Athabasca University News

Article by Lauren Mill, Feb. 19, 2025

Read the full article HERE

February 6, 2025, Article published in RhPAP Rural Health Beat by Lorena Franchuk

Rural nurse practitioner appreciates opportunity for trauma training. Nurse practitioner Sara Lee enrolled in the General Emergency Medicine Skills (GEMS) course to help her feel more comfortable dealing with emergencies when she works as a locum throughout Alberta.

“Knowledge is power.” The famous quote originally attributed to Francis Bacon has been around for centuries and still rings true for Sara Lee. The nurse practitioner (NP) spends much of her time as a locum, providing temporary relief for health professionals who work in rural and remote areas of Alberta.  “It’s such a cliché, but really, knowledge is power and there’s never enough,” says Lee. 

Get to know Sara Lee

PRESS RELEASE

Jan 15, 2025

Media contact

Communications@albertanps.com

Edmonton (Jan 13, 2025).  

The long-awaited interpretation letter of the Canada Health Act is another step forward in a marathon of change for public healthcare in Canada. The recent announcement and Service Delivery Letter sent from Minster Holland provides the necessary guidance to provinces and territories (PTs) to include nurse practitioners, pharmacists and midwives into provincial health plans. By April 1, 2026 patient’s should no longer be paying out of pocket for necessary primary care services. This will require collaborative legislative changes between the PTs and their respective provider associations. 

The Nurse Practitioner Association of Alberta (NPAA) commends Minister Holland in this essential piece of work for the country.  Multiple public health reports since 1970 (The Bourdeux,1970; Romanow, 2002; Naylor, 2015; and Ernst and Young, 2019) have all cited nurse practitioners as an integral solution to healthcare system shortages. The biggest barrier identified to this solution has been the provision of direct reimbursement models to fully integrate NPs into the public healthcare system.  

Nurse practitioners have been regulated to provide primary care services since 1996 and have been providing primary care services in underserved communities since 1890.  It is beyond time that legislation across the country keep pace with scopes of practice of multidisciplinary providers to ensure that patients get the affordable and accessible health care that they desperately need. 

With Minister Holland’s necessary decree, the NPAA looks forward to continuing to work with the Government of Alberta and Alberta Health to improve access to primary care services to Albertans. 

About the NPAA: 

The NPAA is the provincial voice for Nurse Practitioners in the province of Alberta. The mission is to advocate and advance NP Practice to build a healthier Alberta with a vision that NPs will be recognized as healthcare leaders to ensure every Albertan has access to expert NP care. We are actively working with key stakeholders to remove barriers to patient access to NP services.

Jennifer Mador, NP, MN-NP(FAA)

President NPAA

president@albertanps.com