This consolidation is unofficial and is for reference only.

For the official version of the regulations, consult the original documents on file with the Office of the Registrar of Regulations , or refer to the Royal Gazette

Part II .

Regulations are amended frequently.

Please check the list of Regulations by Act to see if there are any recent amendments to these regulations filed with our office that are not yet included in this consolidation.

Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this electronic version, the Office of the Registrar of Regulations assumes no responsibility for any discrepancies that may have resulted from reformatting.

This electronic version is copyright ©

, Province of Nova Scotia , all rights reserved. It is for your personal use and may not be copied for the purposes of resale in this or any other form.

Nursing Regulations

made under

Section 10 of the

Nursing Act

S.N.S. 2019, c. 8

O.I.C. 2019-158 (effective June 4, 2019), N.S. Reg. 76/2019

amended to O.I.C. 2025-338 (effective December 1, 2025), N.S. Reg. 253/2025

Table of Contents

Please note: this table of contents is provided for convenience of reference and does not form part of the regulations.

Click here to go to the text of the regulations .

Interpretation

Citation

Definitions

Board and Committee Members

Registrant members of Board

Term of office for Board members

Public advertising for public representatives

Settlement Agreements

Mediator used to prepare settlement agreement

Referral of settlement agreement to Complaints Committee

Complaints Committee actions when proposed settlement agreement referred

Professional Conduct Committee actions when proposed settlement agreement referred

Written decision on settlement agreement and notice

New panel members

Rejected settlement agreements and hearings

Settlement negotiations and decision to award costs in hearing

Breach of settlement agreement

Reinstatement

Applications for reinstatement

Investigation concerning reinstatement application

Notice of reinstatement hearing

Attendance at hearing for review of reinstatement application

Evidence at reinstatement hearing

Parties to Reinstatement Committee hearing

Decision of reinstatement committee

Reinstatement eligibility

Costs and expenses for reinstatement application and hearing

Publication of Reinstatement Committee’s decision

Submitting a new application for reinstatement

Practice Reviews

Function of the Practice Review Committee

Referral for practice review

Conducting practice review

Practice review report

Remediation and risk

Registered Psychiatric Nurses

Registered psychiatric nurse designation

Scope of practice for registered psychiatric nurses

Categories of licensing for registered psychiatric nurse

Records for registered psychiatric nurses

Registers for psychiatric nurses

Restriction on use of titles

Interpretation

Citation

1 These regulations may be cited as the Nursing Regulations .

Definitions

2 In these regulations,

“Act” means the Nursing Act ;

“party” is further defined to include an applicant for reinstatement, as the context

requires;

“registered psychiatric nurse” means a member of the nursing profession qualified

to use the designation “registered psychiatric nurse”;

“reviewer” means a reviewer selected by the Practice Review Committee to

conduct a practice review.

Board and Committee Members

Registrant members of Board

3 Registrant members of the Board must be elected by registrants in the manner set out in

the bylaws.

Term of office for Board members

4 The term of office for both registrant and public representative Board members is 3

years.

Public advertising for public representatives

5 The Chief Executive Officer must publicly advertise to invite expressions of interest in

serving as a public representative on a regulatory committee.

Settlement Agreements

Mediator used to prepare settlement agreement

(1) The parties may agree to use a mediator to prepare a proposed settlement

agreement.

(2) The costs for a mediator must be divided equally between the College and the

respondent, unless the parties agree to a different division of the costs.

Referral of settlement agreement to Complaints Committee

7 The procedure for a settlement agreement agreed to under subsection 79(3) of the Act is

for the Chief Executive Officer to refer the proposed agreement to Complaints

Committee for consideration.

Complaints Committee actions when proposed settlement agreement referred

(1) The Complaints Committee may recommend acceptance of a proposed settlement

agreement if satisfied that all of the following criteria are met:

(

a) the public is protected;

(

b) if the respondent is permitted to continue practising, the conduct or its

causes can be, or has [have] been, successfully remedied or treated, and the

respondent is likely to successfully pursue any required remediation or

treatment;

(

c) settlement is in the best interests of the public and the profession.

(2) If the Complaints Committee recommends acceptance of a proposed settlement

agreement, the Complaints Committee must refer the proposed settlement

agreement to the Professional Conduct Committee for consideration.

(3) If the Complaints Committee does not recommend acceptance of a proposed

settlement agreement, the Complaints Committee must do 1 of the following:

(

a) recommend changes to the proposed settlement agreement that,

(

i) if agreed upon by the parties will result in acceptance by the

Complaints Committee, or

(ii) if not agreed upon by the parties will result in rejection by the

Complaints Committee;

(

b) reject the proposed settlement agreement and refer the complaint considered

by the Complaints Committee to the Professional Conduct Committee for a

hearing.

