The changing nature of nursing work in rural and small community hospitals

Abstract

The changing nature of nursing work in rural and small community hospitals

The role of the public health nurse in a changing society

“…2006, Weymouth et al. 2007, Montour et al. 2009), and some agencies have highlighted the need to make strong efforts to retain community nurses in post (Armstrong‐Stassen & Cameron 2005, Hegney et al.…”

The paradoxical effects of workforce shortages on rural interprofessional practice

“…The scarcity of rural clinicians is attributed, inter alia, to heavy workload, on‐call responsibilities, long hours and lack of locum coverage . Due to limited resources, rural clinicians often become generalists in their field requiring a broader knowledge base and a flexible approach to working . In addition, they are expected to carry greater clinical responsibility and provide a wider range of services compared with urban practitioners .…”

New Rural Acute Care Nurses Speak Up

“…This relational component necessitates that RNs possess an increased measure of flexibility and accountability (Montour, Baumann, Blythe, & Hunsberger, 2009). As a result of rural nursing's multifocal, multispecialist nature (MacLeod, Lindsey, Ulrich, Fulton, & John, 2008), RNs need to be suitably educated to provide accessible and appropriate nursing care (Kenny & Duckett, 2003;MacLeod et al, 2004).…”

“…Bigbee (1993) describes the uniqueness of rural nursing practice as a speciality practice area. Thus, RNs need to stay on the cusp of current knowledge by acquiring new skills in response to evolving professional roles, e-technology, and superinfections, often without the support that is more readily available in urban healthcare centers (Montour et al, 2009). Rural RNs must also be nimble and responsive in dealing with practice and work environment challenges such as distance from tertiary referral centers; size and composition of healthcare teams; and size, composition, and culture of the rural community (Mills, Birks, & Hegney, 2010).…”