Nurses can aid in deaths

450 nurse practitioners given approval

REGULATORY FRAMEWORK GOOD STEP TOWARD ... ACCESS.

Nurse practitioners in Alberta have been given provincial cabinet approval to provide medical assistance in dying.

“Albertans who have a relationship with a nurse practitioner as their primary care provider now have more access to medical assistance in dying,” said Jerry Macdonald, president of the College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CARNA).

“Nurse practitioners provide primary health care both as independent practitioners and as members of health care teams. The new standards of practice ensure that nurse practitioners can provide medical assistance in dying if required by their patients.”

Nurse practitioners are registered nurses, with graduate education, who can order and interpret screening and diagnostic tests, perform procedures and prescribe medications and therapeutic interventions. There are 450 nurse practitioners in Alberta.

The provincial cabinet approved last week the Medical Assistance in Dying Standards of Practice for Nurse Practitioners as standards of practice for CARNA. The regulations were developed in collaboration with Alberta Health, Alberta Health Services, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta and the Alberta College of Pharmacists.

The order in council ensures that nurse practitioners can provide medical assistance in dying within a regulatory framework with safeguards for consistency and patient safety, CARNA said.

“Thank you to all the health professionals who collaborated with us and CARNA to develop these standards,” said associate health minister Brandy Payne. “Together we have made medical assistance in dying more accessible for those who are suffering intolerably, while protecting patients, vulnerable Albertans and our dedicated health care providers at the front line through thoughtful, compassionate policies and standards.”

The order says nurse practitioners may administer a substance to a patient at the patient’s request that causes the patient’s death or provide a substance for the patient to self-administer and cause his or her own death.

“Having a regulatory framework for (medical assistance in dying) is a good step towards ensuring access for those in need while maintaining public safety,” said Eric Lavoie, president of the Nurse Practitioner Association of Alberta.