The provincial government has committed $250,000 a year in an effort to encourage more nurse practitioners to practice in remote and rural areas.
The four-point plan includes relocation grants and full pay for nurses who want to upgrade their skills to become nurse practitioners.
A nurse practitioner is not quite a doctor, but is much more than a nurse. Two years of additional training gives them a Master’s degree in nursing and the authority to diagnose, treat, prescribe and refer patients.
The president of the Saskatchewan Association of Nurse Practitioners, Leland Sommer, is congratulating the government on the announcement:
“This is a good thing for the people of Saskatchewan, this is a good thing for health regions and this is a good thing for nurse practitioners.”
The minister responsible for rural and remote health, Randy Weekes, made the announcement at a nurse practitioners conference in Regina.
He says it’s another step in addressing health care issues in small communities:
“I am sure this will help increase the number of nurse practitioners in rural and remote areas of the province.”
Barb Beaurivage is a nurse practitioner. It cost her about $30,000 to upgrade her skills. The new program will provide full wages and benefits to registered nurses who want to take the two years of additional schooling.
Beaurivage says that should help fill a void in remote areas:
“We have to look at ways to use the people who are there in those small communities and I think this is fantastic. We have nurses who want to further their education and who want to provide more services to their patients.”
The program also provides relocation grants of up to $40,000 over five years as an incentive for nurse practitioners to work in hard-to-recruit positions or remote locations.