The Evolving Scope Of Practice Of Nurses And Rural Communities

The Evolving Scope Of Practice Of Nurses And Rural Communities

The Evolving Scope of Practice of Nurses and Rural Communities

There has been a massive extension in the nurses scope of practice the past 20 or so years, they have moved into more specialised areas and are much more educated and knowledgeable.   This in a rural setting allows the community to be further supported and receive better and timelier care.   Firstly the role of the enrolled nurse (or Division 2 as they are known in Victoria) is expanding and is becoming very similar to the role of a registered nurse (or division 1 as they are known in Victoria).   This is happening through being able to now administer medications and they are now being recognised and utilised more and more.   In rural and remote Australia there is a high population of Indigenous people.   Indigenous nursing is an important part of rural nursing.   Scopes of practice for nurses are expanding everyday due to things such as geographical position and different health concerns.   Nurse practitioners are a relatively new concept to the field of nursing.   Nurse practitioners are playing a very important role in rural communities, stepping into almost mini doctor roles in places where contact from a doctor may be limited to only 15 minutes per patient (Offredy, 2000).   Another way in which nurses scopes are expanding is the use of technology.   Technology in a rural setting allows for better access to health care services and education and for better communication between patients and health care professionals.
Scopes of practice, career expansion opportunities and specialisation have always been limited for an enrolled (or Division 2) nurse not only is suburban but also in rural settings. Internationally in New Zealand and the UK the enrolled nurse being phased out and no longer registering nurses in this classification (McEwan, 2006). Recently legislative changes have allowed enrolled nurses to expand their scope of practice and administer certain medications (Hoodles and Bourke, 2008).   Allowing...