Specialized nurse practitioners to start seeing patients waiting for a family doctor in Quebec
Posted April 11, 2024 9:36 am.
Last Updated April 11, 2024 6:20 pm.
Starting next week, nurse practitioners specializing in primary care will be able to begin taking on patients who have registered for a family doctor.
Health Minister Christian Dubé made the announcement on Thursday in a press release.
Dubé described the change as a way of offering Quebecers better access to a health professional.
“We’re doing this for specialized clinics. We’ve opened about 10 so far, but we’re going to open more. We plan to open seven or eight this year. So we’re heading in the right direction. I think it’s a great boost to the nursing profession in general, and to specialist nurses in particular,” said Dubé.
“Over the last two years, data show that 95 per cent of the cases presented to a specialized nurse don’t need a doctor.”
Currently, only family doctors can treat people who register with the Quebec Family Doctor Finder.
As of April 15, primary care nurse practitioners (NPs) working in the 11 NP clinics will also be able to directly register patients who are on the waitlist.
The government plans to extend this measure to all specialized nurse practitioner settings.
Quebec estimates that, eventually, more than 1,000 public health nurses (PHNs) will be able to take charge of patients, “which will significantly improve access to primary care for the population of Quebec.”
Minister Dubé will discuss the news changes in more detail on Thursday afternoon, where he will speak at the annual general meeting of the Association des infirmières praticiennes spécialisées du Québec.
“We need to rebuild the front line of healthcare, and that means making a greater contribution from all healthcare professionals: the right professional, for the right patient, at the right time – that’s what we’ve committed to in the health plan,” he said.
PHNs are nurses with at least two years’ experience who have completed a master’s degree in nursing and a complementary diploma in medical sciences.
“They have an expertise and from my opinion I think their bedside abilities are far greater than family. They’ll be able to perform treatments on you. They’ll be able to evaluate you and give you a perspective That this person is really bad shape. They’ll send you to the emergency room,” said Naveed Hussain, a Montreal nurse.
“We are going to be happy to work more and more in interprofessional collaboration with doctors, pharmacists, social workers, all members of the interdisciplinary team.”
Nurses specializing in primary care can provide support for people suffering from chronic illnesses, such as diabetes or hypertension, and treat common health problems such as ear infections or urinary tract infections.
“Specialized nurses can prescribe exams of different types, prescribe treatments, medications, can also administer medical assistance in dying, give continuous palliative care. So they could already do that. But the announcement means they can register patients who are on the waitlist,” explained Luc Mathieu, president of the Order of Nurses of Quebec (OIIQ).
“We are going to be happy to work more and more in interprofessional collaboration with doctors, pharmacists, social workers, all members of the interdisciplinary team.”
Montrealer Jean Julien has been on the Quebec government waiting list for two years and says this may be able to help him.
“When I’m sick I have to go the hospital, either at the Jewish General or at Sacre Coeur because, to see a doctor, spend a whole day here because I don’t have one,” said Julien.
“Here in Canada, to find a family doctor, it’s not easy, but with this specialized nurse that can help us, it can improve the system.”
And Julien isn’t the only one. Renne Belleville says, “Think the emergency will probably be less busy, I think people that need more specialized services will be more well served.”
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
