Clinical tools & resources
Clinical tools & resources for health care professionals.
Providence Health Care is home to a number of provincial programs and specialized services. The following resources are designed to support health care professionals working across British Columbia.
Clinical tools & resources
Emergency Cardiac Care: Provincial Guidelines and Tools for Registered Nurses
The Health Professions Act specifies the following restricted activities under Section 6, which means that a registered nurse, in the course of practising nursing, may carry out these actions without a physician's order.
(a) make a nursing diagnosis identifying a condition as the cause of the signs or symptoms of an individual;
(e) administer oxygen by inhalation
(j) apply electricity for the purpose of defibrillation in the course of emergency cardiac care
(l) in respect of a drug specified in Schedule 1 of the Drug Schedules Regulation, compound, dispense or administer the drug…for the purpose of treating cardiac dysrhythmia
(k) compound, dispense or administer by any method a drug specified in Schedule II of the Drug Schedules Regulation, B.C. Reg. 9/98...such as the following: sublingual nitroglycerin
The BC College of Nurses and Midwives names Providence Health Care as the expert agency that develops and maintains documents outlining both the required competencies for nurses to carry out these activities safely, and also decision support tools to assist registered nurses in these activities. Follow the links below to view these revised (2021) documents.
- Core Competencies for Emergency Cardiac Care
- Emergency Cardiac Care Decision Support Tool 1
- Emergency Cardiac Care Decision Support Tool 2
- Emergency Cardiac Care Decision Support Tool 3
- Infographic: Summary of DST #1 (cardiac monitoring, defibrillation, cardiac drugs NOT available)
- Infographic: Summary of DST #2 (cardiac monitoring, defibrillation, cardiac drugs AVAILABLE)
- Infographic: Summary of DST #3 (patients with chest pain/discomfort suggestive of acute coronary syndrome)
Education & training
Cardiac nurses & allied health professionals
Nurses from all over the country are interested in working with the teams in the Heart Centre. Why? They want to be part of a team that is internationally known and consistently on the cutting edge of advancements in cardiac care. And they want to experience the rich inter-professional environment at the Heart Centre. We offer a range of supportive initiatives for nurses to grow and develop as professionals:
- Provide support for our nurses to pursue post-graduate specialty education in critical care
- Monthly Heart Centre Nursing Rounds (webcast across Canada)
Upcoming rounds
Previous rounds recordings
For further information regarding the Heart Centre Nursing Rounds at St. Paul's Hospital or to be added to the mailing list, please email our team.
Upcoming events
Heart Centre Education Day
June 7, 2024, 8:00 am to 3:30 pm | UBC Robson Square - 800 Robson Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2E7