Located at the Chicoutimi Hospital, Professor Marie-Ève Poitras tries to develop nursing practice in primary care, research after research. Since 2022, she and her team have focused on a gap in the training of health professionals working in family medicine clinics.
“When nurses are trained, they are trained for a hospital environment. But when they have a job in a family medicine group (GMF) or in primary care, they have to train themselves, because they did not learn it at school. The practice is really different when you work in a hospital versus a doctor’s office.”
— Marie-Ève Poitras
This adjustment would be all the more difficult, given the many years that generally pass between obtaining the diploma and accessing a position in GMF. In addition, the clinical nurse must have a wide range of knowledge in all sectors, from neonatology to geriatrics, including chronic diseases, mental illness, and health prevention.
Marie-Ève Poitras participated in the implementation of the training program (Amélie Fournier)
In order to accelerate the learning of these workers and encourage their leadership, a new 2.5-hour training course to enhance their knowledge will now be provided online across the country. In addition to the Saguenay professor, the training was developed in collaboration with Julia Lukewich, professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland, and the Canadian Family Medicine Nurses Association.
“What we want to bring about is a practice that is autonomous. That the nurse be an autonomous professional who collaborates with the family doctor and the social worker, so that she can take care of patients. The objective is to provide better access,” explains Marie-Ève Poitras.
Nurse and researcher, a rare combination
The researcher agrees: few nurses, like her, choose to focus on research aimed at improving professional practice.
The clinical nurse must have a wide range of knowledge in all sectors, from neonatology to geriatrics, including chronic diseases, mental illness, and health prevention. (Peopleimages.com)
“From the moment we know that the science is good, it can take up to 17 years before it is really integrated into the field of health. We took the angle of professional practice because, too often when something is good, we ask nurses to take it and change things. But if we do not support the nurses, if we do not train them adequately, the nurses will never integrate it,” believes Professor Poitras.
She also believes in more advanced training for clinical nurses, with the addition of courses in primary care within the baccalaureate. She also hopes that more continuing education courses will be recognized.
“We think that the primary care profession will become more and more specialized. Because the more the training of family doctors becomes specialized, the training of clinical nurses will clearly become more specialized too,” concludes the researcher.
