As health care systems across Canada and beyond struggle with staff shortages, international experts are backing a promising strategy: expanding the role of advanced practice nurses.
The State of the World's Nursing 2025 report from the World Health Organization cites as key evidence a McGill University-led study that is the largest-ever global review of care delivered by advanced practice nurses, which includes nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists
"We looked at 29 different measures of safety, quality and effectiveness, and found consistent evidence that care patients received from advanced practice nurses was just as good, or even better than standard care, said Kelley Kilpatrick, Associate Professor at McGill's Ingram School of Nursing, who led the study.
Standard care typically involves treatment provided by physicians, other health professionals or healthcare teams. She highlighted primary care, mental health and newborn care as key areas where nurses can improve patient care.
Evidence from Quebec
Kilpatrick's Quebec-based research has shown similar results. Her studies in home care, long-term care and palliative care found that nurse practitioners helped reduce emergency room visits by catching complications early, allowing more patients to remain at home.
Despite recent regulatory changes that expanded nurse practitioners' scope of practice in Quebec, adoption has been slow.
"Not all decision-makers are fully aware of what nurse practitioners can do," noted Kilpatrick. "As a result, they're not always used to their full potential."
Kilpatrick is available to speak about:
- How advanced practice nurses could ease pressure on health systems
- Barriers to using nurse practitioners to their full potential and what needs to change
- What the evidence shows about patient outcomes and quality of care with advanced practice nurses
- Why the WHO named expanding advanced practice nursing a top global priority
