2024-01-09 20:58:56
HEALTH. Six front-line specialist nurse practitioners offered numerous services and care to the population of Guadeloupe and the surrounding area during a six-month internship which ended in December.
This was a pilot project led by the Chaudière-Appalaches Integrated Health and Social Services Center (CISSS-CA). The objective is to allow students to go to other settings, thereby increasing access to care.
It was created after universities mentioned that they were going to decrease the number of admissions to their programs due to a lack of internship locations. “There was a lack of places to train IPS. We found that it didn’t look good,” summarizes Samuel Gagné, himself a nurse practitioner specialized on the front line.
This is how the idea of transforming the former CHSLD of La Guadeloupe into a clinic was born. “The CISSS liked the idea. Several departments came together to help us transform the rooms into consultation offices,” he adds.
In Mr. Gagné’s opinion, the internship went well. “We had to make some adjustments at the beginning, but it was a success,” he assures us. “They were able to see a lot of patients and were exposed to a lot of other professionals, whether doctors, [aux professionnels de] the Intensive Functional Rehabilitation Unit (URFI) in Beauceville and a nurse practitioner specializing in mental health. »
The three interns we met share this feeling. Each had its own office and could count on the expertise of URFI, doctors, as well as Mr. Gagné and Maxime Fortin, who is also IPSPL and instigator of the project.
“We were able to perform microsurgeries in addition to seeing different approaches with professionals,” comments one of the three interns we met, Catherine Turcotte, from Saint-Georges. “The fact of being several allowed us to discuss the cases encountered to improve our knowledge,” adds Sarah Bouchard, from Quebec. “This collaboration better represents what we will experience in the field after the internship,” adds Ève Delisle, from Lévis.
In total, the six IPS offered 1,739 appointments to patients in six months, including 600 for pure orphan patients, that is to say they do not have family doctors and are not affected to a particular GMF. Patients were willing to travel from afar. Some came from Laurier-Station or even Saint-Édouard-de-Lotbinière. “This shows how difficult access to a family doctor can be,” says Ms. Fortin.
The fact of offering this service outside a large center represents another advantage according to the latter. “It’s usually always in a big center. An advantage of Guadeloupe is that it is located halfway between Saint-Georges, Thetford Mines and Lac-Mégantic. It’s a long way, but it’s so difficult to get an appointment that people are willing to travel and come back,” he notes.
Three of the interns will continue to work for the CISSS-CA, a retention that Ms. Fortin welcomed. “Each IPSPL can care for between 500 and 800 patients. This means at least 1,500 people can be supported. »
The work of the IPSPL
To become an IPSPL, the person must first be a clinical nurse and have worked 3,300 hours on the front line to be eligible for the master’s degree. “For UQAR, this represents two and a half years more study than the BAC,” specifies Ms. Fortin.
An IPSPL can do many of the tasks associated with a family doctor. “We can take care of anything that is common, such as back pain or headaches, or chronic illnesses, bronchitis for example. Also, we have no restrictions regarding the prescription of medications,” she says.
Other emerging frontline specialist nurse practitioners will complete their internship in Guadeloupe in the summer of 2024.
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