You are invited to complete a survey about the College of Nurses of Ontario’s (CNO’s) proposed changes to the Nurse Practitioner (NP) practice standard. The changes involve proposed accountabilities around the prescribing of safer supply medications. Specifically, the proposed changes would add the following accountabilities to the standard:
- When prescribing opioids in conjunction with opioid agonist therapy (OAT), NPs must:
- perform an in-person assessment at least once monthly for clients receiving safer supply medication
- clearly note on prescriptions for safer supply medication “safer supply” and “no carries” (take-home doses) to communicate the intent and that each dose of safer supply medication be consumed under direct observation by a regulated health-care professional
The following definitions are also being proposed for the glossary section of the NP standard:
Opioid agonist therapy: An evidence-based approach for treating opioid use disorder. It involves the use of different medications to prevent withdrawal and lower cravings for opioid drugs. These medications include methadone, buprenorphine, and slow-release oral morphine (Health Canada, n.d.).
Safer supply: Refers to providing prescribed medications as a safer alternative to the toxic illegal drug supply to people who are at high risk of overdose (Health Canada, n.d.).
Your feedback will inform our work as we finalize the proposed practice standard changes and seek approval from CNO’s Council. Your answers are anonymous. Aggregate findings and anonymized quotes may be reported on CNO’s website, in future communications, presentations, and publications.
The survey is voluntary and takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. If you have questions about the survey, please email us at surveys@cnomail.org.
Please complete the survey before
November 5, 2026.