ANGLAIS
New Zealand’s health sector is creating a flexible workforce by investing in nurse practitioners (NPs).
New roles are being created in specific areas of practice, or « scopes », for these advanced nurses who are trained to masters level and have at least five years’ speciality clinical experience.
NPs exist in over 40 countries, including the US, where they have practised for over 20 years
Pioneer NP Adrianne Murray is offering primary health care to remote northern rural communities with high Maori populations and a shortage of doctors.
Capitalising on her knowledge of her patients and their needs, her mobile service reaches patients who previously had little primary care. Unlike a regular nurse, she is trained and qualified to diagnose ; to prescribe and manage medications and to order and interpret laboratory tests and X-rays.
Adrianne acknowledges
1– See US nurse practitioners website : www.aanp.org
2– See video : www.nursepractitioner.org.nz
Scope (n) Champ défini
Five years’ experience
The experience of five years
Speciality (n)
Secteur spécialisé, spécifique (US : specialty)
Primary (health) care
Soins de santé primaires
To capitalise on (v)
Capitaliser sur ; mettre à profit
1. What is the minimum requirement for a nurse practitioner ?
A master’s degree plus five years of experience in a clinical speciality.
2. What scopes are most NPs currently practising in ?
In primary healthcare, and older adult (geriatric) healthcare.
3. What difficulties may NPs face ?
From patients : expectations about doctors’ tasks/nurses’ tasks ; from co-workers : the need to adapt existing roles ; from employers : the difficulty of changing existing infrastructures.