More than 6.5 million Canadians are without a family doctor. Some would like to see nurse practitioners step in to ease the crisis in primary care
Nurse practitioners could help fill the void, advocates for the profession say, if more provinces would adopt policies to integrate them into primary care and pay them fairly for their work. Some physicians’ organizations have pushed back against that approach, arguing that NPs don’t have as much training or education as family doctors and therefore should only be funded publicly when they’re embedded in interdisciplinary teams with MDs.
Aren’t these the same organizations that have been dragging their feet on recognizing foreign credentials?
I’ve been seeing a nurse practitioner for the last couple of years. So far, she’s provided the same level of care I’m used to from family doctors: prescriptions, forwarding me to specialists when appropriate, providing the usual advice during checkups. It’s fine.
Ms. Lamphier has a dozen years of experience as a nurse practitioner, a professional designation that allows her to perform many of the same tasks as a family doctor, including diagnosing illnesses, writing prescriptions, ordering tests, and making referrals to specialists.
When Ms. Lamphier finished covering a maternity leave at a Windsor practice last fall, she found there were no publicly funded job openings for primary-care NPs in her area.
Ms. Lamphier’s predicament puts her smack in the middle of a national debate about the role and remuneration of nurse practitioners at a time when as many as 6.5 million Canadians say they don’t have a family doctor or other primary-care provider.
Nurse practitioners could help fill the void, advocates for the profession say, if more provinces would adopt policies to integrate them into primary care and pay them fairly for their work.
Some physicians’ organizations have pushed back against that approach, arguing that NPs don’t have as much training or education as family doctors and therefore should only be funded publicly when they’re embedded in interdisciplinary teams with MDs.
After Premier Danielle Smith fleshed out the NP plan at a news conference on April 25, Paul Parks, the president of the association, said in an interview that it could work well if it bolsters team care with physicians.
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
Ms. Lamphier has a dozen years of experience as a nurse practitioner, a professional designation that allows her to perform many of the same tasks as a family doctor, including diagnosing illnesses, writing prescriptions, ordering tests, and making referrals to specialists.
When Ms. Lamphier finished covering a maternity leave at a Windsor practice last fall, she found there were no publicly funded job openings for primary-care NPs in her area.
Ms. Lamphier’s predicament puts her smack in the middle of a national debate about the role and remuneration of nurse practitioners at a time when as many as 6.5 million Canadians say they don’t have a family doctor or other primary-care provider.
Nurse practitioners could help fill the void, advocates for the profession say, if more provinces would adopt policies to integrate them into primary care and pay them fairly for their work.
Some physicians’ organizations have pushed back against that approach, arguing that NPs don’t have as much training or education as family doctors and therefore should only be funded publicly when they’re embedded in interdisciplinary teams with MDs.
After Premier Danielle Smith fleshed out the NP plan at a news conference on April 25, Paul Parks, the president of the association, said in an interview that it could work well if it bolsters team care with physicians.
The original article contains 1,470 words, the summary contains 219 words. Saved 85%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!