I think that’s great. I think the
PLAR process is an important one and certainly an avenue to help some of our nurses get to the level of NP. It’s good to hear that that’s where some of the money’s going and we’ll be continuing to invest in our current nurses who wish to upgrade to nurse practitioners.
I want to drop back to the Community Health Nurse Development Program. As I indicated before, there was specific reference in the Premier’s statement to enhancing the Community Health Nurse Development Program, but based on the reductions, it looks like you’re cutting the program by four positions.
Given the importance of the community health nurses and our desire to maximize northern employment and give northern nurses an opportunity to transition from a more hospital-based
setting into a community-based setting — where our real demands and our real challenges lie — I’m not sure how I
can reconcile the Premier’s
statement to the departmental cuts in light of maximizing northern employment and supporting the development of nurses for community health roles. If you can help me understand that, that would be great.