Professional Conduct Committee actions when proposed settlement agreement referred

(1) The Professional Conduct Committee may accept a proposed settlement agreement

if the criteria set out in subsection 8(1) have been met.

(2) If the Professional Conduct Committee does not accept a proposed settlement

agreement, it must do 1 of the following:

(

a) recommend changes to the proposed settlement agreement;

(

b) reject the proposed settlement agreement.

(3) If both parties agree with changes recommended to a proposed settlement

agreement under clause (2)(a), the proposed agreement must be referred back to

the Professional Conduct Committee for acceptance.

(4) If a proposed settlement agreement is rejected under subsection (2) or if both

parties do not accept changes recommended under clause (2)(a), the matter must be

referred to another panel of the Professional Conduct Committee for a hearing.

Written decision on settlement agreement and notice

(1) When the Professional Conduct Committee accepts or rejects a proposed

settlement agreement, the Committee must issue a written decision that includes

the reasons for accepting or rejecting the proposed settlement agreement.

(2) The Professional Conduct Committee must provide a copy of any decision

rejecting a proposed settlement to all of the following:

(

a) the parties;

(

b) any persons it considers appropriate.

(3) In

Section 107 of the Act “where a licensing sanction has been issued without a

hearing” includes circumstances in which a settlement agreement results in the

registrant’s resignation.

(4) The Professional Conduct Committee must provide a copy of any decision

accepting a proposed settlement agreement to the Chief Executive Officer for

distribution and publication as required by

Section 107 of the Act.

New panel members

11 A person who sits on a panel of the Professional Conduct Committee that reviews a

rejected proposed settlement agreement must not sit on a panel of the Professional

Conduct Committee that conducts a hearing related to the same complaint.

Rejected settlement agreements and hearings

(1) If a proposed settlement agreement is rejected by the Professional Conduct

Committee, a hearing must proceed without reference to the proposed settlement

agreement or any admissions contained in the proposed settlement agreement until

after the Professional Conduct Committee has determined whether professional

misconduct, conduct unbecoming, incompetence or incapacity has been proven.

(2) Despite subsection (1), the parties may advance agreements on facts and joint

submissions during a hearing, regardless of whether a proposed settlement

agreement was rejected.

Settlement negotiations and decision to award costs in hearing

13 Before deciding whether to award costs in a hearing under clause 103(1)(

o) of the Act, a

party may give the Professional Conduct Committee and the other party a copy of any

correspondence exchanged between the parties regarding settlement negotiations,

including copies of proposed settlement agreements.

Breach of settlement agreement

(1) If any term of a settlement agreement is alleged to have been breached, the matter

must be referred to the Complaints Committee for processing as a complaint under

the Act.

(2) A member of the Complaints Committee or Professional Conduct Committee who

considered a settlement agreement that is alleged to have been breached remain[s]

eligible to serve on a committee that is considering the alleged breach.

Reinstatement

Applications for reinstatement

(1) An application for reinstatement of registration or reinstatement of a licence under

Section 112 of the Act must be in a form approved by the Chief Executive Officer

and sent in writing to the Chief Executive Officer together with the applicable

application fee.

(2) The applicant must provide any information that the Reinstatement Committee

requires to assist it in determining whether the objects of the College will be met if

reinstatement is granted.

Investigation concerning reinstatement application

(1) The Chief Executive Officer may appoint an investigator to gather relevant and

appropriate information concerning an application for reinstatement.

(2) An investigator appointed under subsection (1) must provide a report of the

information gathered during the investigation to the Chief Executive Officer.

(3) The Chief Executive Officer must prepare a written report to the Reinstatement

Committee and the applicant that contains all material relevant to the application,

including all of the following:

(

a) the Professional Conduct Committee’s decision that revoked the applicant’s

registration or licence;

(

b) the investigator’s report, if an investigator has been appointed under

subsection (1);

(

c) any relevant information gathered during the investigation.

(4) The Chief Executive Officer’s report under subsection (3) must include a statement

from the Chief Executive Officer setting out the College’s position regarding the

reinstatement application.

Notice of reinstatement hearing

(1) The Reinstatement Committee must set a date, time and location for a hearing to

review a reinstatement application and must advise the applicant of the date.

(2) The Chief Executive Officer must give public notice of a reinstatement hearing

through its website, or by any alternative means the Chief Executive Officer

considers appropriate, including notice of all of the following:

(

a) the date, time and location of the hearing;

(

b) any request for an order to exclude the public under subsection 18(4);

(

c) any information required by the bylaws.

