See workplace bullying.

Promotes excellence in professional nursing regulation. An organization made up of representatives from Canada’s 12 provincial (territorial) bodies that regulate the practice of registered nurses. CCRNR serves as a national forum and voice regarding interprovincial, national and global regulatory matters for nursing regulation.

The Canadian National Nursing Assessment Service coordinates a consistent national approach for the internationally educated nurses (IENs) seeking registration/licensure to practice in Canadian jurisdictions.

• Registered Nurses (RNs)
• Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs)
• Registered Practical Nurses (RPNs) in Ontario
• Registered Psychiatric Nurses (RPNs)

Being able to understand and appreciate the consequences of various options and make informed decisions about one’s own life, care and treatment.

A system for organizing and delivering nursing care to clients and their families. It represents both the structural and contextual elements of nursing practice.

The circumstances where health information custodians rely on an individual's implied consent when collecting, using, disclosing or handling personal health information for the purpose of providing direct health care.

Client abuse as the misuse of power or a betrayal of trust, respect or intimacy between the nurse and the client, which may cause physical or emotional harm. This includes all types of abuse, such as:

• neglect (e.g., failing to provide the necessities of life);
• physical abuse (e.g., striking a client or causing discomfort);
• verbal/emotional abuse (e.g., shouting at or insulting a client);
• financial abuse (e.g., soliciting gifts from a client); or
• sexual abuse (e.g., inappropriately touching a client).

The reduction and mitigation of unsafe acts within the health care system, as well as through the use of best practices shown to lead to optimal client outcomes. It is meant to be inclusive of psychosocial, physical, cultural and spiritual wellbeing

An approach in which clients are viewed as whole persons. It is not merely about delivering services where client is located. Their care involves advocacy, empowerment, and respecting the clients’ autonomy, voice, self-determination and participation in decision-making

A complex cognitive process that requires nurses to recognize a clinical problem in their client and respond promptly through implementing interventions to improve their client’s health status. Clinical decision-making is a dynamic process where care choices are made based on balanced involvement between the health professional and the client

The proficiency or judgment that a license holder in a particular profession acquires through clinical experience or clinical practice and that is not possessed by a lay person. Clinical expertise means demonstrated proficiency in a specialized area of direct patient care

Includes the provision of consultation and support

A skill, process, or outcome where a clinician observes, collects, and interprets data to diagnose and treat clients. Multiple components of clinical reasoning include information gathering, hypothesis generation, forming a problem, generating a differential diagnosis, selecting a leading or working diagnosis, providing diagnostic justification, and developing a management or treatment plan

Engaging in an intentional relationship for the purpose of creating something together. It goes beyond collaboration and client-focused care as it requires the dynamics of the relationship to build something. It means that clients and nurses are equal partners and share power in the relationship.