N.B. patients on waitlist could be helped with potential nurse practitioner hiring spree

All four political parties that won seats in the Sept. 24 provincial election promised to use the most highly trained nurses more often. Telegraph Journal’s Legislature Bureau editor John Chilibeck believes this means the province may to be ready to start a nurse practitioner hiring spree. He says the move that could cut down on the wait list of 27,500 people without a primary care provider, as well as help people with a family doctor who can’t get an appointment find care within a reasonable period. He mentions the New Brunswick Health Council conducted a big survey last year that suggests four out of 10 patients with a family doctor can’t get an appointment within five days. Many of these people use hospital emergency rooms as their regular place of care, clogging up a system meant for patients suffering trauma or other life-threatening situations.