Professional Development Challenges for Rural and Remote Nurses

This essay examines the multifaceted challenges faced by registered nurses working in rural and remote areas, particularly within the Australian context, with an emphasis on remote indigenous communities. The primary focus is on the professional development of nurses, highlighting issues such a...Read More

RURAL AND REMOTE AREA NURSING
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Remote area nurses work in a range of setting across Australia and the region with an
emphasis on remote indigenous communities. They certainly cover mining, agricultural, tourism
refugee and international communities and many more. It is essential for the nurses to update
their skills and knowledge level so that the minimum standard of working can be maintained. In
Australia, a significant minority of health care professionals work in locations that are at a
distance from major cities; therefore it sometimes lacks in diverse specialist services. Rural
practices followed in clinics differs markedly from the practice of metropolitan clinicians and it
also requires greater diversity skills and knowledge. This is also essential for the registered
nurses to undergo with professional development so that numerous skills can be developed for
the purpose of delivering the best services to the patients.
Nurses in Australia are experiencing several issues in the realm of professional
development especially because of non-availability of resources (Hungerford and et.al., 2016).
Training is regarded as best way through which individuals can learn many things regardless of
their job roles and responsibilities. Registered nurses in Australia are those graduates who have
completed nursing programs and met the requirements outlined by a country, state and province
for the purpose of obtaining a nursing licence. Since, their scope of practice is determined by the
legislation; therefore it is essential for them to consider all the framework so that they can
manage all their work practices in the best possible manner.
For instance- nurses do not have the availability of continuous professional development
sources which further affects their job roles. Nurses are having major issues in professional and
knowledge development because they are not having suitable opportunities for training and
learning. Lack of training not only affects the work practices; but also it impedes the learning
and growth prospects (Professional issues in nursing: challenges and opportunities. 2014). This
is the major drawback which hampers the professional development aspects of nurses working in
remote areas. Registered nurses working in rural and remote areas are required to have more
opportunities for training and development so that they can learn new and different aspects;
however unavailability of such thing creates several constraints in the practice.
While working in remote area, it becomes impossible for registered nurses to attend such
sessions and at the same time, it also affects the work practices. In rural areas, nurses are also
having many problems among which a few have resolution and a few does not have any
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resolution. In rural areas, there is unavailability of clinics; hence this affects the practice of
working in which they are unable to conduct their duties. Therefore, it can be said that these
issues greatly affects the service delivery aspects and ultimately that hampers service capability
provisions. Having clinics can enhance the practices of registered nurses and this can also assist
them to identify their own areas of improvement. Further, issues and constraints also generate at
the time when registered nurses are unable to get feedback and suggestions from the care users.
This in turn impedes the way of managing own development and growth perspectives. At the
same time, it is also witnessed that several registered nurses are leaving their job roles because
they do not get any sort of development opportunities while working in remote areas (Advanced
nursing practice in rural and remote areas. 2005).
In most of the areas, some hospitals reported that staff turnover is increasing every year
because they have greater amount of issues related to the work processes. Example – nurses
working in remote and rural areas do not have proper resources; hence this impacts their
financial capability and in terms of consequences, they face several issues in managing their
practices. Further, it has also been ascertained that in this area, investment is not properly made;
hence this declines the chances of growth and prosperity (The challenges confronting clinicians
in rural acute care settings: a participatory research project. 2012). Registered nurses have to
work according to legal framework and unavailability of such thing could lead to development of
a lot of issues. However, while working in remote areas, registered nurses do not find the
appropriate ways through which they can uplift their skills and capabilities. However, in order to
minimize such issues, health and community centre have taken varied measures for the purpose
of enabling and accessing better health care in rural and remote areas. Proper allocation of
resources is required both in rural and urban areas so that challenges related to professional
development may not arise (Schoo, Lawn and Carson, 2016).
For instance – the study done by the Bruce K Armstrong (2007), states that the next
Australian government will confront major challenges in the funding and delivery of health care
and this might also impact the practices of rural working. In the study, it is mentioned that nurses
are experiencing major issues and challenges due to changes in demography and disease patterns.
