Policies and Guidelines

Professional Conduct

The School of Nursing and its faculty members are charged with the professional responsibility to ensure that all of its graduates have the requisite competencies and can meet the professional practice standards to be eligible for professional licensure as Registered Nurses in the province of British Columbia. Professional nursing behavior is guided and shaped by adherence to the College of Registered Nurses of British Columbia (CRNBC) Standards of Practice, and the Canadian Nurses' Association (CNA) Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses . Failure to adhere to these guidelines may result in charges of professional misconduct. The professional behavior of nursing students is thus directed by these standards and guidelines, as well as by University policy. Professional misconduct may require a student to withdraw from the School.

Nursing students and faculty alike are expected to behave in a professional manner in all classroom, laboratory and clinical learning experiences.

Faculty are expected to help students interpret specific clinical agency guidelines (eg dress codes) and apply them in their conduct. Students are expected to demonstrate responsibility and accountability for their actions as members of a professional discipline.

Unprofessional conduct (such as disrespect, rudeness, misrepresentation of fact) is unacceptable in both clinical and classroom components of the learning experience.

Students are expected to be prepared for and attentive to all learning experiences.
In the professional context, unexplained absences are inappropriate behavior. If students take issue with the relevance or necessity for any scheduled learning activities, they are invited to express their concerns to the appropriate faculty member, or to the Program Coordinator.

Clinical learning experiences are a critically important component of nursing education, and our clinical partners contribute a great deal to students and faculty often under difficult circumstances. Students (or faculty) whose conduct places the School of Nursing in jeopardy for losing a clinical placement will be immediately removed from that experience. In their capacity as professionals, clinical faculty members or our clinical agency partners have the right to ask a student to leave a clinical unit at any time for unprofessional conduct, including violations of dress code or any other behavior that is considered disrespectful, irresponsible or unsafe. The School of Nursing fully supports our clinical partners when they take such difficult decisions in order to meet their primary mandate of safe and effective patient care.

Classroom and laboratory learning experiences are also an essential element in education preparatory to professional nursing practice. Students behaving in such a manner as to disrupt educational activities in classroom or laboratory learning contexts will also be asked to leave. The University of British Columbia recognizes the right of the School of Nursing to establish consequences for unprofessional conduct in the context of learning experiences, which may include involuntary withdrawal from the program.

See UBC Calendar: School of Nursing: Academic Regulations: Advancement "Although satisfactory academic performance is prerequisite to advancement, it is not the sole criterion in the consideration of the suitability of a student for promotion or graduation. The School of Nursing reserves the right to require a student to withdraw from the School if considered to be unsuited to proceed with the study or practice of nursing."

Approved July 2002, Faculty Caucus, UBC School of Nursing