Photo by flickr.com.

The provincial government has added 65 nurse practitioner (NP) training seats to three post-secondary institutions, making training accessible in five regions throughout the province and supporting the growth of B.C.’s health-care workforce.

The government is allocating 30 seats at the University of British Columbia (UBC); 20 seats at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC); and 15 seats at the University of Victoria (UVic).

Government will provide $4.7 million in annual, ongoing funding for the 65 new seats.

To further support the expansions, government also provided $4.1 million to UNBC and $17.5 million to UBC for facility renovations. These seat expansions have increased the number of people training to be nurse practitioners in B.C. to 165 per year.

Nurse practitioners have a background in nursing and complete master’s level clinical training to act as the “most responsible provider,” similar to physicians.

Nurse practitioners often work as part of a primary-care network, which can include family doctors, registered nurses, pharmacists, social workers, midwives, mental-health professionals, Indigenous and community providers, and others.

Nurse practitioners also work in acute care at hospitals or in specialized outpatient settings.

Government has also added 362 registered nursing seats, 40 registered psychiatric nursing seats and 180 licenced practical nurse seats at 17 public post-secondary institutions.