Nurse practitioners in B.C. can now prescribe opioid substitutes
published on April 4, 2018 by Kristyn Anthony in The Columbia Valley Pioneer
Minister of Mental Health and Addictions announced changes at UVic’s School of Nursing
Nurse practitioners in B.C. will now be able to prescribe opioid substitute medications to those experiencing addiction, the province announced Wednesday.
Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Judy Darcy, said the expansion is about providing more tools for those on the front lines of the escalating crisis, when addressing health professionals and nursing students at the University of Victoria.
“This change is critically important and the reason is pretty basic. You need to be alive in order to have a pathway to recovery,” Darcy said.
On Feb. 14, the College of Registered Nurses of British Columbia expanded prescribing standards to allow nurse practitioners to prescribe medications like injectable hydromorphone, buprenorphine-naloxone and methadone.
“Let’s call it what it is– safe alternatives to the poisonous street drugs that are taking so many lives,” Darcy said, adding the crisis is now claiming an average of four lives a day in the province.
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