Between May 30 and June 2, 2009, eighty people from across health and education in BC gathered in Prince George for the "Collective Commitment to Action: Rural Health Workforce Symposium." The goals of the symposium were to:

• Clarify and strengthen linkages across the many communities that comprise health and education in BC
• Share innovative and practical approaches
• Develop immediate and long-term action strategies

Here is a sample story:

Nurse Practitioner in Fee-For-Service Office

Name: Blair Stanley

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Title: Family Physician

Organization: Interior Health Association

What did you do?: Established a Primary Care Clinic in Trail, BC with a Nurse Practitioner (employed by the Interior Health Authority, or IHA) and a fee-for-service physician. The project began August 2007.

Who was involved?: Dr. Blair Stanley, Lori Verigin NP, Linda Sawchenko and Tom Fulton from the Professional Practice Office (PPO) of the IHA.

Why did it work?: We have established a comprehensive, full service primary care clinic with one MD and one NP. The NP has enabled the physician to increase his capacity of patients from a practice of about 1200 patients to a around 1800 patients. The doctor and nurse work collaboratively to support the patient population. Each clinician has a scope of practice that is complementary to the other. The collaboration, combined with the increased amount of clinical time offered to patients, as well as new programs and services initiated by the NP, has resulted in improved patient care. Improved patient satisfaction and provider satisfaction has been documented in a qualitative study done through the Professional Practice Office (Phase 1)

Lessons learned for improving rural health?: We have initiated many programs to actively manage our patient population and improve access. We have taken advantage of the IHA'a Integrated Health Network Program and the BCMA's Physician Support Program to enhance interprofessional collaboration and to improve our services to patients. We are looking forward to a Phase 2 study that will look to see if we can measure improvements in patient health markers.

The Interprofessional Rural Program of BC (IRPbc),a program of In-BC, offers a unique opportunity for students from various health professional programs to experience work and life in a rural BC community.  Nursing student Carl Jacks recently visited Bella Coola, BC.

Dr. Robin Wilson, Physician, Langley, BC wrote about his Nurse Practitioner student, and of being a Preceptor: We were pleasantly surprised as to what our Nurse Practitioner student was able to accomplish.  Her energy and skill was appreciated throughout the office.  What was integral to the successful experience was what we learned as to the role of a Nurse Practitioner.  We would be open to considering another student in the future.

Tina Braun, Vancouver Native Health Medical Clinic, wrote about their NP experience: We had the opportunity of having a Nurse Practitioner student working in our clinic for four months during 2007.  She meshed well with the staff immediately, working side by side with physicians, nurses and support staff and also established great rapport with the patients she saw.  The NP education along with the nursing approach added an extra dimension to our multidisciplinary comprehensive care clinic.  It was easy to work the NP student into our schedule as she was able to be flexible and accommodate our needs.  It was a very positive experience and a great asset to the clinic.

Dr. Brian Pound wrote about his NP experience: I had an exceptional student, and I thoroughly enjoyed my teaching experience with her.  I enjoy teaching and find that I learn as I teach (not surprisingly!).  Nurse Practitioners seem to be the answer to physician shortages.  I found in my student a practitioner who met the expectations of a holistic approach combined with the medical know how of a physician; she thought like a nurse (holistic) and like a physician (medically competent) and if this is a typical approach by NP's then the patients will benefit.

To submit a testimonial please contact the Preceptor Administrative Coordinator