KRS Website: Standards & Guidelines: Home

Clinical Sources

Clinical Practice Guideline Collections

AHS Clinical Knowledge Topics This link opens in a new window
Use Clinical Knowledge Topics (Clinical Guidance Viewer) to view provincially developed and approved clinical guidance and practice standards across all major practice areas.
Accelerating Change Transformation Team (ACTT) This link opens in a new window
Use ACTT to find clinical practice guidelines on topics that address practice gaps or behaviours that exist in Alberta that are not covered by other provincial, national, or international guidelines.
ECRI Guidelines Trust This link opens in a new window
Use ECRI to find summarized briefs of guidelines on a variety of clinical topics. (Free Registration Required).

ORNAC Guidelines

The Operating Room Nurses Association of Canada standards, guidelines and position papers (16th ed) are available online:
- Open CSA OnDemand, click on My Library (under Quick Links), choose ORNAC and click again to select English ed.
- On the right-hand side, choose View Online (read-only copy)

You may also download the PDF, but note this is also a read-only copy that cannot be shared/emailed. After downloading, go into your system's Downloads folder and right click to choose Open with Adobe Reader (cannot view PDF in browser).

Personal registration with CSA OnDemand is not required, but available on the homepage for those that wish to access additional features (pg.3).

Individual Guidelines

Our Subject Guides bring together select topic-specific clinical practice guidelines. These can be found in the Guidelines section of the guides (eg. Addictions & Mental Health, Cancer Care, Nutrition).
Trip Database is easy way to search and identify clinical practice guidelines for your topic. The filter menu on the left allows you to sort by evidence type and provides a list of guidelines ordered by jurisdiction.
DynaMed also provides consolidated source of guidelines listed within each of the conditions/topics covered - look for the Guidelines and Resources section in a topic.
Listing of individual groups and associations that produce guidelines

Looking for the best evidence?

Our point of care resources synthesize all the best and latest evidence on clinical topics and are updated frequently. They are a quick and easy way to find information to support evidence-informed decisions.
Learn More or search below:

Non-Clinical Sources

Canadian Standards Association Guidelines

Techstreet Subscriptions This link opens in a new window
Use Techstreet to read standards from CSA, AAMI and ASME. Must have FileOpen software to download PDF standards, otherwise the online viewer must be used (see note below).

Includes access to:
CSA Z8000-18
CAN/CSA Z317.13:22
CSA Z317.1:21
CAN/CSA Z314:23
CSA Z317.2:19
and more!

Note: NFPA standards are now available free directly through the publisher (free registration required).

Do you have FileOpen installed?

FileOpen software is required to download and view the PDF standards downloaded from Techstreet.

To request FileOpen from IT, use the IT Service Hub to submit a request. Choose the Need Something top menu item and select Software from the left menu. Choose Standard Desktop Software, and under the software needed dropdown, select FileOpen. You can specify that is needed for accessing CSA standards under the Justification/Business Case. Once you've have FileOpen, you'll be able to use Adobe Reader to view the documents.

How to use FileOpen

Note: You must use Adobe Reader to open PDFs for FileOpen to work, rather than your browser's built-in PDF viewer.

1. Download the document and hover over the item to "Show in Folder".

2. In the download folder, right-click on the document to "Open with...Adobe Reader"

*If your file opens automatically in your browser and is not viewable (or you get an error), you'll need to go to your Downloads folder to find the file and right-click to Open with Adobe Reader as above.

FGI Guidelines

Facility Guidelines Institute This link opens in a new window
Access to FGI's 2022 Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospitals, Outpatient Facilities and Residential Health Care & Support Facilities. Issues accessing?

The 2018 FGI guidelines are also available with limited free access by creating an account with FGI | Register. This complimentary use is limited to 10 pages, 3 times per month. The standards specialists in your department can guide you in knowing which edition you should use until the 2022 guidelines are fully integrated into AHS practice.

Instruction For Use (IFU) Documents

oneSOURCE This link opens in a new window
Use oneSource to access seven databases to find manufacturers documents for Instructions for Use (IFUs), Safety Data Sheets (SDS) and Preventive Maintenance (PM) manuals.

Standards & Guidelines: Home