Attendance at hearing for review of reinstatement application

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), a hearing to review a reinstatement

application is open to the public.

(2) At the request of a party, the Reinstatement Committee may order that the public,

in whole or in part, be excluded from a hearing, or any part of a hearing, to review

a reinstatement application if the Reinstatement Committee is satisfied that any of

the following apply:

(

a) personal, medical, financial or other matters that may be disclosed at the

hearing are of such a nature that avoiding public disclosure of those matters

in the interest of the public interest or any person affected outweighs

adhering to the principle that hearings should be open to the public;

(

b) the safety of any person may be jeopardized by permitting public

attendance.

(3) The Reinstatement Committee may make an order that the public be excluded

from a part of a hearing that deals with a request for an order to exclude the public

in whole or in part under subsection (2).

(4) The Reinstatement Committee may make any orders it considers necessary,

including orders prohibiting publication or broadcasting of those matters, to

prevent the public disclosure of matters disclosed in a hearing or any part of a

hearing dealing with an order under subsection (2) or (3).

(5) Subject to any order made under this Section, the Reinstatement Committee must

state at the hearing its reasons for any order made under this Section.

Evidence at reinstatement hearing

19 Evidence before the Reinstatement Committee must be taken under oath and is subject

to cross-examination.

Parties to Reinstatement Committee hearing

20 The parties to a hearing before the Reinstatement Committee are

(

a) the applicant for reinstatement; and

(

b) the College, as represented by the Chief Executive Officer or a person

designated by the Chief Executive Officer.

Decision of reinstatement committee

(1) After considering the evidence and the representations from the parties, the

Reinstatement Committee must decide to accept or reject a reinstatement

application.

(2) The Reinstatement Committee must communicate its decision under subsection

(1), together with reasons, in writing to all of the following:

(

a) the applicant;

(

b) the Chief Executive Officer.

(3) If the Reinstatement Committee accepts a reinstatement application, the

Committee may impose any restrictions and conditions it considers appropriate

relating to the reinstatement of the applicant.

Reinstatement eligibility

22 To be eligible for reinstatement, an applicant must meet the criteria for registration and

licensing under the Act and these regulations in addition to any restrictions and

conditions imposed by the Reinstatement Committee under subsection 21(3).

Costs and expenses for reinstatement application and hearing

(1) An applicant is responsible for all their expenses incurred in a reinstatement

application and hearing.

(2) Whether an application for reinstatement is accepted or rejected, the Reinstatement

Committee may make an order to recover costs from the applicant, and the costs

must be paid by the date specified in the order.

Publication of Reinstatement Committee’s decision

24 The Reinstatement Committee’s decision must be published and disclosed in the manner

directed by the Reinstatement Committee, subject to any publication bans it has

imposed.

Submitting a new application for reinstatement

25 If an application for reinstatement is rejected, the applicant may not submit a new

reinstatement application until

(a) 1 year after the date of the Reinstatement Committee’s prior decision to

reject their application, and on such conditions as are determined by the

Reinstatement Committee; or

(

b) a date that is after the period in clause (a), as determined by the

Reinstatement Committee that rejected the prior reinstatement application,

and on such conditions as are determined by that Committee.

Practice Reviews

Function of the Practice Review Committee

26 The function of the Practice Review Committee is to oversee the conduct of practice

reviews.

Referral for practice review

(1) Registrants must be referred for practice reviews by the Practice Review

Committee in a manner that is consistent with the direction of the Board.

(2) A registrant referred for a practice review, and their employer, must participate in

and cooperate with the practice review.

Conducting practice review

(1) A practice review must be conducted by a reviewer or reviewers who are selected

by the Practice Review Committee in accordance with criteria determined by the

Committee.

(2) A practice review of a registrant may include any of the following:

(

a) observation of the registrant’s practice;

(

b) review of documentation related to the registrant’s practice;

(

c) interviews with colleagues, supervisors and other individuals who may have

information relevant to the review;

(

d) any additional activities related to the registrant’s practice that are approved

by the Practice Review Committee.

(3) When requested by a reviewer or the Practice Review Committee, a registrant and

their employer must

(

a) permit the reviewer to enter the premises where the registrant practises;

(

b) permit the reviewer to inspect and, when needed, make copies of clients’

health care records for the purposes of the practice review;

(

c) provide the reviewer or Committee with any information requested.

(4) While conducting a practice review, a reviewer or the Practice Review Committee

may confer with other individuals associated with the registrant’s practice and may

disclose to those individuals any information, including clients’ health care

information, that they consider necessary to fully conduct the review.

(5) While conducting a practice review, the Practice Review Committee may require a

registrant to undergo a competence assessment and determine the specifics of the

competence assessment in accordance with

Section 168 of the Act.

