As Ontarians continue to struggle with a shortage of family physicians, nurses have also been working to fill the gap in the stretched system and now, the province has implemented regulatory changes that will enable them to provide additional services.
The provincial changes will improve care and access for Ontarians at a time when many are struggling to access a primary care physician amid the healthcare crisis.
“It is high time that we see this. Nurse practitioners have the expertise, they have the education to perform these added duties, and we welcome this,” said Erin Ariss, President of the Ontario Nurses Association (ONA).
Starting July 1, nurse practitioners can apply defibrillator and cardiac pacemakers, order and perform electrocautery and certify a death in more circumstances, changes that the ONA says will help to streamline care without physician approvals, while also speeding up wait times.
In Ontario, 2.5 million people are without a family doctor, but the Ontario Medical Association says that number could double in just under two years. However, with 5,400 nurse practitioners in the province, advocates argue that while they can fill the gap, they should also be compensated.
“We should be using nurse practitioners to their full scope of practice and primary care … it avoids hospital stays, it avoids all kinds of expenses,” said Ariss. “Nurse practitioners should be compensated for all that they do but in Ontario right now, that is not the case.”
Nearly a year ago, nurse practitioners saw their role expanded further when the province allowed nurses to prescribe certain types of birth control medication and administer some vaccinations.
“I think the government is working hard at utilizing people to the best of their availability and nurse practitioners, as you know, have great outcomes. They are safe and effective, they can reduce discharge times so if we are going to catapult attaching patients to a primary care provider this is the time for nurse practitioners,” said Dr. Michelle acorn, CEO, nurse practitioners association of Ontario
The Liberal Critic for Urgent Care, Primary Care, and Public Health, MPP Adil Shamji, told CityNews this expansion of capabilities is a “small and overdue step” but that it doesn’t address the full scale of Ontario’s health care crisis.
“Nurse practitioners must be fully embraced, funded, and integrated into the public system so Ontarians can access their care through OHIP,” shared Shamji.
Advocates say they continue to welcome the added and expanded roles and say they will be monitoring the impact it will have on the health care system here in Ontario and while they hope even more barriers will be removed in the future, they add it is important that nurses continue to be supported both financially and professionally.
