SANP 2022 Annual Report

SANP ANNUAL REPORT

Nurse practitioners enhancing quality health care for the residents of Saskatchewan,

advocacy, education, research, and leadership.

Increased our membership Perks by adding options to members for a discount on UpToDate, Perkopolis and monthly education sessions. Begin monthly educational sessions that included topics:

Autosomal Dominant Poly Cystic Kidney Disease “Anxiously’ Awaiting Outcome”- Treating Major Depression with or without Anxiety with Urgency Optimizing the Management of Chronic Migraine in a New Therapeutic Landscape “Optimizing TeleHealth for Diabetes Management in Primary Care” Providing trans-inclusive healthcare Understanding Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

An Update on Elimination of HCV in Canada Binge eating Disorder

SANP in 2022

SANP introduced a Pilot Mentorship program for new graduates. The program includes six new graduates who have been matched with six experienced NPs. We anticipate a formal roll out of the program in 2023 SANP continued to advocate for the nurse practitioner role during meetings with the Chief Nursing Officer, Ministry and Chief Nursing Officer, SHA. In addition to these meetings SANP responded to a number of news articles resulting in interviews with a number of news medias.

Finally, we have organized with he NDP Health Critic a petition to take forward to government continuing to advocate for the nurse practitioners to be the utilized to their full capacity.

Introduced NP Town Halls

A Clinical Approach to Obesity Alternative Roles in NP Practice Conversation with CRNS Role of SANP

As we move into 2023, we will continue to advocate for nurse practitioners to be integrated into all areas of the health system in Saskatchewan.

Presidents Report

I am incredibly proud of the work our executive has accomplished this year! We have truly lived our association’s values: excellence, professional leadership, integrity, empowerment, innovation, and collaboration. Through our advocacy, we have enhanced the voice of nurse practitioners in Saskatchewan.

We kicked off the year by hosting the first of four Town Halls which we would facilitate this year. The opportunity to come together with NPs across the province outside of our annual conference to expand our knowledge and network has been very rewarding. I particularly enjoy seeing our student membership attend these sessions and am very proud of the work we have done in reaching out to student NPs and involving them in the association. We are thankful to the educational institutions, University of Saskatchewan, and University of Regina/Saskatchewan Polytechnic, for inviting us to present to students on the importance of advocacy, and how it relates to our core competencies as NPs. We have again this year provided free memberships to students and will now further support their professional growth and development with the launch of our pilot mentorship program.

Our relationships with stakeholders, the Ministry of Health and Saskatchewan Health Authority, have continued to advance. Through regular meetings and correspondence with the Chief Nursing Officers, and other executive, we have advocated for: changes to regulations which would grant NPs admission and discharge privileges; the need for enhanced/renewed efforts for recruitment and retention of NPs in rural and remote communities; better utilization of NPs within primary health care settings in both urban and rural communities; leadership roles for NPs within the SHA that are comparable to those of physicians; and including NPs in the planned staffing compliment at the upcoming urgent care centers in our urban settings.

Presidents Report

We have been the cohesive voice for NPs across the province; providing feedback to our educational institutions, regulatory body, unions, and other stakeholders. Need for improved mentorship for NPs and preceptor opportunities for NP students; feedback regarding the proposed NP entry level competencies; regulatory barriers to NP scope of practice; providing feedback on NP practice standards; and expressing a need for NPs to be differentiated from RN and RPN colleagues within SUN. While much work remains for our association in advocating for changes on behalf of Saskatchewan NPs, we are very pleased that the CRNS 2022 proposed bylaws have been officially approved. This change is a result of years of advocacy work and will positively impact the evidence based care that NPs provide to their patients in ordering diagnostic imaging, reducing redundancies and streamlining patient care.

Our executive has pushed NPs to the forefront in the media and feel confident that this momentum and increased public awareness of our role and underutilization will further propel conversations with Government. Our parliamentary petition has gained support from all corners of the province, and we look forward to being present in the Legislature this fall when these petitions are presented. It is time for the better utilization of NPs!

I have sincerely enjoyed my year as the SANP President and thank you all for your encouragement and support.

Presidents Elect Report

We kicked the year off with our first Town-hall. The Town-hall had representatives from the College of Registered Nurses of Saskatchewan and we discussed regulations that impact nurse practitioners practice that work privately in medical aesthetics. The Town hall was well attended and well received. We have hosted a few more Town halls through out the year, the most recent discussing NPs and the role of the union which generated an excellent discussion and initiated a working group to research the issue further. In addition to these Town halls we also started monthly education sessions that are free for members. Providing education sessions was a part of our strategic plan to gain more membership.

