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BCCNM board approves revised standards related to Medical Assistance in Dying


Apr 6, 2021

The BCCNM board on April 6, 2021, approved revisions to the LPN, NP, RN and RPN scopes of practice to bring them in line with changes to Medical Assistance in Dying legislation. These changes are effective immediately.

Background

On March 17, 2021, the federal government made significant changes to the Criminal Code with respect to the Medical Assistance in Dying provisions. The revisions:

  • Create provisions to allow MAiD to proceed when natural death is not reasonably foreseeable.
  • Require only one independent witness to witness a request for MAiD and clarify this independent witness can be a paid professional personal or health care worker but not the assessor or assessor-prescriber and not an unpaid care provider.
  • Remove the 10-day reflection period when death is reasonably foreseeable.
  • Institute a 90-day reflection period when death is not reasonably foreseeable.
  • Add provisions for the client to waive the required final consent to MAiD when there is a likelihood the client will lose their capacity to consent to MAiD prior to a date agreed upon between the client and their assessor-prescriber.
  • Add provisions to formally allow a client to consent to have an assessor-prescriber complete a MAiD procedure if self-administration by the client is not successful.

Changes to NP scope

  • Changes to bring the standards, limits and conditions in line with the Criminal Code, including provisions for NPs to provide MAiD when death is not reasonably foreseeable and the waiver of the requirement to provide final consent immediately before receiving MAiD.
  • To ensure that the standards remain consistent with any future amendments to the Criminal Code, the descriptions of the MAiD eligibility criteria and most of the federal safeguards are moved from the standards section to the introduction and only the relevant sections of the Criminal Code are referenced in the standards.

Review the revised MAiD standards in the Scope of Practice for NPs

Changes to LPN, RN and RPN scope

The LPN, RN, and RPN standards are updated to reflect that nurses who are in a paid health care provider role may now act as an independent witness to a MAiD assessment.

COVID-19 provisions

Note that temporary changes to the standard approved by the legacy BCCNP board in March 2020, allowing virtual eligibility assessments and allowing other health professionals to return MAiD substances, remain in effect for the duration of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Questions?

Visit the MAiD resource sections (links below) or email practice@bccnm.ca