Education meets rural nurses' needs.In the May edition of Kai kai Noun NZ informal food [Maori] kai noun N.Z. (informal) food, grub (slang) provisions, fare, board, commons, eats (slang Tiaki Nursing New Zealand New Zealand (zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. , directors of nursing Jane O'Malley and Jan Fearnley presented a thought-provoking viewpoint, "Can generalist gen·er·al·ist n. A physician whose practice is not oriented in a specific medical specialty but instead covers a variety of medical problems. generalist nurses be specialists?" (p21). It debated the unique professional development and service provision requirements facing nurses and health service providers in rural health settings. Moved by the question of whether generalist nurses can be considered specialists, O'Malley and Fearnley discussed their concerns about the increasing prevalence of specialisation specialisation - A reduction in generality, usually for the sake of increased efficiency. If a piece of code is specialised for certain values of certain variables (usually function arguments), this is known as "partial evaluation". In a language with overloading (e.g. for service provision, sustainability and nursing education. As a lecturer working with registered nurses (RNs) from both urban and rural health settings, I wholeheartedly whole·heart·ed adj. Marked by unconditional commitment, unstinting devotion, or unreserved enthusiasm: wholehearted approval. whole support the concept of the generalist nurse as a specialist. Nurses working in rural health settings require a significantly broader knowledge base than their urban counterparts, and are required to be competent in multiple fields of nursing practice, each of which could be considered a distinct specialty field in larger centres. It is also evident that nurses working in rural areas benefit from formal education to expand such a knowledge base, further develop clinical assessment skills, articulate rationale, provide evidence for practice decisions and develop effective communication strategies with medical and allied health staff, who may be relatively transient A malfunction that occurs at random intervals and lasts for a short duration such as a spike or surge in a power line or a memory cell that intermittently fails. See spike and power surge. transient - 1. in their roles compared to nursing staff. The work currently underway in the South Island towards the development of career pathways for the rural generalist specialist is applauded. However, as an educator who frequently works with RNs from rural settings throughout the South Island (one of whom is pictured in the article), I encourage the authors to explore current educational provision options before determining a need to "lobby for an educational programme to support the practice development of rural secondary care nurses". The graduate certificate in nursing practice programme currently offered by Christchurch Institute of Technology offers RNs the capacity to undertake formal education across a broad range of "specialty" fields. While many nurses undertake a specialisation pathway within the programme, others "mix and match" courses from multiple fields of practice, in order to further develop generalist knowledge at a specialist level. I believe this programme could offer rural nurses the generalist knowledge they require to develop and sustain quality care provision in rural health settings. Jane Hardcastle, RN, BSc, MEd, senior lecturer senior lecturer n. Chiefly British A university teacher, especially one ranking next below a reader. , Graduate Studies in Nursing, Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology The Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT) is an institute of technology in Christchurch, New Zealand. It provides full- and part-time education leading to certificates, diplomas, applied bachelor's degrees and applied master's degrees in technologies and trades. |
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