Archives
Practice Nursing in Rural Australia
Desley Hegney
Professor; Director, Research and Practice Development Centre, University of Queensland; Blue Care, Brisbane QLD
Abstract
Rural Australia faces unique issues in workforce management and health care delivery. This paper provides an integrated review of the existing literature describing the work of practice nurses in rural Australia and the perceptions of consumers. Distinct differences are evident in the role of the practice nurse between rural and metropolitan practices. A key difference is that the rural practice nurse is known within the community and plays an important role in care coordination.
Findings from two studies of consumer perceptions of the role of PN in rural areas suggest that the more remotely located the consumer, the greater is their perception that the nurse works under the direct supervision of the doctor. Currently, remotely located residents do not support an expanded autonomous role for the nurse. Greater research is required to develop the role of the practice nurse in rural Australia.
Keywords
rural, practice nursing, general practice, Australia
References
Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (2006) What is rural medicine? Accessed at http://www.acrrm.org.au on 25 October 2006.
AIHW (1998) Health in rural and remote Australia: the first report of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare on rural health, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra.
AIHW (1999) The health and wellbeing of Australia's children, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra.
AIHW (2003a) Rural, regional and remote health: information framework and indicators. Version 1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra.
AIHW (2003b) Rural, regional and remote health, a study on mortality: summary of findings, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra.
AIHW (2003c) Rural, regional and remote health, a study on mortality, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra.
AIHW (2004) Rural, regional and remote health: a guide to remoteness classifications, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra.
AIHW (2005a) Rural, regional and remote health: indicators of health. Rural health series No 5, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra.
AIHW (2005b) Rural, regional and remote health: information framework and indicators. Version 1b, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra.
AIHW (2006a) Rural, regional and remote health: mortality trends 1992-2003. Rural health series no 7, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2006b) Australia's Health: 2006, Australian Government, Canberra.
Caldwell TM, Jorm AF, Knox S, Braddock D, Dear KBG and Britt H (2004) General practice encounters for psychological problems in rural, remote and metropolitan areas of Australia, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 38:774-780.
Cheek J, Price K, Dawson A, Mott K, Beilby J and Wilkinson D (2002) Consumer perceptions of nursing and nurses in general practice. Centre for Research Into Nursing and Health Care, University of South Australia, Adelaide.
Department of Health and Aged Care (1999) Measuring Remoteness: Accessibility / Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA) (1999) Adelaide Department of Health and Aged Care & University of Adelaide, Adelaide.
Department of Health and Ageing (2005) MBS items (10998, 10999) for Pap smears taken by a practice nurse in a regional, rural or remote area, Department of Health and Ageing, Canberra.
Department of Health and Ageing (2007a) Rural Health Scholarships accessed at
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/wcms/publishing.nsf/connect/
ruralhealth-scholarships-index.htm
on 1 March 2007.
Department of Health and Ageing (2007b) Registrars Rural Incentive Payments Schemes accessed at
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/wcms/publishing.nsf/content/pcd-ripps
on 1 March 2007.
Department of Health and Ageing (2007b) Doctor Connect accessed at
http://doctorconnect.gov.au/internet/old/publishing.nsf/content/
work-incentives%20for%20gps
on 1 March 2007.
Department of Primary Industries and Energy (1994) Rural, Remote and Metropolitan Areas Classification: 1991 Census Edition, DPIE, Canberra.
Farmer J, West C, Whyte B and Maclean M (2005) Primary health-care teams as adaptive organisations: exploring and explaining work variation using case studies in rural and urban Scotland, Health Services Management Research 18: 151-164.
Halcomb E, Davidson P, Daly J, Yallop J and Tofler G (2004) Australian nurses in general practice based heart failure management: implications for innovative collaborative practice, European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing 3: 135-147.
Hegney D (1996) Rural Nursing in Australia: A Review, Australian Journal of Rural Health 4: 1-10.
Hegney D, Pearce S, Rogers-Clark C and Martin-McDonald K (2005) Close, but still too far. The experiences of people with cancer commuting from a provincial town to a major city for radiotherapy treatment, European Journal of Cancer Care 14: 75-82.
Hegney D, Buikstra E, Fallon A, Martin-McDonald K, Patterson E and Rees S (2004) Consumer Perceptions of Practice Nursing, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba.
Humphreys JS, Mathews-Cowey S and Weinard HC (1997) Factors in accessibility of general practice in rural, Australia Medical Journal of Australia 166: 577-580.
Issakidis C and Andrews G (2006) Who treats whom? An application of the Pathways to Care model, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 40: 74-86.
Kamien M (2004) The viability of general practice in rural Australia, Medical Journal of Australia 180: 318-319.
Laven GA, Beilby JJ, Wilkinson D and McElroy HJ (2003) Factors associated with rural practice amongst Australian-trained general practitioners, Medical Journal of Australia 179: 75-79.
Ng JQ. Hall SE, Holman DJ and Semmens JB (2005) Inequalitites in rural health care: differences in surgical intervention between metropolitan and rural Western Australia, ANZ Journal of Surgery 75:265-269.
Pascoe T, Foley E, Hutchinson R, Watts I, Whitecross L and Snowdon T (2005) The Changing face of nursing in Australian general practice, Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing 23: 44-50.
Smith J and Hays R (2004) Is rural medicine a separate discipline? Australian Journal of Rural Health 12: 67-72.
Tolhurst H, Madjar I, Schultz L and Schmidt A (2004) Nurses in urban and rural general practice: who are they and what do they do? Australian Family Physician 33: 185-187.
Watts I, Foley E, Hutchinson R, Pascoe T, Whitecross L and Snowdon T (2004) General Practice Nursing in Australia, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners & Royal College of Nursing, Australia Canberra, Australia.
Wilkinson D (2000) Inequitable distribution of general practitioners in Australia: Analysis by State and Territory using census data, Australian Journal of Rural Health 8: 87-93.
Willis E, Condon J and Litt J (2000) Working relationships between practice nurses and general practitioners in Australia: a critical analysis, Nursing Inquiry 7: 239-247.
Young AF and Dobson AJ (2003) The decline in bulk-billing and increases in out-of-pocket expenses for general practice consultations in rural areas of Australia, 1995-2001, Medical Journal of Australia 178: 122-126.
eContent Home