By-Laws

Primary Care Nurses of Ontario
Bylaws-2019-2020

NAME:

  1. The name of this organization shall be Primary Care Nurses of Ontario (PCNO).

OBJECTIVES:

  1. The objectives of the PCNO shall be:
    1. To represent the interest of nurses concerned with family practice/primary care;
    2. To promote excellence in, and expand the knowledge base of family practice/primary care nursing by providing relevant, up to date information and mechanisms for the exchange of knowledge and information;
    3. To provide a forum for networking;
    4. To discuss common concerns and challenges in the area of family practice/primary care nursing;
    5. To act as a nurse resource for individuals or groups on issues concerning family practice/primary care nursing

MEMBERSHIP:

  1. Membership shall be open to all nurses with an interest in family practice/primary care.
  2. The group must have at least the majority of its members as RNAO members with at least four RNAO regions having members residing therein.
  3. Application for membership may be either directly with PCNO or in conjunction with the RNAO membership form.
  4. Associated membership within the group is available as determined from time to time by the PCNO executive.
  5. Members will be required to pay an annual fee as determined by PCNO members at the Biennial meeting. The Executive may determine lesser rates for students, retirees, etc. and such decisions will be communicated to members between Biennial meetings and confirmed by the members at the next Biennial.
  6. Membership renewal shall be required annually, by the 31st day of October.
  7. All members in good standing are eligible to vote.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:

  1. There shall be an Executive Committee consisting of the following officers:
    1. President
    2. Vice President
    3. Past President (non-voting)
    4. Secretary
    5. Communications Executive Network Officer
    6. Financial  Executive Network Officer
    7. Membership Network Officer
    8. Policy and Political Action Executive Network Officer
    9. Student/new grad executive Executive Network Officer
    10. Member At Large CFPNA delegate

And all such other officers as may be determined necessary by the Executive Committee. All of the above shall be encouraged to be RNAO members.

POWER OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:

  1. The Executive Committee shall:
    1. Coordinate and administer the affairs of the group including finances;
    2. A fund called the Terry O’Neil Fund, shall be administered by the Executive Committee to provide seed money for Chapter workshops, formation of new chapters, bursaries, and bi-annual conferences.

MEETING OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:

  1. The Executive Committee shall meet at least four times each year, at such times and place as the committee shall determine. These meetings may be in person, by conference call or other electronic means.
  2. Additional meetings of the Executive Committee may be held upon the resolution of the committee or the call of the Chair.

NOTICE OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETINGS:

  1.  Notice of the meeting will be provided to executive committee members at least 14 days prior to the meeting, and Minutes of the previous meeting will be provided by email and/or available in the OFPN Executive google drive folder prior to the meeting.

QUORUM FOR EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETINGS:

  1. The quorum at the meeting shall be 50% of the Officers.

VOTING AT EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETINGS:

  1. Voting at Executive Committee meetings will be recorded by verbal agreement. Occasionally, issues may be discussed and voted upon by email.  The President will report the result of such votes at the next meeting of the Executive Committee and recorded in the minutes.

In the event of decisions and agreements made by email, these email decisions and votes will be shared with all executive committee members in the OFPN Executive Google Drive folder.


VACANCY:

  1. In the event that an officer should cease to act, the executive committee shall appoint a person from the membership to fill such office for such unexpired term until an election can be arranged at the next general meeting.

TIME OF ELECTIONS:

  1. HERE
    1. Elections will be held between June 1 and August 1 for a 2-year term, staggered as c)    below.
    2. A minimum of thirty days' notice shall be given to the members of PCNO before the deadline for nominations.
    3.  In odd-numbered years, members shall elect the President, Communications and Finance ENOs and Member-at-large CFPNA delegate.
    4. In even numbered years, members shall elect the Social Media, Policy and Political Action ENOs, Vice President and Secretary.
    5. Nominations must be voted on by the membership on the basis of one member one vote.  Elections will be conducted by electronic or telephone means.

TERM OF OFFICE:

  1. Officers shall hold office for two years and maybe elected to a maximum number of 2 consecutive terms.  Upon completion of the second term, the member will not stand for nomination for the same executive position for one (1) complete term.
  2. The student/new grad ENO term of office is subject to the individual holding a membership in RNAO (student or regular)

REMOVAL OF OFFICER:

  1. The members of PCNO may, by resolution passed by at least two-thirds of the votes cast at a general meeting of which notice specifying the intention to pass such a resolution has been given, remove any officer before expiration of her/his term of office; and may, by a majority of the votes cast at the meeting, elect any person in her/his stead for the remainder of the term.

