Understanding the expanded nursing role in indigenous communities: A qualitative study.

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Public Health
• Rural Health

Background:

• Nurses are crucial in remote and rural healthcare settings.
• The dynamics of expanded nursing roles and daily practices in these areas are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To understand the expanded nursing role in remote Aboriginal communities.
• To identify the dynamics and barriers affecting the full expansion of this role.

Main Methods:

• Conducted 49 in-depth interviews with nurses and key informants.
• Performed over 14 days of observation in dispensaries and a hospital in Hudson Bay, Québec.

Main Results:

• Identified four sub-roles within the expanded nursing role: administrative, nursing, medical, and community.
• Documented the evolving nature of the role and barriers (individual, organizational, community) to its expansion.

Conclusions:

• The developed typology offers an in-depth understanding of the enlarged nursing role in northern Québec.
• Findings are relevant to other rural contexts and have practical implications for stakeholders, suggesting that regulated boundary expansion enhances practice without compromising patient safety.