BCCNM's Quality Assurance (QA) Program sets requirements for nurses and midwives to demonstrate currency and consolidation of practice as a condition for licensure as outlined in Part 11, sections 11-13 to 11-20 of the BCCNM bylaws. BCCNM uses practice hours as an indication of continuing competence and active engagement in professional practice while minimum birth numbers demonstrate consolidation of midwifery intrapartum competencies.
Practice hours include hours worked while holding a practising, provisional, or multi-jurisdictional licence with BCCNM and only for activities recognized as the practice of nursing or midwifery. This can include both clinical and non-clinical activities. Only actual hours worked should be counted.
On-call hours (but not actually working), vacation, sick time, and other leaves should not be included. Time spent caring for friends or family outside a professional environment and beyond the scope of a formal client-practitioner relationship does not count as practice hours.
Licensees must meet minimum practice hour requirements to maintain practising licensure.