I am writing in response to the article written by Dr Cal Gutkin in the March issue of Canadian Family Physician, “Family physician shortages. Are nurses the answer?”1 I would like to express my support for Dr Gutkin’s comments regarding a collaborative primary health care team and for the recent joint vision statement released by the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) and the Canadian Nurses Association.
I am a registered nurse in Halifax, NS, who has practised for the past 7 years in a family practice; before that, I worked in acute care settings. I was thrilled in October 2007 to be asked to attend the CFPC Family Medicine Forum and participate with a group of health care professionals in the collaboration of health care teams in primary care. It was a very exciting time for nurses and physicians; nurses have since been formally invited to attend and participate in this year’s Family Medicine Forum. It was a huge step in improving the collaborative health care team, and I applaud the CFPC for this initiative. We nurses were very pleased with the announcement released by the CFPC and the Canadian Nurses Association that stated: “All people in Canada will have access to a family practice/primary health care setting that offers each person the opportunity to have his/her care provided by each of the following: a personal family doctor and a registered nurse and/or nurse practitioner.”2
In 2005, research was completed on the role of family practice and primary health care nurses in Nova Scotia. Nurses indicated they were collaborating with family physicians, public health nurses, the Victorian Order of Nurses, pharmacists, and many other health care professionals. Most nurses who responded to the survey agreed that collaboration improves continuity of care, alleviates the workloads of family physicians, increases health care satisfaction, is cost effective, and contributes to holistic care. This research was published in Canadian Nurse in June 2007.3
As the president of the newly formed Family Practice Nurses Association of Nova Scotia, I believe evidence from our research in Nova Scotia and communications I have had with other family practice nurses indicate that nurses in Nova Scotia, and nationally, are committed to working with the CFPC, the Canadian Nurses Association, and other health care professionals to support the joint vision statement.
Nurses are working hard on both a provincial and a national level to develop policies to support and promote family practice nursing. The goal is to ensure that registered nurses can and will be working to the full scope of their potential as key members of primary health care teams.
We have many challenges ahead as we consider the aging population, complex health issues, chronic diseases, decreasing resources, and shorter hospital stays. It is imperative that we, as primary health care providers, respond to these needs collectively to provide optimal care for our patients. It is only in working together that solutions and visions can be realized.
There is much work to be done to achieve our shared goal, and family practice nurses are eager to be part of the journey toward achieving the vision of a collaborative primary health care team.
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