Collegian
Volume 14, Issue 2 , Pages 6-11, 2007

The Professional Development Needs of Registered Nurses in Residential Aged Care

  • Sharyn Hunter, RN PhD

      Affiliations

    • School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Newcastle and Consultant, Anglican Care, New South Wales
    • ,
  • Margaret McMillan, RN PhD (Faculty of Health)

      Affiliations

    • University of Newcastle, New South Wales
    • Corresponding Author InformationProfessor Margaret McMillan
    • ,
  • Jane Conway, RN DEd

      Affiliations

    • Organisational Education Learning and Development, Northern Sydney Central Coast Health Service and School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Newcastle, New South Wales

Article Outline

This paper reports on research which used a multiple-case study approach to investigate the responses of aged care nurses to changes in Australian health care policy following the introduction of the Aged Care Act 1997. Significant fiscal, social and environmental issues for Residential Aged Care (RAC) are the:

•need to respond to policy changes emphasizing efficiency in RAC facilities,

•nature of the needs of residents with increasing acuity,

•impact of decreasing numbers of Registered Nurses (RNs) working in the RAC environment,

•changing composition of the care team and RAC RN functions.

The study explored the phenomenon of the contemporary practice of (RNs) within six RAC settings, focusing on changes in the practice of RNs. As a result of the research a number of issues pertinent to staff and role development of RNs were identified.

Key words:  residential aged care , practice development , change management , registered nurse roles

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PII: S1322-7696(08)60549-1

doi:10.1016/S1322-7696(08)60549-1

Collegian
Volume 14, Issue 2 , Pages 6-11, 2007

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