I am sure you often ask yourself, Hmm, wonder what’s new in the world of nursing …
No? Well, start asking!
Like all health professions, nursing today lives within the realities of modern health care  where information and technology surge ahead as fast as budget money dissipates. Numbers of health professionals across the board have dropped off as fast as baby boomers have reached the age of greater health-care needs. Shortages of care providers are a challenge in every setting.
When we Yukon nurses talk about workforce challenges, we often emphasize the need to utilize each profession in the best possible way. Sustainability of our health system depends not just on numbers of providers, but on ensuring each professional is able to offer the full range of care that professional is educated and prepared to provide.
I am convinced that one key answer to a sustainable health system is the courage to try different ways of doing things, ‘cause we can’t just keep trying to do more and more relying on the ways we have always done things. As Mark Twain and others have observed: if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.
As we Yukoners look for ways to build our health-care strengths, one exciting change is just around the next corner when planned changes to Yukon nursing legislation will formally establish the nurse practitioner (NP) role in the territory.
So, just what is a nurse practitioner, you ask (and again, seriously, you will want to ask).
Nurse practitioners are experienced registered nurses who have completed a rigourous education program in advanced assessment and intervention (a master’s degree or equivalent).
They can carry out specific functions in addition to those shared by all registered nurses. Among these are independent assessment, diagnosis and treatment of a variety of common conditions including prescription of many medications.
Just as important, though, nurse practitioners receive advanced education in illness prevention, advocacy, community building, critical thinking and more – building on areas of strength seen across the spectrum of registered nurses.
The nurse practitioner role is already in place, all across Canada, and a great deal of research information has been gathered about its contribution to health (NPs have been called the most studied professional group in health-care history).
There is no doubt that the role requires some adapting from all of us (though maybe less so, here, given that health care in our communities has long been largely delivered by nurses). But it seems the time is right – in research released just this month, 88 per cent of Canadian respondents said they would be happy to be seen by a nurse practitioner at a walk-in clinic; 74 per cent said they would be willing to have a nurse practitioner as their usual care provider and 80 per cent support expanding the NP role in the system.
As NPs have entered the scene, across North America, physicians have naturally had questions and concerns – there is no doubt that NP functions overlap doctors’ functions in new ways.
Who doesn’t feel anxious, even threatened, when that happens? As RNs, we are also adjusting to the expanding role of the Licensed Practical Nurse, and we know that we have to be open to that professional group taking on work that we have been accustomed to viewing as ours.
Certainly, when any group overlaps the traditional territory of another, everybody needs to know that the “new guys” in town have the education and skill to safely provide the care. And evidence confirms that nurse practitioners are well prepared to provide care and enhance quality.
What will happen if you are seeing a NP and your care turns out to be outside the scope of what that NP can provide? Well, a doctor will be asked to provide consultation or take over your care, just like your doctor might call a specialist when that’s the best way to meet your needs.
Care by NPs relies on that collaboration with doctors and other health-care professionals. Again, the evidence tells us that NPs have a clear understanding of the limits to their practice and when to call on others.
The tasks that get attention, when NPs are discussed, are most often diagnosing and prescribing. NPs, though, are clear that they are providing care within the context of nursing. Some observers say that NPs shouldn’t be seen as mini doctors – they’re more like maxi nurses.
Among the greatest champions of this new model of care are Canadian physicians who have taken the leap of faith and are working in partnership with NPs. While many admit to being initially hesitant about the arrangement, once established, they consistently report they find their work more satisfying and feel they can provide more care for more patients with less personal burden and stress.
Perhaps more important is the overwhelmingly positive feedback from people receiving care from NPs.
Will you receive care from an NP in the future? Maybe. I, for one, am awfully pleased to see this option becoming available to us in the Yukon.
So that’s the NP in a nutshell. Now, what other new ideas might be out there …

Catherine Bradbury has worked most of her nursing career in her greatest professional love: paediatric nursing. She was President of the Yukon Registered Nurses Association from 1998 to 2000. She now works for YRNA and is also a sessional instructor at Yukon College in the Health and Human Services programs.