There’s a need to recognize ‘great potential’ of nurse practitioners
Thursday, December 14, 2006 -- Natalie Miller
While there are not any nurse practitioners on the payroll at Garden Terrace, the long-term care home’s administrator says they play an important role in addressing the province’s aging population and subsequent health care needs.

Nurse practitioners (NPs) have traditionally worked in community health centres. But a pilot project introduced by the Province continues to have these specialized nurses working in the long-term care sector now as well.

“I suspect, and I certainly hope, they are working in rural and under-serviced areas,” says Karl Samuelson, administrator of the Kanata long-term care home.

“Nurse practitioners, that concept of course, has gained momentum over the last few years and was designed initially to support small, rural, under-serviced areas. They would be strategically located on a regional basis and communities with few or indeed no doctors would be given first priority.”

Jane Sanders, executive director of the Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario, says indeed the majority of nurse practitioners are working in community settings. However, the findings of a report on the pilot project suggest long-term care isn’t a bad place for them to be.

A NP is an advanced practice nurse, functioning within the full scope of nursing practice and as such is neither a second level physician nor a doctor's assistant. Nurse practitioner skills include the ability to: provide wellness care including health screening activities such as Pap smears and monitoring infant growth and development, diagnose and treat minor illnesses such as ear and bladder infections, diagnose and treat minor injuries such as sprains and lacerations, screen for the presence of chronic disease, such as diabetes and monitor people with stable chronic disease, such as hypertension.

In long-term care, their roles have encompassed various tasks from conducting psychogeriatric assessments to managing chronic illnesses. In addition, NPs in the long-term care environment are leading educational activities including bedside teaching and in-service programs on various topics relevant to resident care.

“The nurse practitioner profession is a marvelous profession and a wonderful concept,” says Karl. “People typically have to have advanced education.

“I’m hearing that in the United States, within 10 years they expect all accredited nurse practitioner programs will be at the doctorate level… certainly what we have to do as a health care system is recognize the great potential of nurse practitioners to help meet the growing demands of an aging population for primary care.”

In March 1999, the provincial government announced a pilot project to introduce primary health care NPs into long-term care facilities and a year later funded 20 full-time NP positions in 10 long-term care pilot projects.

NPs are currently working in various capacities in municipal homes, charitable homes, private, and not-for-profit homes.