license renew and RNAO

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Oct 21, 2008

If you are a member of the Ontario Nurses Association (ONA), the provincial nurses' union, there is no provision in your contract for your employer to pay your College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) permit to practice fees nor for the employer to pay for your Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO) fees. Only the CNO registration is required for you to allowed to work; RNAO is an adjunct but is voluntary. Mebership in CNO allows you to work as a nurse in Ontario. RNAO offers membership in the Canadian Nurses' Association, access to group insurance, access to scholarships and other funding, coverage with the Canadian Nurses' Protective Society for malpractice issues, and a few other nice-to-have benefits that are not in any way compulsory. All other provinces and territoties roll these benefits into their College's registration; only Ontario has it separated into two different associations. Are you confusing these two? CNO's registration year expires on December 31 of each year, so the timing for that renewal would be about now. RNAO's membership year also ends on December 31, so it's easy to be confused. But the short answer at the end of it all is that you have to pay for it yourself.

liton · Oct 21, 2008

Thank you for your reply. You gave me very concrete answer.

I am not confused with renew of CNO and RNAO. They are two seperate question.

liton · Oct 21, 2008

I am working in a place no union for RN there. I think I have to pay by myself. Because last time I saw an employer post AD saying they will pay renew fee for 2009. So it made me confused.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Oct 22, 2008

Then you need to contact the Human Resources department of your hospital and ask them about it.

lalaxton · Oct 23, 2008

Just a note on CNO (licensing body) and RNAO (professional association) and other provinces. In other provinces the Nurses Associations are both the licensing body and the professional association. In Ontario it is separate. There are many benefits to joining your professional association as ajnfrn mentioned above.

oneLoneNurse · Nov 29, 2008

I am a Canadian wanting to return home to ON. I have been holding off on this, because I thought it necessitated contacting all the boards I have worked with in the past. I see in the application I have, that I just have to get my present state to fill out a form and my originating province. Question: is this true?

I have lived and worked in PA since 1993 on a PA license (fifteen years). My license is valid without any disciplinary actions against it. I have nothing to cover up, no skeletons in the closet. It's just that contacting all the states I worked in as a travel nurse is a pain and honestly is senseless since I have not worked out of PA for fifteen years.

Thoughts?

Thanks, Kevin

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Nov 30, 2008

Your actual permit to practice will come from the CNO. Is that where your application is from? I'm assuming you were trained in Ontario; you'll need transcripts from you school of nursing, proof that you registered in Ontario after you passed your exams OR were eligible to be registered, and "proof of recent safe practice" or 1125 hours licensed nursing work in the preceding 5 years. I can't find anything on the CNO website that says you'd need to contact every employer you've had in your life. Maybe you should send them an email and ask them if I'm correct. The address is [email protected].

oneLoneNurse · Nov 30, 2008

Actually I am a GMCC graduate with first registration in AB. I have never held registration in ON.

I had to write the NCLEX a couple of years back and had to contact all states I had ever registered with. It was a real pain.

One thing the CNO is requesting is a reference from my present employer. I don't want them to know I am thinking of moving back home.

Thoughts?

Thanks, Kevin

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Nov 30, 2008

Oops, my bad. So they'll need proof that you registered in Alberta after you passed your exams. As for your reference letter, maybe you could tell them that you're wanting to expand your horizons by having a Canadian license in additon to whatever states' licenses you have. I know it's not uncommon for nurses in the US to carry licenses in several states, and since you were a traveller, that wouldn't seem all that odd to them. If they ask you outright if you're planning to leave, tell them you're just thinking about the future, and wanting at some point to be closer to family since neither you nor they are getting any younger. Not a lie, but not completely the truth.

lalaxton · Dec 1, 2008

Actually I am a GMCC graduate with first registration in AB. I have never held registration in ON.
I had to write the NCLEX a couple of years back and had to contact all states I had ever registered with. It was a real pain.
One thing the CNO is requesting is a reference from my present employer. I don't want them to know I am thinking of moving back home.
Thoughts?
Thanks, Kevin

Unfortunately kevin, the CNO does require this. One way I've explained it to my employer is to say that you are thinking of doing some work in Ontario on your vacation time (let's say at a summer camp for a few weeks). That is of course if you have enough vacation time accumulated to justify this! You can explain that it takes a long time in Ontario and you are applying now so that you can have the license before you apply to the camp. You can also try to ask a sympathetic supervisor to fill ou the form as well. Be careful though, the CNO will call the person who fills out the form.

Hope this helps!