The Scope of Enrolled Nurse Practice: A grounded theory study

Sally Milson-Hawke
Acting Deputy Service Manager, John Hunter Hospital, Hunter New England Health, NSW

Isabel Higgins
Clinical Nurse Consultant (OPAC), Research and Practice Dev; School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Newcastle; Center for Practice Opportunity and Dev, John Hunter Hospital, Hunter New England Health, Newcastle NSW

PP: 44

Abstract

This paper follows an earlier paper presented in this journal where the scope of practice of Enrolled Nurses (EN) was critically reviewed from the available literature on this topic. In this paper the authors (Milson-Hawke & Higgins, 2003) recommended the need for research into the scope of practice of ENs.

The purpose of the paper presented here is to describe the outcomes of a grounded theory study that explored the nature of EN practice within an acute hospital setting and the processes that ENs used to guide their practice.

Although the findings of the study are incomplete because of the limits of time and scope of the study, the theory developed provides a useful description of how of the ENs in this study determined their own scope of practice in the acute hospital setting. The processes that the ENs used emerged as 'doing the work without overstepping the mark'. 'Doing the work without overstepping the mark' required ENs to make judgements about the nature of the work they were being asked to do. The nature of the work of ENs emerged as 'doing routine work' and 'deciding to do non-routine work'. Routine work comprised 'essential nursing' and 'advancing practice'.

Essentially, the ENs in this study determined their own scope of practice as they undertook nursing activities beyond their level of preparation. The impact of the care provided by ENs, however, was not within the scope of this small study. This needs to be the focus of future studies along with the impact on health care of the changing roles of ENs.

| More

Keywords

enrolled Nurses, scope of nursing practice, clinical competencies, grounded theory, practice theory



Sign Me Up

*Email Address
First Name
Surname

Web Feed

Latest Articles

Special Issues

Indigenous Health Care (2nd edn)
Volume 37/1


Nursing Workforce and Workplaces
Volume 36/1
Summary


Modeling of Clinical Nursing Care
Volume 35/1
Summary


Advances in Contemporary Mental Health Nursing – Second Edition
Volume 34/2
Summary | Contents


Advances in Contemporary Nursing and Gender
Volume 33/2
Summary | Contents


Advances in Contemporary Nurse Education
Volume 32/1-2
Summary | Contents


Advances in Contemporary Nursing: History of Nursing and Midwifery in Australasia
Volume 30/2
Summary | Contents


Advances in Contemporary Transcultural Nursing: Pathways to Cultural Awareness (2nd edn)
Volume 28/1-2
Summary | Contents


Advances in Contemporary Palliative and Supportive Care
Volume 27/1
Summary | Contents


Advances in Contemporary Aged Care: Retirement to End of Life
Volume 26/2
Summary | Contents


Advances in Contemporary General Practice Nursing: Role of the Practice Nurse
Volume 26/1
Summary | Contents


Advances in Contemporary Nurse Recruitment and Retention: Problems and Challenges in Human Capacity Development
Volume 24/2
Summary | Contents


Advances in Contemporary Community and Family Health Care
Volume 23/2
Summary | Contents


Advances in Contemporary Indigenous Health Care (1st edn)
Volume 22/2
Summary | Contents


Advances in Contemporary Nursing and Interpersonal Violence
Volume 21/2
Summary | Contents


Advances in Contemporary Mental Health Nursing (1st edn)
Volume 21/1
Summary | Contents


Advances in Contemporary Child and Family Care
Volume 18/1-2
Summary | Contents


Advances in Contemporary Transcultural Nursing (1st edn)
Volume 15/3
Summary | Contents




Website by Arrowsmith Websites. Business, Government & Corporate Websites, Web Hosting, Domain Names & SEO. Maleny, Sunshine Coast, Australia.