UBC Reports | Vol.
51 | No. 5 |
May 5, 2005
A New Breed of Health-Care Providers
By Hilary Thomson
UBC will celebrate B.C.’s newest providers of health-care
services when the first graduates of the nurse practitioner
program pick up their Master of Science in Nursing degrees
this month.
The two-year program can qualify a maximum of 15 nurses
to provide primary care such as diagnosing, prescribing, and
referring to specialists. Nurse practitioners will work independently
or in collaboration with other health professionals in the
community.
“These students are willing to push the boundaries
of their skills,” says Gloria Joachim, a UBC associate
professor of Nursing and program director. “They’re
a dedicated group -- many have given up full-time jobs to
be part of this program.”
Students entering the program hold bachelor or master degrees
in nursing. They study topics such as advanced health assessment
and pharmacology and complete more than 700 hours of practical
experience. This hands-on clinical learning is a key difference
between nurse practitioners’ education and other graduate
nursing degrees.
“The blend of medicine and nursing really attracted
me,” says grad Janet Baillies, a nurse with 28 years’
experience as a manager and director who wanted to return
to clinical practice. “I was able to broaden my clinical
experience learning from patients and expert physicians. I’ve
been offered a job in a dynamic clinic and look forward to
making a difference in how people cope with health issues.”
Students have completed practicums at clinics, hospitals
and private practices in the Lower Mainland, the Fraser Valley
and in Bella Bella, on B.C.’s west coast.
“We know that professionals tend to work where they
are trained,” says Joachim, who will soon be qualified
as a nurse practitioner herself. “I anticipate our grads
will stay and work in B.C., as one component in addressing
the crisis in primary care.”
Joachim has been very impressed with how government, the
Registered Nurses Association of B.C., the Chief Nursing Officers
and post-secondary institutions have worked together in what
she calls “a wonderful collaboration” to get the
program off the ground.
“These grads will be excellent providers who know
their limitations and will help shape public perception about
this new way of delivering primary care.”
For more information on nurse practitioners, visit www.nursing.ubc.ca.
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