Health Transition Fund Final Report - Projects Listed By Subject Area

field), especially for those nurses being placed in remote areas. In the territories and some parts of British
Columbia and Manitoba, registered nurses are required to complete a program of study offered/sponsored
by the Medical Services Branch.
In general, most of the participating organizations in rural and urban settings hired only registered
nurses who had completed an approved program. This was particularly true for the community health
centres in Ontario which limit extended/expanded practice to nurses who have met the certification
requirements for the Registered Nurse - Extended Class (RN - EC) category. A similar situation was noted
in Newfoundland where nurse practitioner graduates of a certified nurse practitioner program were
employed by several contact sites (i.e., medical clinics affiliated with a cottage hospital, emergency/outpatient
department of a rural hospital, health centre, and a Primary Health Care Enhancement Project affiliated with
a local hospital).
Saskatchewan has wide-variations in extended/expanded nursing practice across its health districts.
However, registered nurses employed by the Beechy Project, as well as a number of other sites which have
adopted the primary health care model, are required to have completed the advanced practice program at
the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Technology. Several health authorities in Alberta also only employ
those nurses for extended/expanded practice who have completed the certification requirements for the
Registered Nurse - Expanded Practice (RN - EP) category.
Core Competencies
All of the survey respondents indicated that registered nurses who were working in
extended/expanded roles were required to have well-developed assessment skills and capable of advanced
clinical decision-making. Particular importance was placed on not only having the necessary competency
to perform functions within one’s defined scope of practice but also to recognize situations outside of ones
scope and to initiate referrals or consultations with other providers. Without exception then, all respondents
placed equal emphasis on the nurse’s ability to perform primary care functions autonomously, as well as
his/her ability to forge strong collaborative relations with members of other provider groups, especially
physicians.
The Centre for Nursing Studies in collaboration with
The Institute for the Advancement of Public Policy, Inc. 29