Long-term care home nursing permanently changing
EDMONTON Greater responsibilities temporarily granted to nurse practitioners in Alberta’s long-term care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic will soon be permanent, the province announced Thursday.
A ministerial order signed April 24 by Health Minister Tyler Shandro changed a portion of nursing home operation regulations to allow nurses, not just doctors, to be primary care providers for residents of nursing homes and provide services such as prescribing medications, admitting and assessing residents, and followup care.
The expansion of responsibilities will be made permanent on Aug. 15.
Shandro said in a news release the province had heard from nursing home operators that the changes had made a “real difference.”
“That’s why our government is making the regulatory changes permanent and ensuring nursing home residents have better access to primary care going forward,” Shandro said. “Taking swift action to increase nursing home residents’ long-term access to care from nurse practitioners and other health-care providers is part of our promise to make life better for all Albertans, especially seniors and our most vulnerable.”
Nurse practitioners have advanced training, including a master’s degree and more than 700 hours in advanced clinical practice.
The permanent changes will allow residents of nursing homes to receive drug prescriptions and orders for common diagnostic tests including X-rays, ultrasounds and CT scans directly from nurse practitioners and other qualified health professionals. This is according to their scopes of practice and at the discretion of the nursing home operator.
Mary-elizabeth Cooper, president of the Nurse Practitioner Association of Alberta, which represents about 600 nurse practitioners in the province, said the nurses are autonomous and have advanced qualifications enabling them to provide independent primary care.
“We welcome the permanent changes that allow nurse practitioners to work to their full scope in nursing homes and look forward to continuing our work with government to support nurse practitioners working to full scope throughout Alberta’s health system,” Cooper said.
Tom Mcmillan, spokesman for Alberta Health, said in an email that prior to the ministerial order, there were 36 nurse practitioners working in nursing homes in the province.
He said that while it is still too early to tell if the temporary changes had any impact on the number of nurse practitioners being hired at Alberta nursing homes, there could be a shift in numbers now that the changes are being made permanent.
The changes to the Nursing Homes Act are meant to remove legislative barriers for nurse practitioners, eliminate duplication and increase access to primary care for nurse home residents.
The Nursing Homes Act and regulations apply to 10,087 nursing home spaces in 107 facilities.