Provisional registration may be granted to eligible applicants who want to work while meeting their outstanding registration requirements, such as passing a required NP exam.
Provisional registration is optional. If you are not planning to practice nursing before gaining full registration, you do not need provisional registration.
Eligibility
- To be considered for provisional NP registration, you must have an employer in British Columbia who has agreed to provide a BC-registered NP or MD to monitor your practice for the duration of your provisional registration.
- When assessing your application for NP registration, we will let you know if Provisional NP registration is an option for you.
- We will confirm your employer and their support in monitoring your practice while provisionally registered. Once registered with provisional NP registration, you must ensure BCCNM is aware of any changes to your employment and/or monitoring.
Practising as a provisional NP
- Limits + conditions on practice
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- Monitoring by an NP registered with BCCNM or by a physician in good standing with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia.
- Ordering of diagnostics or prescribing of medications must be supervised by the monitoring NP/physician.
- Successful completion of an approved written NP regulatory exam within two attempts.
- All conditions must be met within one year of provisional registration start date.
- Monitoring
- The monitoring NP/physician is responsible for ensuring the safe and competent practice of the provisional NP according to the Scope of Practice for Nurse Practitioners: Standards, Limits and Conditions.
The methods of monitored practice need to be agreed to between the nurse practitioner (provisional) and the monitoring physician/nurse practitioner, but should include:
- Signing of all prescriptions and diagnostic tests by the monitoring NP/physician.
- Regular review of the provisional NP’s assessments, differential diagnoses and/or diagnoses.
- Regular review and discussion about recommendations, treatments, or interventions made by the provisional NP.
- The monitoring NP/physician being onsite and/or readily available for consultation, signing of all prescriptions and diagnostic tests, and the needs of client that may be beyond the competency of the provisional NP.
- Registration renewal
- Provisional registration must be renewed annually. Learn more about registration renewal.
- Use of title
- Provisional NPs can use the following titles as outlined in the Use of Title Practice Standard:
- Nurse practitioner (provisional) of NP (provisional)
- Registered nurse or RN
Provisional registration and the regulatory exam
If you are granted provisional NP registration while you wait to write one of the required exams, your registration will also include conditions specific to the exam outcome and deadline to complete. If you have already attempted one of the required exams twice and were unsuccessful, you will not be eligible for Provisional registration.
- If you pass
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- The limits and conditions on your registration will be removed and your provisional registration will be automatically converted to Practising NP registration once we've received confirmation directly from the exam provider that you passed the exam.
- Your MSP and Prescriber eligibility will be granted, and an email will be sent to you with your Prescriber ID number, instructions to apply for the MSP Billing number, and other information important to a new practising NP.
- When we grant your practising registration, the online registry will be updated.
- If you fail once
- If you fail one of the recognized NP exams, you must report the exam attempt to BCCNM at exams@bccnm.ca. You can continue working on provisional registration after one exam fail. It is your responsibility to inform all of your current or prospective employers of your unsuccessful exam result. You must meet all requirements put in place by the exam provider to be eligible to write a second time.
- If you fail twice
- If you fail a recognized NP exam a second time, you are no longer eligible for provisional NP registration and will not be considered for registration until you pass the exam. Your provisional NP registration will be cancelled within four weeks of receiving notice of your second exam failure. You MUST advise your employer that you will no longer be authorized to practice on the date of your registration being cancelled. We will provide you with the specific date of cancellation.