We continued advocacy work and meeting with key stakeholders to discuss advancing the NP role and utilizing NPs more efficiently across the province. Tara and I took part of multiple meetings with the Chief Nursing Officer with the government of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Health Authority Chief Nursing Officer, and the NDP health critic Vicki Mowat as well as with SUN president Tracy Zambory. Our meeting with the NDP health critic resulted in our current petition to the government, and a plan to attend session later this fall.

As president elect I attended bi monthly meetings with the Nurse Practitioner Association of Canada (NPAC). Issues addressed here included inconsistencies with insurance companies accepting NP signatures for insurance forms, multiple discussions regarding provinces advocating for alternate level of funding, and a meeting with the newly appointed Chief Nursing Officer of Canada. A form was developed and circulated to members to be completed if a insurance company denied forms completed by an NP and NPAC was addressing these companies directly.

Presidents Elect Report

SANP was invited to have members on other committees this year including the newly developing SaskGuidelines. Tara, Michelle, and I volunteer for this exciting new venture that is spearheaded by the Ministry of Health and a urologist. The goal is to build clinical practice guidelines in Saskatchewan for Saskatchewan providers. I volunteered for the Vaccine Uptake Committee with the Saskatchewan Health Authority. VUST was made up of multiple health disciplines to provide information regarding covid vaccination to increase vaccination rates here in Saskatchewan.

Enhancing mentorship to new grads is a goal of our current strategic plan. SANP recently launched the pilot for a mentorship program. We currently have 6 new NPs enrolled, each matched with a NP mentor. We are excited for this pilot and hope to utilize all the information gathered to launch a official mentorship program later next year. It has been a busy year for SANP and I have enjoyed serving as President elect. I look forward to the privilege of serving as President in 2023!

Cassandra Leggott NP

Education Report

The 2022 Nurse Practitioner Education Conference (NPEC) is planned for 4-5 Nov 22, as a hybrid in-person and virtual event. The planning committee is looking forward to bringing together NPs from across the province for continuing education and networking opportunities, while continuing to provide access to the conference for those unable to travel to Saskatoon. As the SANP Education Co Chair, along with Louise Peterson NP, I was able to contribute to the planning of this year's education conference for the 8th consecutive year. I could not have done this without the support of the planning committee, and Carol Tebay of Executive Arrangements. The NPEC planning committee is grateful for the sponsorship and support of multiple corporate and non profit organizations, whose contributions have helped to make the conference a success once again.

This year, we opted to step foot back into an in person conference, and attempted to have as many NP presenters as possible. The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly impacted us all both in the workplace, as well as in our personal lives. As we meet together again this year, take time to foster new relationships with NP colleagues across the province and take a moment to celebrate the fact that we have made it through an incredibly difficult time in our careers. I thank the SANP, and my NP colleagues, for allowing me the opportunity to help facilitate continuing education opportunities to enhance the clinical skills and advanced knowledge base of Saskatchewan NPs.

Education

Communication Report

This year was a busy year on the Communications committee. We had a vacancy from the committee with a resignation and it has been temporarily filled with new member Tara Rudy.

The social media pages continue to promote SANP events and update SANP members on activities. Information on SANP Town Halls, SANP education events, career postings and information of media involvement can all be found on our social media page. We have also recently been increasing our presence and networking on Twitter and have connected with several nursing and physician advocacy groups advocating for team based care.

This year, representatives from SANP gave several media interviews through the newspaper, CBC and CJME. These interviews promoted the role of the NP in Saskatchewan as well as highlighter the barriers NPs face in being fully implemented in Saskatchewan's health care system.

In the coming year, members can expect continued updates on the SANP social media pages, as well as through email communication.

Pikaluk

Rudy

Treasure Report

Moving Forward in 2023

SANP is excited for 2023 and continuing their work in increasing the utilization of NPs in the Saskatchewan health care system.

We look forward to launching our formal mentorship program, continue to provide monthly educational sessions for members, strengthen our relationship with stakeholders and continue the discussions with nurse practitioners at the NP Townhalls.

As of the printing of this report practicing nurse practitioners are 332 strong in Saskatchewan. SANP continues year after year to increase membership. We encourage current members to advocate for the work of SANP and encourage colleagues to become members.