Abstract

Nursing in rural, remote and isolated settings: a literature review

Part of Special Series: WONCA World Rural Health Conference Abstracts 2022go to url

AUTHORS

name here
Gerardina Harnett
1 DN RGN RM RPHN RNT, Head of Department of Nursing *

name here
Moninne Collins
2 Community Nurse

CORRESPONDENCE

*Dr Gerardina Harnett

AFFILIATIONS

1, 2 Munster Technological University, Tralee, Kerry, Ireland

PUBLISHED

10 January 2023 Volume 23 Issue 1

HISTORY

RECEIVED: 20 September 2022

ACCEPTED: 20 September 2022

CITATION

Harnett G, Collins M.  Nursing in rural, remote and isolated settings: a literature review. Rural and Remote Health 2023; 23: 8159. https://doi.org/10.22605/RRH8159

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONSgo to url

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence

go to urlCited by

no pdf available, use your browser's print function to create one


abstract:

Introduction: Public Health and Community Nurses provide the foundation of Ireland’s community, school and home delivered nursing care in rural, remote and isolated settings in Ireland, yet there is limited research evidence on the roles, responsibilities and models of care provided by these nurses.

Methods: Research literature was searched using CINAHL, PubMED, Medline. Fifteen articles were subject to quality appraisal and included for review. Findings were analysed, thematised and compared.

Results: Emergent themes – (1) models of nursing care provision in rural, remote and isolated settings; (2) barriers and facilitating factors impacting the roles and responsibilities; (3) expanded scope of practice shaping responsibilities; and (4) providing an integrated approach to care.

Discussion: Nurses working in rural, remote and isolated settings including off-shore islands are frequently lone workers who act as liaison for care recipients and their families with other healthcare providers. They triage care, engage in home visits, provide emergency first response, engage in illness prevention and health maintenance support. Models of care delivery using a hub and spoke model, orbiting staff, or longer-term shared positions must be based on principles for assigning nurses in rural settings and off-shore islands. New technologies allow specialist care to be delivered remotely and acute professionals will integrate with nurses in maximising care in the community. Better health outcomes are driven by the use of: validated evidence-based decision-making tools; medicine protocols; and accessible, integrated and role-specific education. Planned and focused mentorship programmes support nurses who are lone workers and impact on retention challenges.

You might also be interested in:

2015 - Rural health activism over two decades: the Wonca Working Party on Rural Practice 1992-2012

2011 - Nature and nurture in the family physician's choice of practice location

2007 - The solutions are already there

This PDF has been produced for your convenience. Always refer to the live site https://www.rrh.org.au/journal/article/8159 for the Version of Record.