B.C. nurse practitioners can now assess crisis patients for involuntary admissions

Nurse practitioners in B.C. now have expanded authority to assess people in crisis for involuntary admission to a treatment facility under the Mental Health Act.

The New Democrat government says it changed the act last spring to help people get care during a mental health crisis, while respecting their legal rights.

Jennifer Whiteside, B.C.’s mental health and addictions minister, says giving nurse practitioners authority to approve involuntary admission for a patient will reduce pressures on emergency departments and help people get faster treatment.

“This is about ensuring that we have the resources in our emergency rooms so that our health care practitioners can take that handoff from a police officer and get that individual into the right kind of care,” she said Thursday.

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Whiteside adds when a person is in a mental health crisis, they require timely, compassionate, and appropriate care.

Under the changes, a person in crisis can be admitted to a mental health facility for up to 48 hours if a nurse practitioner or doctor believes that person requires involuntary treatment.

Whiteside says the changes will also cut the time police officers need to spend in emergency rooms while waiting for patient transfers to be approved.

Mental Health Act change ‘recognizes the capabilities of nurse practitioners’: nurse

It’s a move the Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of B.C. is applauding, saying this will make a difference overall.

“What it does is it recognizes the capabilities of nurse practitioners, they’re an autonomous profession that has the training and skillset in order to be able to provide the assessment for patients requiring psychiatric assessment,” explained Tess Kroeker, a Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of BC board member.

“Right now the process around assessment of patients that require assessment for a mental health concern is done by psychiatrists and physicians. What this is is it’s another layer, completely autonomous, that allows health care practitioners to assess patients in need.”

Kroeker, who is also the president of the Registered Psychiatric Nurses, says nurse practitioners work in a number of settings, including hospitals and primary care.

However, they also work in more remote and rural settings, where oftentimes they are the only health care practitioner available. In these settings, Kroeker says a nurse practitioner having the ability to complete an assessment from start to finish can make a world of difference.

“If a nurse practitioner happens to be assessing someone, and there’s an acute mental health issue or crisis, they’re able to actually complete the certification and have them transported to a designated facility and start to receive treatment right away. It’s a whole other layer of ability to activate the Mental Health Act,” he told CityNews.