Nurse Prractitioners Expand Health-Care Delivery Options
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
2008HSERV0076-001143
July 23, 2008
Ministry of Health Services
VICTORIA – For the first time in the history of health-care in British Columbia, the province has 100 nurse practitioners, announced Health Services Minister George Abbott.“Nurse practitioners are fulfilling a number of important roles in our health-care system,” said Abbott. “From meeting the growing need for primary health care in this province, including the management of chronic diseases, to sharing their nursing expertise in remote and isolated communities and taking on innovative new roles in the emergency departments and community health facilities of our urban centres.”
The first group of nurse practitioners graduated in May 2005, and the province now has 100 practising nurse practitioners with the capacity to graduate up to 45 more each year as of September 2007.
“This government recognized the contribution nurse practitioners would make to helping British Columbians lead healthy lives,” said Murray Coell, Minister of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development. “That’s why we created three master’s programs in this field – in the North, on Vancouver Island and on the Lower Mainland – as part of almost doubling the number of spaces for student nurses in B.C.”
Nurse practitioner education programs are offered at three British Columbia universities: the University of British Columbia, the University of Victoria and the University of Northern B.C.
“Nurse practitioners are located in every region of the province, from urban areas like the Downtown Eastside to rural areas of northern B.C.,” said Lorine Scott, British Columbia Nurse Practitioner Association president. “Nurse practitioners are an essential part of our primary health system and we want to support them in this role.”
Nurse practitioners are registered nurses with the additional education and skills to provide a broad range of health-care services. They perform a full range of nursing duties as well as some functions similar to physicians, such as diagnosing and managing common acute and chronic illnesses, prescribing medications, ordering diagnostic tests and referring to specialists.
“Their unique knowledge and clinical expertise enables nurse practitioners to give patients a high level of care,” said Dr. Sally Thorne, University of B.C. nursing school director. “As independent practitioners who overlap with physicians and nurses as part of a collaborative team, nurse practitioners provide comprehensive health care and positively affect patient outcomes.”
Experienced nurses can step into this innovative role in British Columbia’s health-care system in two ways: by obtaining a master of science in nursing degree from an approved nurse practitioner program or by demonstrating an equivalent level of education and accumulated experience by participating in a prior learning assessment and recognition process.
Nurse practitioners are a part of the Province’s overall nursing strategy, which has created new educational spaces, continuing education for nurses presently in the workforce, and programs to retain nurses currently in the health system and to attract nurses from across Canada and around the world.
As of April 2008, British Columbia had 41,269 licensed practising nurses – up by more than 10 per cent from 2001. That total includes 32,225 registered nurses, 6,741 licensed practical nurses and 2,202 registered psychiatric nurses and 100 nurse practitioners.
In May, the Province announced a further investment of $15 million to educate, recruit and retain the best qualified nurses, bringing B.C.’s total nursing strategy investment since 2001 to $189 million.
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Media contact:
David Karn
Senior Public Affairs Officer
Ministry of Health Services
250 213-3760 (cell)
250 952-1887 (media line)
