Crystal Head (left) of Vernon was the first RN in B.C. to prescribe Suboxone, and Kyle Boulton (right) of Vernon was the first RPN to subscribe SROM in B.C. (Photos courtesy of Interior Health)

By Liam Verster

Substance-Use Treatment

Vernon is home to two milestones in combating B.C.’s overdose crisis

Mar 16, 2022 | 1:00 PM

Two major steps to reduce the number of British Columbians dying from toxic drugs have gotten their starts in Vernon.

The opioid agonist treatment (OAT) program rolled out in B.C. on March 16, 2021, and Crystal Head of Vernon was the first registered nurse in the province to write an OAT prescription for opioid use disorder.

Since then, the nurse prescriber team in I-H has grown to include 16 nurses in 11 communities, including Vernon, Kelowna, Revelstoke and Penticton.

In the year of operation, nurse prescribers in the Interior have issued more than 450 prescriptions for Suboxone, an OAT medication that supports people with opioid use disorders.

When the expansion of service to combat B.C.’s overdose program was first launched in March 2021, it allowed for registered nurses (RNs) and registered psychiatric nurses (RPNs) to be trained to prescribe Suboxone.

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I-H and other health authorities worked with the B.C. Centre on Substance Use, the B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives and the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions to expand the nursing scope, leading to provincial training being made available in November for RNs and RPNs to prescribe slow release oral morphine (SROM) and Methadone.

I-H was again the first health authority to have someone complete the program, and again that person was stationed in Vernon.

Kyle Boulton, an RPN in Vernon, wrote the first prescription for SROM on Feb. 16, 2022.

I-H notes that, along with writing prescriptions, RNs and RPNs play a big role in combating overdose deaths by working in collaboration with mental health and substance use and primary care teams, and with community agencies, to support individuals seeking treatment and helping connect them to a range of community services, including housing.