Globe and Mail highlights varieties of nursing roles
May 12, 2003 -- Today Toronto's Globe and Mail ran positive pieces illustrating the diversity of nursing subspecialties in Canada, one about nurses who deliver care to remote areas and another about the growing importance of nurse practitioners. "Health care takes flight; Nurses deliver services to Canada's remote corners" describes the work of nurses who care for those in remote areas, especially flight nurses who offer both transport and critical care in the air. The article focuses on how important and rewarding the work is; one flight nurse notes that she and her colleagues act as a "lifeline for patients in situations where we can make a life-and-death difference."
The other piece, "Expanding
nurses' familiar role," explores
the growing roles nurse practitioners are playing in increasing
access to care and shifting the nation's primary care model
toward one emphasizing preventative care, patient education
and self-management. The article leads with a quote from one
NP that she is not a "mini-physician" but a "maxi-nurse." It
also stresses the work of NP's in education and research, citing
work on a recent University of Ottawa School of Nursing study
of NP/physician collaboration.