GUIDE TO REGISTRATION RENEWAL 2015 1 P age
Contents Welcome to registration renewal 2015!... 3 Renew your RN, NP or CGN permit... 3 Apply for a non-practicing status... 3 Who needs to be registered?... 4 Maternity, parental or other leaves... 5 Non-practicing statuses... 7 Completing your renewal... 8 Complete your 2014 MyCCP record... 8 Complete your practice reflection for 2015... 10 Renewal application form... 11 Contact & employment information... 11 Contact information... 11 Employment status... 12 Employer information... 12 Reporting nursing practice hours... 14 Applicant declaration... 18 Other professional registrations... 19 Connect with us... 20 2 P age
Welcome to registration renewal 2015! Depending on what you plan to do next year, there are two or three steps to your renewal. If you intend to renew your RN, NP or CGN permit, you will 1. Complete your continuing competence Continuing Professional Development in MyCCP for 2014, 2. Complete your continuing competence Practice Reflection in MyCCP for 2015, and 3. Submit the renewal application form and pay your fees. apply for a non-practicing status, you will 1. Complete your continuing competence Continuing Professional Development in MyCCP for 2014, and 2. Apply for associate or retired membership, or former member status. If you will not be practising in Alberta as of Oct. 1, 2014, you may apply for non-practicing status during the renewal process; see page seven on non-practicing statuses. Please note: whether or not you will be practising in Alberta as of Oct. 1, 2014, you need to complete the renewal process and your 2014 continuing competence program (CCP) record if you held registration as an RN, NP or CGN between Oct. 1, 2013 and Sept. 30, 2014. If you need to temporarily leave practice for reasons such as maternity/parental, medical or other leave, see page five. Renewal deadline: Sept. 1, 2014 Please submit your complete renewal application by Sept. 1, 2014. This gives us time to take care of follow-up on any complex applications before permits expire Sept. 30, 2014. A complete application includes your CCP requirements, permit application and fee. If you submit your application after September 1, but before your permit expires on September 30, a $50 late fee is added to your fee. Most importantly, nurses who have not renewed by Sept. 30, 2014 will unfortunately have their practice permits suspended. 3 P age
Who needs to be registered? Under the Health Professions Act (HPA), if you are practising nursing in Alberta as of Oct. 1, 2014, you must hold a 2015 practice permit by that date. The HPA defines nursing as the application of nursing knowledge, skill and judgment (see page four for the full HPA definition). When considering if you are practising nursing, think about whether your practice falls within the definition. If yes, you must be registered before starting work or orientation. Other factors to consider when determining if you are applying this nursing knowledge are: Did you receive formal nursing education at the diploma, undergraduate or advanced degree level? Was your nursing education or experience considered when determining if you were qualified for your position? Was your employer looking for an employee with health-related education or experience? Does your employer require current registration with a health-related regulatory body? (Even though the employer may not require this, CARNA reserves the right to make this determination.) Will you be using your nursing knowledge, skill and judgment in this position? Nursing practice as defined in the HPA, Schedule 24. 3. In their practice, registered nurses do one or more of the following: (a) based on an ethic of caring and the goals and circumstances of those receiving nursing services, registered nurses apply nursing knowledge, skill and judgment to: (i) assist individuals, families, groups and communities to achieve their optimal physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health and wellbeing, (ii) assess, diagnose and provide treatment and interventions and make referrals, (iii) prevent or treat injury and illness, (iv) teach, counsel and advocate to enhance health and well-being, (v) coordinate, supervise, monitor and evaluate the provision of health services, (vi) teach nursing theory and practice, (vii) manage, administer, and allocate resources related to health services, and (viii) engage in research related to health and the practice of nursing, (b) and provide restricted activities authorized by the regulations. 4 P age
