GOVERNANCE
Nurses’ Regulator
Proposes New
Model of Governance
“Colleges need to put themselves in position
to lead change”
Anne Coghlan
O
tlaufer case. Ms. Wettlaufer had just
rganizations which
CNO’s Model for
been found guilty of multiple counts
regulate health-care
Governance in 2020
of murder, attempted murder and ag-
professions are coming
gravated assault of her patients.
under greater scrutiny,
• Smaller Size
“The trust that takes years to earn,
with government signaling its intent
• Use of Advisory Boards
can be lost in the blink of an eye,”
on taking a more direct role in the
said Ms. Coghlan.
regulation of health-care professionals
• E
qual Number of Nurse
Ms. Coghlan told Council that
in Ontario.
and Public Members
if colleges are not seen to be proac-
One recent example is Bill 87, the
• C
ompetency-Based Board
tive, they run the very real risk that
Protecting Patients Act, which sends
• Appointments
government will step in and impose
the message that a stronger public
solutions. She said colleges need to put
presence is necessary to ensure trans-
• S
tatutory Committee
themselves in position to lead change.
parency in regulation. The new leg-
Members would not sit on
The CNO’s pre-emptive move was
islation gives the Minister of Health
Board
to strike a task force to look at other
and Long-Term Care the power to
possible models of governance for the
determine how statutory committees
CNO. The task force’s mandate was to make recom-
are structured, who sits on them and how they operate.
mendations that would position it as a leader in regula-
Greater scrutiny means that regulators must enhance
tory governance and not let the scope of possibilities be
transparency, address both real and perceived conflicts
restricted by the current legislated framework.
of interest and achieve outcomes that are defensible in
“When we embarked on our governance review, we
the public interest.
didn’t know what direction it would take, or what
In a presentation to CPSO Council, Anne Coghlan,
would ultimately be the right model for us. But looking
CEO and Executive Director of the College of Nurses
at the landscape, we knew that the status quo was not
of Ontario, said that the spotlight is perhaps not unique
working, that change was inevitable and that we had an
to self-regulating professions, but the perception that
opportunity to shape that change,” she said.
self-regulation favours professional over public interests
The CNO, she said, got what it wanted from its task
certainly fuels the media scrutiny, she said.
force – a proactive, objective, expert and evidence-
And that scrutiny only becomes harsher when a mem-
informed review that was completely centred on public
ber of a regulated health professional is found to have
trust.
committed heinous behaviour. Earlier this summer, the
Hoping for enactment by 2020, the CNO envisions a
Ontario government announced an independent public
board much smaller in size (12 members versus the cur-
inquiry into the circumstances of the Elizabeth Wet-
ISSUE 3, 2017 DIALOGUE
21