Winter 2005 ONP Newsletter

Canadian Nurses Association launches Canadian Nurse Practitioners Initiative

The Canadian Nurses Association has launched an exciting new initiative to help sustain Canada 's health system and improve timely access to quality health care for Canadians.

The Canadian Nurse Practitioner Initiative (CNPI) is supported by $8.9 million from Health Canada 's Primary Health Care Transition Fund. CNPI grew out of the visionary commitment of the Nurse Practitioner planning network (NPPN), a Canada-wide group representing nursing stakeholders, including regulatory bodies, professional associations and governments.

CNPI envisions a renewed health system that optimizes the contributions of nurse practitioners to the health of all Canadians by recognizing and utilizing nurses practitioners as essential providers of quality health care. The goal of the CNPI is to facilitate the sustained integration of the nurse practitioner role within the health system to improve Canadians' access to health services.

The mandate of the CNPI includes developing recommendations and strategies for five strategic components:

• Legislation and Regulation;
• Practice and Evaluation;
• Health Human Resources Planning;
• Education; and
• Change Management, Social Marketing and Strategic Communications.

The objectives of the CNPI include development of the following elements:

• a definition of the Nurse Practitioner role;
• recommendations for collaborative practice models;
• recommendations for curriculum design;
• recruitment, retention and deployment strategies;
• recommendation for legislation and regulation;
• national core competencies;
• a national licensure examination;
• processes to support professional mobility;
• strategies to reduce barriers to practice;
• a communications and marketing plan to promote the nurse practitioner role.

Activities to achieve these objectives include Canada-wide stakeholder consultation, literature reviews, focus groups and workshops.

Although the CNPI's mandate ends in March 2006, sustainability measures are being developed which CNA will lead in the longer term. Together, CNPI and CNA are committed to realizing their far-reaching vision of a renewed health system that optimizes the contributions of nurse practitioners to the health of all Canadians.

The CNPI team includes the following members:

Executive Director:
Marian Knock ( British Columbia );

Managers :

• Madge Applin ( Newfoundland and Labrador ), Legislation and Regulation;
• Rob Calman ( British Columbia ), Practice and Evaluation;
• Lisa Little ( Ontario ), Health Human Resources;
• Gail Shandro ( Alberta ), Education; and
• Linda Dacres ( Ontario ), Change Management, Social Marketing, and Strategic Communications.