LPNS to take on new responsibilities: UCP

Highly trained nurses ‘underused’ in province, health minister says

Some Alberta nurses will soon be asked to provide more care to patients, the United Conservative Party announced Thursday.

Health Minister Tyler Shandro revealed that licensed practical nurses (LPNS) will see the scope of their jobs expand, effective Feb. 1, 2020. Nurses in the profession work in settings like hospitals, urgent care centres and community clinics.

“Historically we’ve seen underused LPNS in Alberta. We’ve had too few of them and their scope of practice has been too limited,” said Shandro.

“The changes will make the system more efficient and increase the access to care that Albertans receive.”

Among the additional procedures LPNS will be allowed to conduct include completing blood transfusions, administering an intravenous or central venous line and providing ultrasounds.

According to Linda Stanger, CEO of the regulatory College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Alberta (CLPNA), these are all procedures that LPNS are trained on but are unable to complete under current regulations.

She says that under current regulations, Alberta is lagging behind compared to the scope of practice for LPNS in other provinces.

“Scope varies somewhat across the country, but we had actually lagged behind,” Stanger said.

“At this point, I believe we will be with several (jurisdictions) that are administering medicine invasively, but the rest will bring us in line.”

The CLPNA will be responsible for developing new practice standards for LPNS. Changes to the LPN scope of practice had not previously changed since 2003.

LPNS have different responsibilities and training from registered nurses (RNS). In Alberta, LPNS graduate from a two-year diploma program, while RNS complete a four-year degree.

Currently, there are no plans to expand post-secondary options for those wishing to get LPN diplomas.

“The supply we have now will meet our needs into the future. At this point, we don’t think we need to add any new spaces into the LPN colleges because there’s enough supply both within Alberta and across Canada, and enough capacity,” said assistant deputy health minister Leann Wagner.

The announcement follows a recommendation from the Mackinnon Report, produced by a panel tasked with examining the province’s financial situation and released by the UCP in September.

One recommendation from that report was to have LPNS perform more tasks currently done by RNS. The annual salary for LPNS is about $27,000 less than that of RNS.

“Significant savings can be achieved without affecting the quality of health care if Alberta follows the example of Ontario and allows LPNS and nurse practitioners to perform duties consistent with their scope of practice,” the report read.

New Democrat health critic David Shepherd welcomed the announced.

“This looks to me like a positive move,” Shepherd said. “We recognize that there’s opportunities for LPNS and other practitioners to take on more responsibility and free up our physicians, RNS and others to look after more crucial matters.”

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE, which represents about 9,000 of the province’s 16,000 LPNS, say that an announcement that workers will be taking on more responsibilities should come with commitments by the province to increase funding and staffing levels.

“With this announcement, the UCP government is asking LPNS to do more with less. But these front line workers are already stretched thin,” said Susan Slade, an LPN and AUPE’S vice-president. “If this government is going to ask workers to do more, the government must in turn invest more.

LPNS working in Alberta Health Services earn hourly wages ranging from $26.45 to $34.97, with nurses with more advanced training typically receiving higher wages. Those numbers were bargained as part of the workers’ collective agreement.

If (the UPC) government is going to ask workers to do more, the government must in turn invest more.