Maternity, parental or other leaves The CARNA practice year runs from October 1 to September 30. Here is how going on leave will affect your CARNA membership. Whether a member is registered for a day or a year, the cost of regulating that member is the same. We are required to provide readily available services to our members and the public throughout the membership year. Just a few of these services include the website, registration and renewal access, policy and practice support and the Continuing Competence Program. Additionally, we collect and remit annual fees on behalf of members for the Canadian Nurses Protective Society (CNPS), the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) and the Alberta Registered Nurses Education Trust (ARNET). For these reasons, unfortunately CARNA is unable to offer pro-rated fees for parental or other leave. If you have a 2014 permit and... work as of October 1 and then start leave during the membership year: You must renew your permit during annual renewal. You pay the annual fee of $566.93 and your practice permit and all accompanying benefits, including being able to call yourself a registered nurse, are valid for the entire practice year.... are on leave now or go on leave prior to October 1, but plan to return to work before May 1: You should renew your permit by the renewal deadline. This is the simplest way to renew and avoids the need to apply for a non-practicing membership and then apply to return to practice later in the year. You pay the annual fee of $566.93 and your practice permit and all accompanying benefits, including being able to call yourself a registered nurse, are valid for the entire practice year. Even though you may not be working as of October 1, if you don t renew or take a nonpracticing membership by the renewal deadline, your permit will be suspended. This is the only way for us and the public to know that you are not working without a valid practice permit.... are on leave now or go on leave prior to October 1, then return to work between May 1 and September 30: We recommend you renew your permit during annual renewal by the renewal deadline. This is the simplest way to renew and avoids the need to apply for a non-practicing membership then apply to return to practice. 5 P age
You pay the annual fee $566.93 and your practice permit and all accompanying benefits, including being able to call yourself a nurse, are valid for the entire practice year. Alternatively, you may apply for a non-practicing membership, then apply to return to practice at least one month before your desired return to work (see the returning to practice page of our website). Processing time can vary. Allow enough time for your return-to-practice application to be completed. If you apply for a permit effective May 1 or later, you pay an application fee of $52.50 and a reduced permit fee of $379.84 for a total of $432.34. Even though you may not be working as of October 1, if you don t renew or take a nonpracticing membership by the renewal deadline, your permit will be suspended. This is the only way for us and the public to know that you are not working without a valid practice permit.... are on leave now or go on leave as of October 1 and plan to return to work after Sept. 30, 2015: Apply for a non-practicing membership, such as associate membership, then apply to return one month before your desired return to work. See the returning to practice page on our website at nurses.ab.ca. You may apply to renew your permit and maintain your RN membership. You pay the annual fee $566.93 and your practice permit and all accompanying benefits, including being able to call yourself a nurse, are valid for the entire practice year. While you would need to set up an anticipated learning plan for the upcoming year, if you don t work during the upcoming year, at next renewal you will not need to complete the learning plan in order to meet CCP requirements. Even though you may not be working as of October 1, if you don t renew or take a nonpracticing membership by the renewal deadline, your permit will be suspended. This is the only way for us and the public to know that you are not working without a valid practice permit. If you do not have a 2014 permit and are ready to return to work, please visit the returning to practice page on our website for information on how to apply for a permit. Note: the renewal deadlines of September 1 and September 30 do not apply to you; however, you should apply for practicing membership at least one month before your desired return to work. 6 P age
Non-practicing statuses If you will not be practising in Alberta as of Oct. 1, 2014 due to a leave of absence, retirement, relocation out of the province or any other reason, you must apply for nonpracticing status by Sept. 1, 2014 to remain in good standing and avoid outstanding conditions or additional fees. This status serves as a formal notification to CARNA that you are not practising in Alberta and confirms that you are not practising without a permit. You will be able to select one of the following non-practicing statuses: Former member: There is no fee for this status, and you will not receive any communication from CARNA. Your former member status remains in effect permanently or until you contact CARNA to apply for a different membership. Associate membership: An annual fee of $42 covers delivery of Alberta RN magazine and email communications. If you return to practice later in the same practice year, the $42 is applied to your registration fee. Retired membership: An annual