Posted on: February 10, 2023
Thank-you to those of you who reached out with feedback and questions about the January 5th roll-out memorandum. Island Health values each nursing designation and we recognize the impact of using the wording 'Registered Nurses' – when in fact we were talking about ALL nurses who utilize PharmaNet for patient care. We apologize for the confusion, it was not our intention to leave anyone out.
To clarify, enrollment in PRIME at this time is for all nursing designations (RN, RPN, LPN, Midwife, NP and ESN) who are required to access PharmaNet in their practice and workflow to meet patient care needs in your area.
The PRIME initiative ensures protection of patient and practitioner information by confirming that all PharmaNet users are approved by the Ministry of Health. Therefore, all nurses and other health care professionals are required to enroll for PRIME to be able to continue to access PharmaNet. If you currently have PharmaNet through PowerChart or FirstNet within the scope of your role at Island Health, then you must enroll in PRIME to ensure continued access. If you are unsure if this applies to you, review the FAQ and follow-up with your leader.
PRIME enrollment has been sequential, different roles have been scheduled at different times. There have been a series of memos sent out by both regulatory bodies (e.g. BCCNM) and Island Health to direct which disciplines are to enroll at a particular time. The current enrollment phase provincially is for RNs. To ensure all nursing designations are enrolled by the April 30th deadline, we wanted to also create opportunity for all nursing designations who've been requested previously, who may not have enrolled, to do so now.
If you were part of the groups that have already received your BCCNM email and have not yet completed your PRIME enrollment, we ask that you now follow the steps to enroll by April 30, 2023. If you're a leader, and unsure if this applies to your area, please check the FAQ or reach out to: PharmaNetEnrollment@islandhealth.ca and we can assist you with decision-making.
Thank-you for raising your questions, and helping us to ensure nurses in your area that are impacted by this change have to access to enrollment information.
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO: LEADERS
- Distribute this information to nurses and clinical leadership (e.g. CNEs, CNLs and CC's) in your areas.
- Encourage staff to watch for communications from BCCNM in the email they use to receive regulatory body updates.
- Reinforce expectations for all nurses to complete PRIME enrollment by April 23, 2023.
- Review the FAQ
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO: NURSES
- When prompted to complete PRIME enrollment by the BCCNM, please enroll in PRIME.
- If you are asked for an email address to share your PRIME approval notification, please enter PharmaNetEnrollment@islandhealth.ca.
- Please Note: Failure to complete PRIME enrollment by April 30th, 2023 will result in the Ministry of Health removing access to PharmaNet. Reinstatement will only occur once enrollment has been confirmed.
- Review the FAQ
We appreciate your patience while Island Health teams work on creating the internal process to enable this change. Once the work is completed, you will receive communication on the next steps.
Thank you for your continued support.