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.
Could nurse practitioners fill the primary care gap?
Oh look, another way to avoid funding the healthcare system!
I don’t mean to demean NPs, but this is like saying “Can EAs fill the teaching gap?”. Sure, they could, in theory, but they won’t because the government doesn’t see NPs as a solution per se; instead, they’re a way to avoid spending money and create a two-tiered system where if you want to see a doctor you have to pay, but if you want to try and see an overworked, undercompensated NP you might be able to, if we actually had any.
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Oh look, another way to avoid funding the healthcare system!
I don’t mean to demean NPs, but this is like saying “Can EAs fill the teaching gap?”. Sure, they could, in theory, but they won’t because the government doesn’t see NPs as a solution per se; instead, they’re a way to avoid spending money and create a two-tiered system where if you want to see a doctor you have to pay, but if you want to try and see an overworked, undercompensated NP you might be able to, if we actually had any.