“It’s a great time to be a nurse practitioner”
“It’s an exciting time to be working for Vancouver Coastal Health as a Nurse Practitioner (NP): leadership is excited about role development and the number of NPs is constantly growing,” says Jennifer Honey, nurse practitioner on the North Shore.
“With key roles in addictions, mental health and complex chronic diseases, as NPs we have carved ourselves crucial roles in health care delivery – this is so cool!”
Jennifer loves working on the North Shore because it has all the assets and innovation of the big city, with the feel of a small town.
“It feels very grounded here, and the team is very connected,” she says.
Quick Response Team
Jennifer is part of the Quick Response Team (QRT), which provides urgent primary care for seniors at home in an effort to reduce emergency room visits for non-emergency reasons. The team consists of a registered nurse, an occupational therapist, and Jennifer as a nurse practitioner.
“I love that I got to build and develop this role, and continue to shape and reframe service delivery to suit the needs of the community. The average age of my clients is over 90, so this job has provided me with the opportunity to meet some incredible women and men who have made enormous contributions in shaping history,” she says.
“Over the last six years, I have had the privilege of caring for several centenarians – or people who have lived to be 100 or older. Now, keep in mind, I only visit people who still live at home, so that is notable. My oldest patients have been 107 and 108. One particular day, I visited clients who were 101, 103 and 105 years old – pretty remarkable!”
The growing role of nurse practitioners
“When I started here in 2012, there were only two NPs in North and West Vancouver. Since then, we have expanded to six of NPs with VCH and one in private practice! That’s a three-fold increase,” says Jennifer.
“We are all excited to see what is to come for Nurse Practitioners on the North Shore. The energy in the Nurse Practitioner community at VCH right now is palpable – it’s a great time to be joining the team!”
To explore nurse practitioner roles at VCH
You can read about other nurse practitioners profiled in VCH News. For current nurse practitioner opportunities at VCH, visit careers.vch.ca.