The head of the Nova Scotia’s nurses’ union says the province needs to make better use of its nursing resources.
As of September 1, nurse practitioners in Newfoundland and Labrador are allowed to diagnose
Nova Scotia Nurses Union President Janet Hazelton
health issues and prescribe medicine without a doctors approval. Nova Scotia Nurses Union president Janet Hazelton said this is similar to Nova Scotia nurses, who are able to practice autonomously.
Nurse practitioners are not allowed to admit patients to hospital even though they are allowed to discharge them, but that is something Hazelton said the Department of Health is investigating.
Hazelton said there should be clinics, particularly in rural areas, staffed with nurse practitioners, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, dieticians, and other professionals needed in the community. Hazelton said this would mean fewer people going to emergency departments for basic medical care. She also suggested staffing nurse practitioners in emergency departments, with RNs triaging patients and pointing those folks either to a physician or the nurse practitioners for the needed care.
She said the health authority, the college of registered nurses, the Department of Health, and the nurses union have to work together to look at the health care system and figure out can be done to make it better.