fee of $42 covers delivery of Alberta RN magazine and email communications. If you return to practice later in the same practice year, the $42 is applied to your registration fee. Associate and retired memberships do not permit you to practise in nursing in Alberta, even for one shift. To maintain associate or retired status, you will need to renew your non-practicing status each year and submit the member fee. If you wish to continue receiving Alberta RN magazine but not maintain associate or retired status, you can select former member status and subscribe to Alberta RN by contacting CARNA Communications. Regardless of the non-practicing status you select, the requirements for returning to practice in Alberta are the same. Please visit the returning to practice page of our website for more information on how to apply to return to practice in Alberta. Reminder: even though you may not be working as of October 1, we need you to renew or take a non-practicing membership by the renewal deadline or your permit will be suspended. This is the only way for us and the public to know that you are not working without a valid practice permit. 7 P age
Completing your renewal Complete your 2014 MyCCP record Meeting annual Continuing Competence Program (CCP) requirements determines your eligibility for a practice permit or a non-practicing membership. Follow these steps to complete your 2014 CCP record: 1 Open MyCCP after logging into MyCARNA. 2 Click Continue to access your 2014 record 3 Review your record to ensure it is accurate. You can change anything you previously entered. If your practice setting has changed, please enter this new information. If your learning focus has changed, please enter your new indicator and learning objective. Enter the feedback you ve collected if you haven t already done so. 4 Enter the continuing professional development activities that you completed to help you meet your learning objective. Use the Professional Development checklist at the top of your record to see what needs to be entered. You can find more detailed resources on completing your 2014 MyCCP record on the Continuing Competence Program page of MyCARNA. 5 Complete your learning plan(s) by evaluating the influence of learning on your practice. 8 P age
6 When the checklist at the top of your record shows ready to report or you get a notification, select the Report MyCCP Record button. After reporting your 2014 CCP record, if you are... applying for a non-practicing membership, you ve finished your CCP reporting! Go to the Apply for Registration page in MyCARNA to apply for a non-practicing membership. applying to renew your RN, NP or CGN practice permit, it s time to begin your 2015 MyCCP record and complete your practice reflection in MyCCP. 9 P age
Complete your practice reflection for 2015 Complete your practice reflection in your 2015 MyCCP record if you re applying for an RN, NP or CGN 2015 practice permit. After completing your 2014 record, you should be back on the All MyCCP Records page. If not, click All MyCCP Records near the top of the page. 1 Click Begin 2015 to access your 2015 record. 2 Complete the Introduction, Privacy Policy, and My Nursing Practice sections. 3 Select at least one indicator (two for NPs) as your learning focus and enter your learning objective. 4 Use the Practice Reflection checklist at the top of your record to see what needs to be entered. You can find more detailed resources on beginning your 2015 CCP record on the Continuing Competence Program page of MyCARNA. When the checklist at the top of your record shows ready to report, or you get a notification you may report, select the Report Practice Reflection button. 5 After reporting you 2015 practice reflection, you re finished in MyCCP! Click Logout in the upper right corner of the page to return to MyCARNA. Go to the Apply for Registration page to apply for your practice permit. 10 P age
Renewal application form Go to Apply for Registration in MyCARNA and select Click Here next to the application form you want to submit. Contact and employment information For renewal, you ll need to provide the following: home address and phone number full legal name information about employers or agencies where you provide professional nursing services information required for government workforce planning data sharing or research agreements Registration renewal is a great time to update this information and keep it current. Contact information To edit your information as needed, check Update you contact information. You will always need to check Confirm your contact information at the bottom to proceed with your application. 11 P age
Employment status Choose an employment status that best suits your situation. Your status should be consistent with your list of employers in the next section. For example, you should not have an employer listed if you choose a status of Not employed... Employer information Review your employer information in the table. Note: only recent employers are displayed here. Your prior employment information is not needed for your renewal application. You can expire or add employers. Expire means to report you are no longer employed with that employer. Expire an Employer 1. Click Edit End Date 2. Use the calendar to choose an end date. 3. Important: click the red Update button to save. If you do not click Update, your end date will not save. 12 P age