Practice review report

(1) On completing a practice review, the reviewer must provide a report of the review

to the Practice Review Committee.

(2) The Practice Review Committee must consider the report and set out its

observations and conclusions in writing to the registrant.

(3) The conclusions of the Practice Review Committee may include requirements for

remediation or recommendations for improvement, or both.

Remediation and risk

(1) The Practice Review Committee must oversee any remediation that is required for

a registrant who has undergone a practice review.

(2) If a reviewer conducting a practice review has reasonable grounds to believe a

registrant poses a risk to the public or the profession, the reviewer must

immediately report the matter to the Practice Review Committee.

(3) The Practice Review Committee may disclose to the Chief Executive Officer any

information necessary to permit the Chief Executive Officer to take appropriate

action under the Act, if any of the following occurs:

(

a) a registrant is not cooperating with a practice review;

(

b) a registrant is not complying with the Practice Review Committee’s

remediation requirements;

(

c) the Practice Review Committee has reasonable grounds to believe that the

registrant poses a risk to the public or profession that cannot be adequately

addressed within the authority of the Practice Review Committee.

(4) The information disclosed under subsection (3) may include any information

obtained during the practice review, including the results of any competence

assessment and remediation.

Registered Psychiatric Nurses

Registered psychiatric nurse designation

31 The designation of registered psychiatric nurse is added as a designation that is regulated

under the Act.

Scope of practice for registered psychiatric nurses

32 The scope of practice for a registered psychiatric nurse includes the provision of nursing

services to plan, implement and evaluate mental, psychosocial and physical health care

by applying psychiatric nursing knowledge, skills and judgment that meet at least 1 of

the following criteria:

(

a) they are taught in a registered psychiatric nursing education program

approved by a nursing regulator in Canada;

(

b) they are set out in entry-level competencies or standards of practice

approved by the Board;

(

c) they are set out in practice guidelines approved by the CEO.

Categories of licensing for registered psychiatric nurse

33 The following are the categories of licence for a registered psychiatric nurse:

(

a) registered psychiatric nurse practising licence;

(

b) registered psychiatric nurse conditional licence.

Records for registered psychiatric nurses

34 The categories of licence set out in

Section 33 are added to the list of licence categories

for which the Chief Executive Officer must keep separate records under

Section 15 of

the Act.

Registers for psychiatric nurses

35 The following are prescribed as registers to be kept by the Chief Executive Officer under

Section 14 of the Act:

(

a) registered psychiatric nurse register;

(

b) registered psychiatric nurse conditional register.

Restriction on use of titles

36 No person may engage in the practice of a registered psychiatric nurse or take or use the

designation “Registered Psychiatric Nurse” or “RPN”, or any derivation or abbreviation

of those either alone or in combination with other words, letters or descriptions to imply

that the person is registered or licensed under the Act unless the person is 1 of the

following:

(

a) a registrant who holds either

(

i) a registered psychiatric nurse practising licence, or

(ii) a registered psychiatric nurse conditional licence;

(

b) a person otherwise authorized to practise as a registered psychiatric nurse or

to use the designation, description or title in accordance with this Act, the

regulations or the by-laws.

Legislative History

Reference Tables

Nursing Regulations

N.S. Reg.

76/2019

Nursing Act

Note: The

information in these tables does not form part of the regulations and is

compiled by the Office of the Registrar of Regulations for reference only.

Source Law

The current consolidation of the Nursing Regulations made under the Nursing Act includes all of the

following regulations:

N.S.

Regulation

In force

date*

How in force

Royal Gazette

Part II Issue

76/2019

Jun 4, 2019

date specified

Jun 21, 2019

253/2025

Dec 1, 2025

date specified

Nov 28, 2025

The following regulations are not yet in force and are

not included in the current consolidation:

N.S.

Regulation

In force

date*

How in force

Royal Gazette

Part II Issue

*See subsection 3(6) of the Regulations Act for

rules about in force dates of regulations.

Amendments by Provision

ad. = added

am. = amended

fc. = fee change

ra. = reassigned

rep. = repealed

rs . = repealed and substituted

Provision affected

How affected

2, defn . of “Act” .............................

ad. 253/2025

2, defn . of “registered

psychiatric nurse” ...........................................

ad. 253/2025

31-36 ...............................................

ad. 253/2025

Note that changes to headings are not

included in the above table.

Editorial Notes and Corrections

Note

Effective

date

Repealed and Superseded

N.S.

Regulation

Title

In force

date

Repealed

date

Note: Only

regulations that are specifically repealed and replaced appear in this

table. It may not reflect the entire

history of regulations on this subject matter.