Red River College is now accepting applications for its new Nurse Prescriber program, which will prepare nurses for advanced career opportunities while helping practicing registered nurses meet new provincially mandated requirements.

Last month, the province announced it would bring the registered nursing profession into the Regulated Health Profession Act (RHPA) effective May 31, 2018. It will also create a new designation – the Registered Nurse Authorized Prescriber, or RN (AP) — the goal of which is to increase access to safe and effective health care in Manitoba.

RRC’s new advanced certificate program meets the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba’s educational requirement for the RN (AP) role as set out in legislation. An RN (AP) will have the competencies and authority to prescribe certain medications, and to order screening and diagnostic tests in a defined area of practice.

“Red River College had to move quickly to help nurses and their employers adapt to the new requirements of provincial legislation, particularly those RNs who are currently working as prescribers and will now need to meet the new requirements,” says Christine Watson, RRC’s Vice-President, Academic.

“Our Nursing department worked closely with the province, Manitoba nurses, the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba, and health-care facilities to have this new program in place for the current academic year, and well in advance of the changes coming into effect. I want to commend our Nursing department for its responsiveness and for its leadership in ensuring Manitoba nurses have the training options they need in order to meet the new requirements.”

RRC currently offers two pre-requisites to this program – Pharmacology for Nurses and Health Assessment/Prescriber — both of which will be offered three times a year.

The Nurse Prescriber program is available to any registered nurse practicing across the province; its theory sections are completed primarily through distance training. Theory components are complemented by 160 hours of supervised clinical practicum.

Additionally, nurses have the option to specialize in one of two streams:

Travel Health: Nurses who specialize in this stream will explore how diseases are developed, concepts of immunology, and medications used to prevent and treat travel health diseases and conditions. They’ll also learn how their foundational knowledge can be applied to components of the nursing process, including assessment of travel health.

Reproductive Health/Sexually Transmitted or Blood-Born Infections: Nurses who specialize in this stream will explore how diseases are developed, concepts of immunology, and the safe assessment, diagnosis and treatment of specific reproductive and STBBI conditions. In addition, they’ll learn preventative practice measures and best practices in ongoing monitoring of clients.

Learn more about RRC’s new Nurse Prescriber program.