If you see an employer that doesn t belong, contact us at registration@nurses.ab.ca and we will correct it for you. Add an Employer 1. Choose Yes under Add an Employer to access the new employer entry section. a. If your employer is outside Alberta, choose Employed outside of Alberta then enter your employer name in the Employer Name box. b. If your employer is in Alberta, click Search beside Current or Prospective Alberta Employer Name i. In the search window, type a keyword and click Search TIP: You must click the search button. Pressing Enter on the keyboard will not search. TIP: you can add % before and after a word to search for the word anywhere in the name. E.g., search %Lougheed% will find the Peter Lougheed Centre. ii. Select your employer by clicking the round button next to the employer name, then click Select Note: if there are many search results, use the page numbers at the bottom left to browse the pages. 13 P age
If your employer is not listed, please email your employer name and the mailing or street address to registration@nurses.ab.ca. You can submit your application without your employer. We will add your employer to our list and let you know when this is complete. Then you can add the employer in your MyCARNA profile. Reporting nursing practice hours Nursing practice hours are reported to meet the currency of practice requirement. Nurses need to have one of the following to renew: A total of 1,125 hours of RN practice in the 2010-2014 practice years inclusive. NPs also need a total of at least 600 NP hours in the 2013 and 2014 years. Completion of a degree or nursing program. E.g., graduating from your entry-topractice nursing program, completing a post-basic RN degree, completing a masters or PhD in nursing. Completion of the nursing refresher program. Be sure to keep accurate records of your nursing practice hours. We don t typically ask for verification of hours, but there are times when we might. If you are unable to meet the 1,125 hours of practice in the previous five membership years you have three options: 1. Complete a nursing refresher program. 14 P age
2. If you have experienced extenuating circumstances that prevented you from being able to meet the requirement in the previous five years, contact renewal@nurses.ab.ca. 3. Apply for a non-practicing status and do not practice nursing effective 2359h September 30. Eligible and non-eligible hours Vacation and sick time Do not report vacation or sick time; report only those hours in which you provided a nursing practice activity or service. You may report hours for call-back but not hours on-call. Nurse educator hours Nurse educators may report hours spent preparing and delivering nursing education, and hours of marking assignments, lessons or other activities related to nursing education. We recognize two hours of preparation for every one hour of teaching. CARNA committee hours You may report time spent fulfilling duties to the profession on behalf of CARNA. Caring for family and friends You cannot count time spent caring for a friend or family member, whether paid or unpaid. Volunteer service hours CARNA understands that members make significant contributions to their communities through voluntary service, but these hours do not count toward meeting the currency requirement. To report volunteer hours worked outside Canada on a voluntary basis (e.g. disaster relief), contact renewal@nurses.ab.ca. Education hours Include education hours in your RN practice hours. You may report education hours only if you held RN, NP or CGN status during the year and you were enrolled in formal postbasic nursing education at an accredited institution which results in: a baccalaureate, master s or doctorate in nursing, or a diploma or program certification (e.g. CNA specialty, occupational health, gerontological nursing, etc.) These nursing education hours are calculated at 60 hours per credit received. Credit for hours in university or college programs in areas other than nursing may be brought to the Registration Committee for consideration. If you have any questions please contact Registration Services at registration@nurses.ab.ca. The following are not eligible as educational hours: continuing education outside of work hours for the purpose of professional development (e.g. continuing competence) hours spent in courses for the purpose of being eligible for registration or renewal of a permit (e.g. a nursing refresher program) Self-employed hours You may only claim self-employed practice hours if your self-employed practice has been previously approved by CARNA. You may be engaged in self-employed practice if: 15 P age
