Celebrating Nurse Practitioner Week: November 7 – 13, 2021
Nurse Practitioners present a unique promise to improve healthcare in Ontario
(Ontario, CA)
November 7 – 13 is Nurse Practitioner Week across Canada. It is very fitting that a special week has been set aside to recognize the unique contributions Nurse Practitioners make to healthcare every day.
Amanda Rainville, President of the Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario and a Primary Healthcare NP in Sudbury stated, “Each year NP Week provides a valuable opportunity to increase awareness of Nurse Practitioners and celebrate their many contributions across the healthcare continuum in all corners of Ontario. Nurse Practitioners are dedicated to providing exceptional patient care in a very unique way, and often as the most responsible provider, through a compassionate and wholistic care model. Time and time again, NPs step up to address the healthcare needs that emerge. Nowhere has that been more evident than during the COVID-19 pandemic where NPs took on the challenges in long term care, in ICUs, at assessment and vaccinations centres, in mental health and addictions, providing virtual care and so many other areas. They are truly deserving of recognition as indispensable healthcare providers and I am very proud of the care we provide, but it could be so much more.”
Nurse Practitioners have been the fastest growing nursing category across Canada every year since 2015. More and more, the health care system is recognizing the unique promise that Nurse Practitioners present to the quality of care in Ontario. NPs contribute expertise as clinicians, leaders, educators and researchers in inspiring and impactful ways. The unique promise is rooted in their skills, knowledge, experience and the flexibility they have to contribute in any and
all areas, independently or within an interprofessional care team.
Nurse Practitioners represent the future of effective and efficient healthcare and are ideally positioned to enable the transformation of healthcare in Ontario. They are the perfect combination of nursing care and compassion with the additional capabilities to provide comprehensive assessments and treatments!
The Unique Promises of Nurse Practitioners
- Improve Access to Healthcare
- Reduce Wait Times
- Alleviate Pressures on Healthcare System
- Diagnose Medical Conditions
- Develop Treatment Plans
- Refer to specialists
- Prescribe Controlled Substances
- Provide Comprehensive Assessments
- Focused on Patient Centered Care
- Facilitate Healthcare Navigation
- Admit to & Discharge from hospital
- Compassionate and Wholistic Care
Nurse Practitioners Can:
- Perform comprehensive assessments
- Diagnose conditions
- Order tests
- Prescribe medications
- Provide specialist referrals
- Develop treatment plans
- Provide for most of your healthcare needs
Nurse Practitioners Work in:
- Hospitals
- Nurse Practitioner Led Clinics
- Community Heath Centres
- Family Health Teams
- Long Term Care
- Independent practice
- Correction Facilities
- Mental Health and Addiction Centres
- Virtual Care
- Walk-in Clinics
- Aboriginal Health Access Centres
About Nurse Practitioners
Nurse Practitioners (NPs) begin their nursing career as Registered Nurses and become NPs with an advanced graduate education degree (i.e. Masters degree) as well as additional nursing experience and exam requirements. There are over 4,000 NPs in Ontario and over 200 new NPs graduate every year from the 11 NP programs in the province.
About the Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario (NPAO)
The Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario (NPAO) is the only organization exclusively dedicated to addressing the needs of Nurse Practitioners in Ontario. NPAO’s Vision is “Exceptional healthcare for all” through its mission “…the empowerment and integration of NPs across Ontario.” NPAO provides education, advocacy, resources, communication and community to NPs.
If you would like to organize an interview with a Nurse Practitioner, please contact Dana Cooper, NPAO Executive Director at dcooper@npao.org.
