Will assist in reducing surgical wait times, improve access to care
Nurse practitioners with advanced education in anesthesia care will soon help reduce wait times and improve access to patient care for surgical procedures.
The new Diploma in Anesthesia Care at the Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing is the first program of its kind in Canada. One of the hallmarks of U of T’s Bloomberg Faculty is educating nurse leaders in advanced clinical practice.
The program is available to Master of Nursing students (Nurse Practitioner Field) as a concurrent Diploma in Anesthesia Care, and as a Post Master of Nursing (NP Field) stand alone Diploma in Anesthesia Care.
Current and anticipated gaps in health care service by the government’s HealthForceOntario Health Human Resource Strategy support the collaborative practice model that includes NPs with a Diploma in Anesthesia Care.
“Congratulations to the Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing for offering the first diploma in anesthesia care in Canada,” said Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Deb Matthews. “This is a considerable achievement for the university and a great opportunity for NPs to add to their credentials while providing better access to health care.”
Bloomberg assistant professor, Jiao Jiang said, “These nurse practitioners will make important contributions to the holistic treatment of patients, by being able to provide care starting with pre-op, right up to discharge.” Jiang worked as an anesthesiologist in China for six years before coming to the Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing to study. She will now teach in the new NP Anesthesia Care program, which she also helped develop.
Program coordinator and Bloomberg professor, Cynthia Struthers said, “These nurse practitioners will be better equipped to provide a continuum of care, as well as careful monitoring of sedated patients who may need extra care – effectively impacting waiting times.”
These students will also learn advanced pain management, equipping them to take a leadership role in collaboration with anesthesiologists on acute pain teams in hospital settings.
Struthers, who is also past president of Canadian Association of Advanced Practice Nurses, added that clinical leadership and approaches to collaborative and inter-professional care will be part of the program. “We want to show NPs how to make these roles work,” Struthers said.
Chief Nursing Officer at the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Vanessa Burkoski, said, “ The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care applauds all of those at the Bloomberg Faculty who worked to achieve this significant milestone in nursing education that is part of a larger strategy to improve health care access to all Ontarians.”
Dean Sioban Nelson said, “This is a truly historic event and the Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing is excited to embark on this new phase in advanced nursing practice education in the province. The Bloomberg Faculty would like to thank the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care for its vision and leadership, and for its farsighted initiative that set us on this path. It is a path that recognizes the trusted leadership roles that nurses play every day in our health care system and the important new roles nurses can fulfil that will improve access to quality health care in the province.”
Nurse practitioners work in anesthesia care in over 100 countries in the world.
NPs are Registered Nurses with additional educational preparation and experience that possess and demonstrate the competencies to autonomously diagnose, order and interpret diagnostic tests, prescribe pharmaceuticals and perform specific procedures within their legislated scope of practice.
The Diploma in Anesthesia Care program will be open for enrolment on May 17, 2010.
To become a clinical leader and further your nursing career apply by June 15 to: http://bloomberg.nursing.utoronto.ca/prospectives.htm
For further information about the program contact:
Program coordinator, Cynthia Struthers cynthia.struthers@utoronto.ca 647-409-3553
Program coordinator and instructor, Jiao Jiang jiao.jiang@utoronto.ca
Tammy Thorne, Communications Coordinator tammy.thorne@utoronto.ca 416 946 -3657
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY TO BE ANNOUNCED FOR NURSING WEEK (May 10 -16)
Tammy Thorne
Communications Coordinator
Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing
University of Toronto
416-946-3657