Health Transition Fund Final Report - Projects Listed By Subject Area

1.0 Introduction
1.2 Overview and Purpose
In March, 1999 the federal/provincial/territorial Advisory Committee on Health Human Resources
(ACHHR) Working Group on Nursing and Unregulated Workers called for proposals to evaluate nursing
practice models in different primary health care settings (i.e., rural, remote and urban) in Canada. The
focus of this evaluation was restricted to registered nurses delivering primary care services (i.e., assessment,
diagnosis, and treatment of episodic, acute and chronic illness, and minor injury) in variant settings. The
purpose of the current project was to identify key aspects of primary health care settings that facilitate or
impede the effective delivery of primary care services by registered nurses working in the
extended/expanded role. A second purpose was to recommend policy options that would facilitate more
effective use of registered nurses working in these roles.
The research process in the current study was guided by the legislative, regulatory, policy, and
organizational frameworks of each provincial/territorial jurisdiction. The following document is a synopsis
of the research undertaken, major study findings and resulting policy recommendations. Throughout the
report, the term extended/expanded nursing role denotes primary care practice by a registered nurse which
includes the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of acute, episodic and chronic illness, and minor injury.
The report on the research project will focus on the following key areas:
< commonalities and differences of extended/expanded nursing practice in primary health
care settings in Canadian jurisdictions;
< barriers to and facilitators of effective utilization of registered nurses with
extended/expanded practice preparation in primary health care settings; and
< future directions for extended/expanded nursing practice in primary health care.
This report is also augmented by the following supporting documents (SD):
SD1
SD2
SD3
Profile of Extended/Expanded Nursing Practice in Primary Health Care Settings,
Research Protocol for on-site data collection,
Results of on-site data collection, and
The Centre for Nursing Studies in collaboration with
The Institute for the Advancement of Public Policy, Inc. 1