B-C’s health minister says the creation of 200 new nurse practitioner positions in the province is a change that will bring B-C in line with other North American jurisdictions. Adrian Dix says more than 400 of the specialized nurses are already working across the province, and more are needed in order to improve access to care for residents, especially as the population ages. Nurse practitioners can work on their own or as part of a team, diagnosing patients, ordering tests and prescribing medications. Dix says B-C has been slow to integrate the highly trained nurses into the health-care system, adding there are only about eight of them for every 100-thousand people.