Image Credit: Interior Health
March 07, 2015 - 7:37 PM
KELOWNA - What began as a study to figure out how Interior Health nurse practitioners could be better incorporated into the health system has turned into three instructional videos for the public to help them understand the role of NPs.
The study, conducted by Interior Health and the School of Nursing at UBC Okanagan, was sparked by a 2012 conversation at a research conference hosted by the Interior Health Rural Health Services. The discussion was about how they might use research to support collaboration between nurse practitioners and Interior Health, particularly in primary care.
“We are thrilled with the outcome of this research study,” UBCO School of Nursing assistant professor Nelly Oelke says in a media release. “It has prompted discussions and action in NP integration, strengthened partnerships between researchers and decision-makers and will provide the foundation for future research.”
The videos are available to view on the Interior Health YouTube channel and consider three questions: what is the role of a nurse practitioner, how are nurse practitioners integrated into the healthcare system and what impacts do nurse practitioners bring to healthcare systems.
Interior Health employs 40 nurse practitioners in a variety of settings such as partnering in care with First Nations communities, caring for the elderly in residential care, providing primary care in a number of rural communities and caring for patients in the cardiac and thoracic programs.
The study took place over a course of 18 months.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Shelley Jordan at sjordan@infonews.ca or call 250-491-0331. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015