Professional liability protection is required in order to:
You may be thinking that you're fully protected under your employer's liability insurance, but that may not be the case. Learn more.
Any registrant with practising registration status is required to have valid professional liability protection. This includes NPs, RNs and RPNs who:
In some cases liability coverage provided by your employer may not be adequate. You do not have coverage should you volunteer as a nurse or choose to work in independent practice.
Given today’s level of civil claims and court-awarded payouts, the public and nurses require and expect better protection.
CNPS provides a broader range of services than is available through commercial insurance coverage including legal advice, education and risk management support.
CNPS offers professional liability protection related to nursing practice of up to $10M per claim for professional negligence, up to $1M per occurrence for criminal investigations and prosecutions, and up to $1M per occurrence for statutory offences.
CNPS also provides access to confidential and objective advice to improve safety, quality, and reduce exposure to risk, support for professional practice issues (e.g., right to die, patient handover), timely access to independent legal advice and assessment of contracts.
Visit CNPS.ca to learn more
If you work without valid registration, even if you do it accidentally, you're taking a risk. Only practising registrants are eligible for CNPS professional liability protection.
If you practise without protection, you are opening yourself up to personal financial risk if there is a lawsuit stemming from your nursing practice during that period.
Yes. For an additional fee, CNPS beneficiaries who also register for CNPS Supplementary Protection can be eligible for assistance with complaints and disciplinary proceedings before their nursing regulator. BCCNM is not involved in facilitating the purchase of supplementary protection. Registrants must contact CNPS for more information.
The higher fee is due to the broader scope of NP work and the associated, increased risk for potential liability.
By definition, non-practising registrants aren't engaged in nursing activities. As a result, they don't require professional liability protection.
Nurses registered in and paying for CNPS membership in multiple jurisdictions may be eligible for a refund. If eligible, the refund will be automatically paid to the registrant by the CNPS. In the meantime, all nurses must pay the CNPS portion of the BCCNM fees in order that BCCNP can be satisfied that all its registrants are eligible for CNPS services.
For more information on the CNPS refund policy, procedures and your eligibility, please contact the CNPS at 1.800.267.3390 or info@cnps.ca.