Appendix B – National Occupational Classification (NOC) 3012: Registered Nurses and Registered Psychiatric Nurses
This unit group typically comprises registered nurses, registered psychiatric nurses and graduates of a nursing program. All these individuals will usually be awaiting registration as graduate nurses. These individuals are responsible for:
Providing direct nursing care to patients
Delivering health education programs and,
Providing various consultative services involving issues relevant to the practice of nursing
These individuals usually find employment in a variety of settings such as:
Hospitals
Nursing homes
Extended care facilities
Rehabilitation centres
Doctors’ offices
Clinics
Community agencies and,
Companies or private homes
In some cases, these individuals could be self-employed as well.
The Example Titles
Some example titles held by these individuals could include:
Ambulatory care nurse
Bedside nurse
Burn patient care nurse
Burn victim care nurse
Cardiac surgery nurse
Cardiology nurse
Cardiology nurse technician
Casual duty nurse
Circulating nurse
Clinic nurse
Clinical nurse
Clinical nurse specialist
Community health nurse
Consultant nurse
Consultant, nursing
Contagious disease transmission prevention nurse
Coordinator, infection control – hospitals
Coronary intensive care nurse
Coronary unit nurse
Critical care nurse
Dialysis nurse
Doctor’s office nurse
Emergency care nurse
Emergency nurse
First aid nurse
Float nurse
General duty nurse
General duty nurse – psychiatry
Geriatric care nurse
Geriatric nurse
Gerontology nurse
Graduate nurse
Graduate nurse – doctor’s office
Graduate nurse – occupational health
Graduate nurse – physician’s officers
Graduate private duty nurse
Graduate religious nurse
Hemodialysis nurse
Home care neuroscience nurse
Home care nurse
Home care nurse, neuroscience
Hospital hygiene nurse
Hospital hygienist – nursing
Hospital nurse
Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurse
Independent practice – registered nurse
Industrial nurse
Infection control coordinator – hospital
Infection control nurse
Infection control officer – hospital
Infection control officer – medical
Infection surveillance nurse
Intensive care nurse
Liaison nurse
Medical intensive care nurse
Mental health nurse
Missionary nurse
Nephrology and kidney transplantation nurse
Nephrology and renal transplantation nurse
Nephrology nurse
Neuroscience nurse
Nurse
Nurse – birthing room
Nurse consultant
Nurse counsellor
Nurse employed at national level
Nurse of Native ancestry
Nurse researcher
Nurse technician
Nurse, contagious disease transmission prevention
Nurse, geriatric
Nurse, hospital hygiene
Nursing adviser
Nursing consultant
Nursing counsellor
Nursing evaluator
Nursing researcher
Nursing researcher – nurse
Nursing technician
Obstetrics nurse
Occupational health nurse
Occupational health nurse consultant
Occupational medicine nurse
Office nurse
Officer, infection control – hospital
On-call nurse
Oncology nurse
Operating Room (OR) nurse
Out-patient clinic nurse
Outpost nurse
Outreach nurse
Palliative care nurse
Paediatric intensive care nurse
Paediatric nurse
Perinatal care nurse
Physician’s office nurse
Primary care nurse
Primary nurse
Private care nurse
Private duty nurse
Psychiatric and mental health nurse
Psychiatric nurse
Public and community health nurse
Public health nurse
Public health nurse consultant
Recovery room nurse
Red Cross nurse
Registered community health nurse
Registered industrial nurse
Registered nurse – call centre
Registered nurse – contact centre
Registered nurse – independent practice
Registered nurse – public and community health
Registered nurse – telehealth
Registered Nurse (RN)
Registered Psychiatric Nurse (RPN)
School health nurse
School nurse
Scrub nurse
Staff nurse
Surgical intensive care nurse
Telehealth registered nurse
Tele-nurse
Triage nurse
Victoria Order nurse
Victoria Order of Nurses (VON) nurse
Visiting nurse
Ward nurse and,
Youth centre nurse
The Main Duties
General duty registered nurses would usually perform some or all of the following duties:
Assessing patients for identifying appropriate nursing interventions
Collaborating with members of an interdisciplinary health team for planning, implementing, coordinating and evaluating patient care in consultation with patients and their families
Administering medications and treatments as specified by a physician or according to established policies and protocols
Monitoring, assessing, addressing, documenting and reporting symptoms and changes in patients’ conditions
Operating or monitoring medical apparatus or equipment
Assisting in surgery and other medical procedures
Supervising licenced practical nurses and other nursing staff
Developing and implementing discharge planning processes on the admission of patients
Teaching and counselling patients and their families on health-related issues in collaboration with other health care providers
Similarly, occupational health nurses focus on developing and implementing employee health education programs and provide registered nursing care in private businesses and industry.
Community health nurses:
Provide health education and registered nursing care in public health units and through home visits
Manage complex home care cases
Participate in community needs assessment and program development
Conduct disease screening and,
Deliver immunisation programs
Psychiatric nurses typically provide nursing care, supportive counselling and life skills programming to patients in psychiatric hospitals, mental health clinics, long-term care facilities and community-based settings.
Nursing consultants provide consultative services to institutes, associations and health care organisations over issues and concerns pertaining to the nursing profession and nursing practice.
Clinical nurses typically provide leadership, advice and counsel on the provision of research-based care for specific patient groups that are under the care of particular health care organisations.
It is worth highlighting that registered nurses could specialise in areas such as:
Surgery
Obstetrics care
Psychiatric care
Critical care
Paediatrics
Geriatrics
Community health
Occupational health
Emergency care
Rehabilitation or,
Oncology
The Employment Requirements
The authorities require that registered nurses should have:
Completed a university, college or other approved registered nursing program
Additional academic training or experience for specialising in a specific area of nursing
A master’s or doctoral degree in nursing if they are clinical nurse specialists, clinical nurses, nursing consultants and nursing researchers and,
Registered with a regulatory body (this is mandatory in all provinces and territories)
Similarly, the authorities require registered psychiatric nurses to have:
Completed a university or college registered psychiatric nursing program and,
Registered with a regulatory body (this is especially required in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and the Yukon)
Additional Information
It is worth mentioning that the authorities would be regulating nurses trained exclusively as registered psychiatric nurses (RPN) in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. In all other provinces and territories, registered nurses (RNs) have the ability to work as psychiatric nurses without a separate registration.
In addition, registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses could progress to supervisory and managerial positions as they gain experience.
Classified Elsewhere
Nurse practitioners i.e. National Occupational Classification (NOC) 3124 – Allied primary health practitioners [refer to Appendix J]
Nursing coordinators and supervisors i.e. National Occupational Classification (NOC) 3011 – refer to Appendix K
Nursing service managers i.e. National Occupational Classification (NOC) 0311 – Managers in health care [refer to Appendix L] and,
Registered practical nurses i.e. National Occupational Classification (NOC) 3233 – Licenced practical nurses