This develops numerous issues related to burden of chronic illness grows. At the same time, it is
also ascertained that in remote areas, nurses have major problems because they are unable to deal
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with technological aspects due to non-availability of resources. Similarly, in the study it is also
discussed that in remote areas, nurses are unable to render prominent services to the patients
because they do not have any sort of accessibility to diverse health care provision.
Registered nurses are required to remain highly updated about their skills and knowledge
so that they can manage all their practices and job roles in effective way. In this way, it is
essential for the nurses to make arrangement of different learning and development opportunities
so that even in remote areas, they can manage their professional development aspects.
Unavailability of professional development aspects can affect the practicing of nurses and this
can also change the way of delivering health care services. Most often it creates constraints in
health and social are sector. Further, this also impacts the controlling and monitoring aspects
wherein registered nurses are unable to manage their own area of development (Rural and
remote health. 2014). Working in remote area is a difficult task that needs to be managed in
effective manner so that patients can be delivered appropriate services.
Registered nurses are required to take care of their own development and for that they
need to access different resources so that they can grab knowledge on all those areas that requires
further development. In order to maintain professional development in remote areas, registered
nurses should maintain professionalism while delivering the services (Pearson, Hegney and
Donnelly, 2016). At the same time, registered should also emphasize on CPD (continuous
professional development) in which certainly they should undergo different courses and training
sessions for more learning and development. With the help of continuous professional
development, the areas of improvement and modification can be identified and at the same time,
the practice of nursing can be strengthened. This is also essential for the purpose of maximizing
the standards of health care sector (Remote Area Nursing. 2016). In rural area, professional
development is required on higher extent because of the need of better health care services.
However, at the same time government and health care community should also develop the
opportunities of training and development session so that new practices and functions can be
adopted for better service delivery (Currie, Chiarella and Buckley, 2016).
At the time of working in remote areas, it is crucial for registered nurses to adopt
updated practices in which they should deal more with technological aspects. Every health care
practitioner needs to ensure that they have the capability to deal with latest technology because
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through that only, they can maximize the potential of service provision. Moreover, it is also
essential for the purpose of reducing all the constraints that might prevail in the same domain.
Further, there should be suitable level of investment in professional development practices so
that registered nurses can learn and develop more. Hence, it can be said that it can contribute
more in enhancing the standard of health care services (Mandatory continuing professional
development requirements: what does this mean for Australian nurses. 2013).
Lack of development opportunities sometimes affects the motivation and encouragement
level and this also changes the efficacy of service delivery aspects (Gwynne and Lincoln, 2016).
Therefore, all the issues prevailing in health care sector needs to be sorted out as early as
possible so that service effectiveness can be amended similarly. Thus, in terms of conclusion, it
can be said that government and health care community of rural area should promote the health
care standard on maximum extent so that people can derive better services (Action on Nursing in
Rural and Remote Areas 2003-2003. 2002). This is also crucial for the purpose of reducing all
such prevailing challenges with registered nurses.
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REFERENCES
Action on Nursing in Rural and Remote Areas 2003-2003. 2002. [Pdf]. Available through:
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nurse practitioners in Australia: Results from a national survey. Journal of the American
Association of Nurse Practitioners.
Gwynne, K. and Lincoln, M., 2016. Developing the rural health workforce to improve Australian
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December 2016].
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Remote Area Nursing. 2016. [Online]. Available through:
<https://healthtimes.com.au/hub/remote-health/52/guidance/nc1/remote-area-nursing/
534/>. [Accessed on 21st December 2016].
Rural and remote health. 2014. [Online]. Available through: <http://anmf.org.au/pages/rural-
and-remote-health/>. [Accessed on 21st December 2016].
Schoo, A., Lawn, S. and Carson, D., 2016. Towards equity and sustainability of rural and remote
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professional development. BMC health services research. 16(1). pp.1.
The challenges confronting clinicians in rural acute care settings: a participatory research
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<http://www.rrh.org.au/articles/subviewaust.asp?ArticleID=2017>. [Accessed on 21st
December 2016].
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