CURRENT PRACTICE ALERTS
Alberta’s New Continuing Care Legislative Framework - NEW
How LPNs, RNs, RPNs, CGN1s, and NPs may be affected
- Operators are required to stay within the parameters of their contractual and funding accountabilities, which set minimum expectations for hours of care provided by certain staffing roles (including RNs, LPNs, allied health staff, health care aides, etc.). As these funding accountabilities are not changing, you will likely not see a change at your site.
- However, there are some places in the regulations where you will notice some added flexibility. For example:
- RPNs will no longer be required to have an RN or CGN on-call if they are fulfilling the 24/7 nurse presence requirement in type A continuing care homes (formerly called long-term care).
- LPNs are enabled to be charge nurses under the regulations.
- A Director of Care can be any regulated health professional under the new regulations. This allows for greater flexibility in meeting the needs of specific resident groups and more options in settings where recruitment may be difficult.
- An NP is enabled to fulfil the role of a medical director in special circumstances if granted by Alberta Health (through an exemption).
If you have questions, please contact Alberta Health at [email protected]
APPROVED Documents for Registered Psychiatric Nurse (RPN) Prescribing and Ordering Diagnostic Tests
The following approved documents are requirements for RPN prescribing.
Registered psychiatric nurses (RPNs) who meet certain requirements can become authorized to prescribe Schedule 1 drugs (except controlled drugs and substances) and order common diagnostic tests within a specific clinical practice setting.
KNOW BEFORE YOU APPLY
RPNs can only be authorized to prescribe within a specific practice setting and location. If you move practice settings or locations, your authorization is no longer valid, and you will need to re-apply for authorization in your new practice setting.
RPNs employed by Alberta Health Services and who wish to become an authorized prescriber in their practice area, are asked to contact Tyler Burley([email protected]) to discuss Alberta Health Services practice areas supporting nurse prescribing.
BEFORE APPLYING FOR AUTHORIZATION, AN RPN MUST:
- Hold an active permit and be in good standing with CRPNA
- Have at least 3,000 clinical practice hours as an RPN
- Have at least 750 practice hours in the practice setting/location in which you are seeking to prescribe
- Complete the approved Athabasca University RPN prescribing course
- Have employer support including an employer reference, employer policies, clinical support tools, and collaborative practice relationships in the workplace
AUTHORIZATION PROCESS
Once all the above criteria have been met, please contact CRPNA for the application to become an authorized RPN prescriber.
CRPNA contact information: [email protected] with the subject line: REQUEST FOR RPN PRESCRIBING AUTHORIZATION.