Wendy Osborne introduced our guest speaker Kelly Dunfield on Oct. 17, 2011, from the Nurse Practitioners of New Brunswick. Kelly is also on the board for the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce. She is one of the first Nurse Practitioners in New Brunswick, and we are fortunate to have her in the province.
She is also the mother of Robert and Ryan Dunfield - Robert was the recipient of our Youth Merit Award as well as one of the Rotary Club’s education scholarships in 2011...
The Nurse’s Act was changed in 2002 and practitioners were approved and recognized in New Brunswick. The Nurse Practitioners Degree is a Master’s program. There are 54 Nurse Practitioners in New Brunswick, and the number is growing. In the province, the areas that they work would include Community Health Centers, Public Health, Mental Health, Family Practices, Nursing Homes etcetera.
A goal of Nurse Practitioners is to improve access to primary care. They work in collaboration with physicians. They work with the public and clients like the family physicians, but they don’t admit to the hospital or provide narcotics. If the case is beyond their scope, then they will refer to a family physician. Nurse Practitioners are government-funded. Three or four Nurse Practitioners are working in the Emergency Rooms in Saint John. They can manage the triage levels 1-5. The only province without Nurse Practitioners is the Northwest Territories. Kelly is on the primary health committee for this area.
Jason Sturgeon thanked Kelly on behalf of the Club.