Thompson Rivers University hopes to house a nurse practitioner program in the new Nursing and Population Health Building in two years (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

NURSE PRACTITIONER PROGRAM

TRU working through logistics to establish ‘critical’ nurse practitioner program

Sep 15, 2020 | 4:13 PM

KAMLOOPS — With the new nursing building providing more space, Thompson Rivers University (TRU) is close to adding a nurse practitioner program, which the Dean of Nursing says is critical in the Interior.

Rani Srivastava says the vast space in the 49,000 square foot building and the innovative equipment available allows for a nurse practitioner program.

The university also recognizes the importance of such a program in the Interior, where there is an ongoing doctor shortage.

“It’s really critical to have a nurse practitioner program for the Interior. Right now in B.C., there are three universities that graduate nurse practitioners and neither are in the Interior,” noted Srivastava. “I’ve just moved to Kamloops a few months ago and there’s a minimum eight-month wait for a family doctor.”

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Srivastava continued, “If you look at the evidence from across the country, especially in remote areas, working with vulnerable populations, nurse practitioners have gone to those places and done amazing stuff, so given our geography and who we serve, I think it’s very critically needed.”

TRU hopes to have the first cohort of students in September 2022.

“We’re working through logistics, so the program has been approved, but we need to go back and make a few changes at the university level, and then we still need to go through the approval process with the ministry,” she said. “I think if all goes well, and we’re able to get our submission in and the funding is there, we hope to have the first students coming in about 2022. Fingers crossed.”