o there is a negotiated contract that identifies specific professional services or other deliverables o there is a requirement to submit your own income tax on paid-for services o you supply the equipment and materials for your services o you have direct control over the hours you will work o you provide services without direct supervision o you maintain your own workspace (e.g. home office, clinic) from where you provide most of your services o you hire others to provide services Any member who wishes to engage in self-employed nursing practise must provide CARNA with documentation of their practice before being approved to submit those hours as nursing practice hours. Complete information is available on the CARNA website on the Recognition of a Self-Employed Practice page. Current and previous year practice hours Enter your 2014 hours here. When reporting your hours, estimate the number of hours you will work up to Sept. 30, 2014. You will have the opportunity to correct those hours, if necessary, in your MyCARNA profile up to Nov. 1, 2014. Be sure to choose a practice year, hour type, and enter the number of hours in the Practice Hour Value field. If you didn t practice in 2014, please enter 0 hours for 2014. This helps us know that you didn t practice as opposed to having overlooked entering your hours. TIP: Be sure to click Save Practice Hours so your file is saved. Hours outside Alberta If you worked outside of Alberta, check Hours outside of Alberta to get access to the Jurisdiction drop-down menu. 16 P age
Hours outside Alberta may only be reported if you held registration in the place where you practised. CARNA will verify your good standing anywhere you report hours outside Alberta. If we cannot verify this online, we will contact you so you can request verification of your good standing be sent to CARNA. If you did not need to registered where you practised, please contact us at renewal@nurses.ab.ca to explain why. Previous year practice hours Please note: only hours for the 2009-2012 years inclusive show in this section. (2013 and 2014 hours are in the preceding Current and Previous Year Practice Hours section.) Only your 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 hours count towards the required total of 1125 hours in five years when applying for a 2015 permit. If you believe the hours shown are incorrect, please submit a written request for a change to renewal@nurses.ab.ca. You may be asked for supporting documentation from your employer(s). 17 P age
Applicant declaration These questions relate to the renewal requirements of fitness to practice, good character and reputation, and blood borne virus infection reporting. Answering yes to any of these questions means that we will contact you for more information, not that you are ineligible to renew. Good character and reputation If you answer yes to any of the first seven questions, we will contact you to get clarification of your answers and may request additional documents such as documents from other regulators, confirmation of your current standing with other regulators or court documents. 18 P age
Fitness to practice The Canadian Nurses Association Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses (2008) defines fitness to practice as: All the qualities and capabilities of an individual relevant to his or her capacity to practice as a registered nurse, including, but not limited to, freedom from any cognitive, physical, psychological or emotional condition and dependence on alcohol or drugs that impairs his or her ability to practice nursing. If you answer yes to any of questions eight to 10, we will contact you to get clarification on your answers. Blood-borne virus infection (BBVI) This information is gathered not only to minimize the risk of transmitting a BBVI to individuals receiving care, but also to ensure that CARNA registrants who have a BBVI receive standard follow-up, support and guidance. You can read more about BBVI reporting on our website blood-borne virus infection FAQ. Other professional registrations If you are currently registered as a regulated professional with anyone other than CARNA, report your registration here. This includes any regulated profession, including non-health care. We will verify your good standing where you report registration. If we cannot verify this online, we will contact you so you can request verification of your good standing be sent to CARNA. If you need to tell us about a registration, click Yes to access the new registration form. TIP: Be sure to click Save Other Registration so your file is saved. You can see the other registrations already on file at the bottom of this section. Click Edit Expiry Date to tell us you re no longer registered with another regulatory body. 19 P age
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Connect With Us Renewal help line Toll Free: 1.800.252.9392 ext. 348 Local: 780.451.0043 Email: carna@nurses.ab.ca Renewal help line hours: Monday to Friday: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. facebook.com/albertarns expertcaringmatters.ca twitter.com/albertarns 21 P age