The Canada Health Act Services Policy comes into effect today, rightly ensuring that medically necessary services are to be covered under provincial and territorial health insurance plans, whether provided by a physician or another regulated health professional such as a nurse practitioner.
“Nurse practitioners are a growing workforce with the potential to ease the primary health care crisis. Supporting this growth through structural changes that ensure nurse practitioners can work to their full scope within our public health care system is critical to filling the gaps in primary health care,” explained Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU). “Including nurse practitioners in the Canada Health Act is a key step towards ensuring that everyone in Canada has access to the care they need when they need it.”
At a time when one in five people in Canada do not have access to a primary health care provider, nurse practitioners’ recruitment, retention and role implementation must be a priority in health care from coast to coast.
“Nurse practitioners represent a bright light in Canada’s public health care system. With more ways to serve patients within the public system, we can increase access to high-quality primary care,” Silas said. “Now it’s time for governments and employers to ensure NPs have the structural support and public funding needed to meet Canada’s growing patient needs.”
The CFNU is releasing a report that includes key recommendations for provinces and territories to optimize the changing role of this growing workforce in early April. Authored by Dr. Erin Ziegler, Pressure Points: Strengthening and Retaining Canada’s Nurse Practitioner Workforce, is one of the largest and most comprehensive examinations of the nurse practitioner workforce in Canada.