FPNANS Articles & Reports
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In this area you will find a growing collection of articles and reports related to the development of FPNANS and Family Practice Nursing. Many documents are available here in PDF format. You may need to have the freely available 'Adobe Reader' software installed on your computer in order to view and print these documents. Get Adobe Reader.
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Source: Doctors NS Fall Newsletter
By: Tanya MaGee, RN; Corinne Hodder-Malloy, RN; Dee Mason
RNs trained to meet needs of patients across the life span
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Source: The Chronicle Herald - thechronicleherald.ca
ANGELA MOMBOURQUETTE - Mon. May 10
DARALYNN MACLEAN is a nurse with a mission.
That mission is to spread the word about the valuable contribution family practice nurses make to health care (provincial bureaucrats, are you listening?) and since this is National Nursing Week, I'm going to help her do just that.
MacLean is a family practice nurse who works out of a small private clinic in Hatchet Lake. What her job title means is that she works closely with a family doctor to provide patient care - doing everything from prenatal care and well-baby checks to Pap tests and immunizations. She also provides counselling and support regarding sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy and birth control, and education about diabetes, cardiovascular health, nutrition and healthy lifestyles.
"The only things I don't do are prescribe and diagnose," says MacLean. "If a patient comes in and says, ‘I think I might have an ear infection,' I can assess their ears. When the doctor comes in, I'll say ‘The left ear looks a little bit red, so you might want to doublecheck it.' She will come up with the official diagnosis and decide if medication is needed."
And that means the physician has time for more patients. MacLean says her clinic had stopped accepting new patients because of the physicians' heavy workloads, but after three family practice nurses came on board, the physicians were able to start taking on new patients again. "And the physicians all have a better quality of life now, so it's really working out here," she says.
It's also very rewarding for MacLean. She had initially gone into nursing hoping to improve peoples' lives through health promotion and illness prevention, but after only a few years of working in hospitals, she'd found herself wanting to leave the profession.
"I never felt that I was making a difference for anyone. In a hospital setting, basically everything is mechanical. You put a Band-Aid on it and send the patient out the door. It wasn't rewarding at all. But working in family practice, I feel that I am making a difference for a lot of people."
She recalls a patient who came in recently in search of a note that would confirm that she was healthy enough to take on a new job. "I wrote up the note, and while we were talking, I said, ‘You haven't had a blood pressure check in a long time. Let's do that.' So I did it, and it was dangerously high. And then we kept talking, and I saw that she hadn't had lab work in several years. So I said, ‘How about we update that?' And it came back that she was diabetic, and had high cholesterol.
"I thought she was going to regret the day she met me, but she ended up thanking me for saving her life. That meant the world to me."
MacLean says having more family practice nurses could help take some strain off the health system. "We want the health minister to realize what an asset it is to have nurses working with GPs. A lot of physicians will say they can't afford to have a nurse, or they don't see the benefit of having one. But some of them are from the old school and they don't realize what we can do," she says.
"Having a nurse in a practice improves patient access, and it improves care. Overall, it improves the health situation. If the health minister recognizes that, maybe the government will provide some assistance to physicians who want to hire nurses."
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Source: Canadian Nurse - canadian-NURSE.com
MARCH 2010 - PEER-REVIEWED FEATURE
The authors developed a survey as part of a study to explore the role of nurses employed in Canadian family practice residency training programs, which provide physicians with two years of additional training after they have completed undergraduate medical education. Licensed practical nurses, registered nurses and nurse practitioners employed at residency training program sites have a unique opportunity to educate new physicians about nursing scopes of practice and about how to work effectively with nurses.
A total of 127 nurses, including 94 RNs, from 41 program sites across Canada completed the survey. In this article, the authors present the findings specific to this RN group. RN respondents reported performing a wide range of nursing and non-nursing activities, and only 61 per cent indicated that they felt they worked to full scope. That so many RN respondents were performing below their scope of practice may be the result of employer and organizational policies or a lack of understanding and awareness of scope of practice. The authors propose that family practice residency training programs adopt a standardized approach to the role of RNs.
Read More....
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by Dr. Sarah Kredentser
President, College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC)
Adjusting to September tends to be a challenge for all of us. Besides getting children ready for school and their activities, the fall brings the resumption of all those meetings and other commitments that involve many family doctors. While there may be a bit of a summer slowdown in the office, the fall typically is busy. For those of us fortunate enough to work with nurses in our practices, we recognize how invaluable they are in helping us through those busy times. Family practice nurses play an important role in ensuring that our patients are well cared for, and that we are able to function effectively and efficiently as physicians.
Read More....
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On Friday, November 3, 2006 approximately 40 people gathered together to discuss the role of Family Practice Nurses (FPN's) in Nova Scotia. Nurses from across the province joined Physicians, Primary Health Care Coordinators and representatives from the College of Registered Nurses of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Department of Health to gain a common provincial prospective on the current and future role of the FPN.
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"The Role of Family Practice/Primary Health Care Nurses in NS", Carol Todd RN, Marilyn Howlett RN, Mary MacKay RN, Beverly Lawson MSc, published in the Canadian Nurses Journal. Received a grant from Nova Scotia Dept. of Health Nursing Strategy Program to conduct research.
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Written by Pippa Sloan May 2009
The role of Primary Health Care in British Columbia is starting to expand and change. Our focus is shifting and I believe this is a shift that is not only beneficial but is absolutely necessary for successful health care not only in this province but also in this country. It is imperative that Prevention becomes the key to ensuring better outcomes. Better outcomes include: a decrease in the number of patients hospitalized for Chronic Diseases, an increase in accessibility to health care in general; and less 'Orphan' patients that do not have a family physician. Having a Registered Nurse working with physicians in family practice is a practical way to meet these outcomes. [More...]
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Nursing Leadership Volume 22 No. 2 - 2009
Registered Nurses (RNs) in Ontario have been asked to work collaboratively with family physicians (FPs) and other healthcare professionals in the family practice setting to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare delivery (OFPN 2005). Yet, little is known about the optimal ultilization of the RN's role in family practice. [More...]
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Team approach at Hatchet Lake practice means better care for patients
By John Gillis - Health Reporter | The Chronicle Herald
Dr. Harris Crooks was so busy seeing patientsat his Hatchet Lake office that he was considering scaling back his family practice. Registered Nurse Phyllis Blades had worked for years in the neonatal intensive care unit and was ready to give up shift work. But instead of taking a step back, the two dove into a partnership that has allowed them to provide better care for more patients...[More...]
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Profile: Judy Conrad, RN - Family Practice Nurse
Shelburne Medical Associates, Shelburne, NS
Title Suggestion: A Lifeline to Care
Whether she's at the post office or running errands in the mall, Judy Conrad, a registered nurse in Shelburne, Nova Scotia, meets appreciative patients everywhere. You might say it's because she lives and works in a small town, however, it's more likely a result of her commitment to patient advocacy...[More...]
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