The Ontario government has announced that it’s expanding the role of registered nurses to prescribe and administer more medications.
In an announcement Monday morning, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Sylvia Jones said, “Our government continues to take action to ensure Ontarians have faster and easier access to the care they need when they need it. By making changes to allow qualified registered nurses to provide more care and administer the medications they prescribe, people will have more convenient access to safe care close to home, while helping to further reduce wait times at our community clinics and hospitals.”
In the expanded practice, registered nurses will be able to prescribe medications for certain conditions such as contraception, immunizations including the flu shot and COVID-19 vaccines, smoking cessation, and topical wound care in a variety of settings including long-term care homes and retirement homes.
Starting in January 2024, registration is expected to open for registered nurses interested in completing the additional education requirements. The training programs that will be offered at certain colleges and universities are being developed and require approval from the Council of the College of Nurses of Ontario.
“We are collaborating with health system partners and creating the standards that promote safe nursing practice,” said Silvie Crawford, Executive Director and CEO of the College of Nurses of Ontario. “This includes ensuring changes in nurses’ scope of practice, including RN prescribing, are implemented safely for all Ontarians.”
Dr. Doris Grinspun, CEO of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario says this is a good first step toward expanding the role of nurses. “RNAO welcomes with open arms RN-prescribing legislative authority. We urge the government to expand its scope and move expeditiously to integrate the educational requirement into the four-year baccalaureate entry to practice.”
This announcement comes after the province expanded the prescribing powers of pharmacists in Ontario earlier this year. Pharmacists are now permitted to prescribe medications and treat common ailments, including urinary tract infections, pink eye, and cold sores. The Ministry of health said last month that 89 percent of pharmacies in Ontario have opted to participate, with pharmacists now able to treat 22 common ailments.
The Ministry of Health recently invested $4.7 million to create education programs for emergency department nurses and continues to work with the College of Nurses of Ontario to break down barriers for internationally educated nurses. This program has funded more than 3,100 internationally educated nurses since it launched in January 2022. Last year, the Ontario government invested over $14 million to support nearly 600 nurses to upskill their training to work in critical care areas of the hospital.
Since 2018, Ontario has registered 63,000 new nurses. Last year, over 15,000 new nurses registered to work in the province, a record number of new nurses registered to work in the province, with another 30,000 nursing students currently studying at Ontario’s colleges and universities.
However, The Financial Accountability Office (FAO) released a special health care report last March stating that Ontario is projected to be short 33,000 nurses and personal support workers by 2028 despite Premier Doug Ford’s investment in the sector. The report also stated the government will be short $21 billion to cover its commitments over a six-year period to expand hospitals, long-term care, and home care.
According to a statement released last August by The Ontario College of Family Physicians and the Ontario Medical Association, several Northern Ontario hospitals are at risk of closing their emergency rooms. That’s largely attributed to staffing shortages. “For these doctors, closing the ER is not an option as the next ER is often two to three hours away and could mean life or death for patients requiring care,” the report stated.
The college called for “quick and immediate action” to support these family doctors and their patients. Across the north, hospitals are struggling to get temporary doctors (locums) to cover shifts for many reasons, including inexperience with the demands of working in a northern emergency room. There is already a shortage of more than 200 family doctors in the north, the college said, leaving patients in almost every community without adequate access to a family doctor.