DUTIES OF OFFICERS:

  1. The PRESIDENT shall:
    1. Preside at all meetings of PCNO and the executive committee;
    2. Attend or designate a member to attend the Assembly of Presidents of RNAO;
    3. Exercise general direction and supervision over the affairs of PCNO;
    4. Be responsible for the agenda, changes in it and new business for meetings;
    5. Present an Annual Report;
    6. Prepare and submit Member’s Voices Reports to RNAO as per RNAO policy, once approved by the PCNO Executive, or delegate this task to another Executive member.
  2. The VICE-PRESIDENT shall:
    1. Perform such duties as may be assigned by the executive committee or the President.
  3. The SECRETARY shall:
    1. Keep records of all proceedings of PCNO including a record of all meetings of OFPN and the Executive Committee, or assign a delegate in his/her absence;
    2. Share all minutes with executive committee members prior to subsequent meetings;
    3. Send a copy of the minutes to the RNAO office;
    4. Cause notice of the meetings and agendas to be sent to members for general meetings;
    5. Conduct the general correspondence of the group;
    6. Manage This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. email account;
      1. check inbox at minimum once per week;
      2. forward email communications to appropriate executive members.
  4.  The FINANCE OFFICER shall:
    1. Keep a record of all monies received and expended;
    2. Issue and sign cheques, with one other officer, payment of expenditures, as authorized by the Executive Committee;
    3. Place funds in the bank;
    4. Send vouchers, bank passbooks and bookkeeping records to the RNAO office when instructed to do so;
    5. Report, at the request of the President, the state of the finances;
    6. Prepare the annual budget for each fiscal year November 1- October 31;
    7. Monitor adherence to Financial policies;
    8. Create and submit a report of PCNO’s activities and balance sheet annually to RNAO Home Office in accordance with RNAO Policies;
    9. Manage the PCNO Paypal account and transfer funds from that account to the OFPN bank account.
  5. The PAST-PRESIDENT shall:
    1. Advise the Executive Committee concerning past activities,
    2. Assist the Executive committee as requested by the Chairperson.
  6. The COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER shall:
    1. Maintain www.pcno.ca which includes, but is not limited to:
      1. Administer regular updates to the website as agreed upon by the executive committee;
      2. Perform monthly checks of website extensions and update as required;
      3. Perform a minimum once monthly website backup;
      4. Maintain communication with website developer, AB Solutions;
    2.  Collaborate with other Executive Committee members to develop regular Newsletter updates;
    3.  Disseminate email communications to members by MailChimp;
    4. Develop and maintain other social media as agreed upon by the executive committee.
  7. The MEMBERSHIP OFFICER shall:
    1. Manage a master membership list in a spreadsheet;
    2. Only the Membership Officer shall have editing privileges unless specifically delegated to another executive member;
    3. Forward excel file twice yearly to the Communications Officer.
  8. Any MEMBER AT LARGE shall:
    1. Attend all executive meetings;
    2. Collaborate and complete tasks as agreed upon by the executive.

MEETINGS OF PCNO:

  1. PCNO shall hold an annual general meeting at the Registered Nurses of Ontario annual meeting
  2. Additional general meetings of PCNO may be called at any time and place at the discretion of the Executive Committee

NOTICE OF PCNO MEETINGS:

  1. Notice of the time and place of the general meeting shall be emailed to each member and posted on the website at least 30 days in advance.

QUORUM FOR GENERAL MEETINGS:

  1. At least ten PCNO members present at a general meeting shall constitute a quorum.

CONTRACTS:

  1. Any two officers may sign contracts, documents or other instruments in writing requiring execution by the group.  The Executive Committee may also from time to time appoint any one or more officers to sign specific instruments on behalf of the group.  Such contracts do not bind RNAO.

FISCAL YEAR:

  1. The fiscal year of PCNO shall end on the 31st day of October in each year, to correspond with the RNAO’s fiscal year.

COMMITTEES:

  1. The Executive Committee shall have the power to create such committees as it may deem advisable.

CHAPTERS:

  1. Formation:
    1. Chapters may be formed upon formal application with the approval of the Executive Committee of PCNO.
    2. The minimum number of members required to establish the Chapter shall be ten members.
    3. Chapters shall adopt the objectives and by-laws of the PCNO.
  2. Dissolution: The Executive Committee may, if it considers it in the best interests of PCNO to do so, dissolve any Chapter if:
    1. Such chapter ceases to function; or
    2. The majority of the chapter members of such chapter have indicated to the chapter executive committee, their desire to dissolve the chapter.  The final role of the chapter executive shall be to dissolve the chapter.
  3. Area and Name:  The name of each chapter shall indicate the area they represent.
  4. Funding:
    1. The PCNO Executive Committee shall collect a fixed, per capita membership fee annually.  This amount will be proposed by the Executive and approved by the membership at the Biennial General Meeting.
    2. Upon dissolution of the chapter, a financial plan for the disbursement of remaining funds shall be provided to the Executive Committee of the PCNO.
    3. Any non-allocated funds shall be forwarded to the Finance Officer of the PCNO. They will be maintained whole in the Terry O’Neil Fund and will be made available to the Chapter if it is reorganized.

AMENDMENTS:

  1. These by-laws may be amended at a general meeting of PCNO by a 2/3 majority of the votes cast, provided that notice of such meeting advises that such amendments will be dealt with at the meeting.

Revised April 13, 2019 at the Biennial General Meeting in Toronto.

 

 

Category: