Two programs sought The Terrace Standarc, Wednesday, December 6, 2000 - A7 College pursues nurses NORTHWEST COM- MUNITY college could be offering a licensed practi- cal nursing program next fall, provided approvals and money begin to flow SOO. : It has already begun the necessary paperwork to have the program approved and is talking to the pro- vince about getting the . Money to-run it, college “president Stephanie For- syth said last week. The College of Li- censed Practical Nurses of B.C. has told the college it can go ahead with plan- ning the program. There would most likely - be 18 to 24 training spaces fora program lasting ap- proximately 16 calendar months. At the same, the col- lege wants to blend in with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree offered at the University:of Northern B.C. in Prince George. Students would take the first two years of the de- gree here, transferring to ’ UNBC for; the third and fourth years after which time graduates can write the registered hursing exam. UNBC has already part- nered up with the College Bigger role for nurses studied THE PROVINCE has star- ted a study which may re- sult in keeping more nurses In B.C. by giving them .more ways to use their education and exper- ience, -— And one method may be the' creation of a new category of medical pro- fessional in B.C, — nurse practitioner. Giving nurses an expan- . ded role in health care may serve to keep more of them working here as op- posed to taking job offers elsewhere, says Carolyn Hammond, a member of the nursing faculty at the University of Victoria who is in charge of the project. “We're seeing nurses going elsewhere, to other countries, to the U.S,” said Hammond. “If we could use them to their fullest extent, we could persuade them to stay here.” One such possibility is creating nurse practitioners in B.C, Such a category already exists in other jur- isdictions. Hammond was quick to say a nurse practitioner is not simply a health care professional who can do more than a nurse, but less than a physician. “Advanced practice nurses come from a differ- ent place,” said Ham- mond. ‘Whereas physicians might concentrate on dis- ease and illness, advance practice nurses might have an ‘emphasis on preven- tion, she said. Hammond also said ad- vance practice designa- tions such as nurse practi- tioners shouldn’t be viewed as competition with physicians. “There’s a role for everybody here,” she said. ““We constantly hear the stories of doctors being ’ overwhelmed by the work- load. It might be they could use some help with patient load and a nurse ' practitioner could provide that help.” Prescription for Maintaining Flealthy Weight avity, healthy eating doctor's advice Physical act and your Gibaageletg to Plime managenen SG. vere partiipasTion Com of New Caledonia in this fashion and other northern colleges are expressing in- terest, “I think we have a strong case. We can deve- lop our own program in- stead of sending people away. They would be learning less urban ways of health care,” said Forsyth of the college’s plans. “What happens is that if peaple go away for training, they might not Tetum.” One attractive part of the plan is the prospect of having nurse-trainees do practicums at northwest health care facilities. “We've met with health councils and chief exec- utive officers and they’ve expressed a great inter- est,” said Forsyth. So much so that the college and health care fa- cilities have now formed a health education advisory committee. Although the college is rapidly advancing in terms of getting a nursing pro- gram here, so too are other colleges. A growing nursing shortage has prompted a number of institutions to make application to begin training. As of right now, there are only four licensed practical nursing programs in the province, one in the Koolenays, one in Kam- loops, one in Vancouver and one in Nanaimo. The College of New Caledonia in Prince George has been working on getling a program ap- proved for two years. Its latest venture is to offer training under the au- spices of the Kootenay- based College of the Rockies which has one of four approved licensed practical nursing programs in B.C. Ironically, the college here once had a program to turn out nurses with di- plomas who could then write exams for their regis- tered nursing credentials. It was cancelled in the early 1990s when a num- ber of things happened, One of them was a changing standard so that university degrees are re- quired for new registered nurses. Bui the collepe was also in budget problems in the early 1990s at the same time government po- licy was brought in to limit the amount of nurses being trained. This was done in the carly-days of health care Stephanie Forsyth restraint when bed num- bers in hospitals began to be reduced. Some nurses were even laid off and those that were graduating couldn’t find jobs. 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