Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Medical Workforce Shortage (medical + workforce_shortage)
Selected AbstractsTriage, treat and transfer: reconceptualising a rural practice model,JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 11-12 2010Elise Sullivan Aim., This article argues that the current model of emergency practice in rural Victorian hospitals, which relies heavily on visiting medical officers, needs to be reconceptualised if emergency services are to be supplied to rural communities. Background., Medical workforce shortages are manifesting in Victoria as a reduction in emergency care services from rural hospitals. The suggested alternative model of emergency care involves advancing nursing practice to enable a redistribution of clinical capacity across the health care team. Clinicians will need to work collaboratively and continuously negotiate their roles to meet the patient's and the clinical team's needs. Design., Systematic review. Methods., This article is based on a review of the Victorian and Australian literature on the subject of Victorian health services and policy, emergency care, collaboration, communication and rural nurse scope of practice and roles. Emergency care activity was drawn from data held in the Victorian Emergency Management Dataset and personal communications between one of the authors and hospital executives in a small selection of rural hospitals in Victoria. Results., The evidence reviewed suggests that the current emergency practice profile of rural hospitals in Victoria does not reflect the reconceptualised model of rural emergency practice. Instead, only a small proportion of non-urgent presentations is managed by nurses without medical support, and the data suggest that metropolitan nurses are more likely to manage without medical support than rural nurses. Conclusion., Reconceptualising rural emergency care in Victoria will require significantly greater investment in rural nurses' knowledge and skills to enable them to operate confidently at a more advanced level. Clinical teams that deliver emergency service in rural hospitals will be expected increasingly to work collaboratively and interprofessionally. Relevance to clinical practice., This article offers some directions for advancing nursing practice and strategies for improving interprofessional collaboration in the delivery of rural emergency care. [source] The capacity of Australian ED to absorb the projected increase in intern numbersEMERGENCY MEDICINE AUSTRALASIA, Issue 2 2010Anthony Chong Abstract As a reaction to the medical workforce shortage in Australia, a large expansion of undergraduate medical education has occurred through the provision of funding of additional medical student places. As a consequence, the number of medical graduates is anticipated to increase by as much as 90% with a peak in numbers anticipated in 2012. With ED already under pressure, this increase has serious implications for ED, particularly the delivery of intern and student teaching. This integrated review describes potential challenges that might arise from the predicted increase in intern numbers working in ED. A structured literature search was conducted from which 44 directly relevant articles were identified. We discuss the possible impact of an increased number of medical graduates on emergency medical staff, education, supervision and feedback to interns, and given the potential impacts on the education of junior doctors; we review the purpose and implementation of the Australian Curriculum framework for Junior Doctors in relation to their learning requirements. Although there is consensus by most postgraduate bodies that the core emergency term in emergency medicine should be retained, the impact of increased intern numbers might dramatically affect the clinical experiences, supervision and educational resources in the ED. This might necessitate cultural changes in medical education and ED function. [source] Extending rural and remote medicine with a new type of health worker: Physician assistantsAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH, Issue 6 2007Teresa M. O'Connor Abstract The purpose of this paper was to demonstrate that the medical workforce shortage is an international phenomenon and to review one of the strategies developed in the USA in the late 1960s: the physician assistant model of health service provision. The authors consider whether this model could provide one strategy to help address the medical workforce shortage in Australia. A systematic review of the literature about medical workforce shortages, strategies used to address the medical workforce shortage, and the physician assistant role was undertaken. Literature used for the review covered the period 1967,2006. Physician assistants provide safe, high-quality and cost-effective primary care services under the direction of a doctor and respond to workforce shortages in rural and remote areas, family practice medicine and hospital settings. This model of health care provision has been adopted in several other developed countries, including England, Scotland, the Netherlands and Canada. The physician assistant concept might provide Australia with a novel strategy for addressing its medical workforce shortage, particularly in rural and remote settings. [source] Where is the evidence that rural exposure increases uptake of rural medical practice?AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH, Issue 5 2007Geetha Ranmuthugala Abstract Australian Government initiatives to address medical workforce shortages in rural Australia include increasing the intake of students of rural background and increasing exposure to rural medicine during training. Rural-orientated medical training programs in the USA that selectively admit students from rural backgrounds and who intend to practise as family practitioners have demonstrated success in increasing uptake of practice in rural/underserved areas. However, in examining the specific contribution of rural exposure towards increasing uptake of rural practice, the evidence is inconclusive, largely due to the failure to adjust for these critical independent predictors of rural practice. This paper identifies this evidence gap, examines the concept of rural exposure, and highlights the need to identify which aspects of rural exposure contribute to a positive attitude towards rural practice, thereby influencing students to return to rural areas. The cost of rural exposure through student placements is not insignificant, and there is a need to identify which aspects are most effective in increasing the uptake of rural practice, thereby helping to address the medical workforce shortage experienced in rural Australia. [source] Extending rural and remote medicine with a new type of health worker: Physician assistantsAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH, Issue 6 2007Teresa M. O'Connor Abstract The purpose of this paper was to demonstrate that the medical workforce shortage is an international phenomenon and to review one of the strategies developed in the USA in the late 1960s: the physician assistant model of health service provision. The authors consider whether this model could provide one strategy to help address the medical workforce shortage in Australia. A systematic review of the literature about medical workforce shortages, strategies used to address the medical workforce shortage, and the physician assistant role was undertaken. Literature used for the review covered the period 1967,2006. Physician assistants provide safe, high-quality and cost-effective primary care services under the direction of a doctor and respond to workforce shortages in rural and remote areas, family practice medicine and hospital settings. This model of health care provision has been adopted in several other developed countries, including England, Scotland, the Netherlands and Canada. The physician assistant concept might provide Australia with a novel strategy for addressing its medical workforce shortage, particularly in rural and remote settings. [source] Where is the evidence that rural exposure increases uptake of rural medical practice?AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH, Issue 5 2007Geetha Ranmuthugala Abstract Australian Government initiatives to address medical workforce shortages in rural Australia include increasing the intake of students of rural background and increasing exposure to rural medicine during training. Rural-orientated medical training programs in the USA that selectively admit students from rural backgrounds and who intend to practise as family practitioners have demonstrated success in increasing uptake of practice in rural/underserved areas. However, in examining the specific contribution of rural exposure towards increasing uptake of rural practice, the evidence is inconclusive, largely due to the failure to adjust for these critical independent predictors of rural practice. This paper identifies this evidence gap, examines the concept of rural exposure, and highlights the need to identify which aspects of rural exposure contribute to a positive attitude towards rural practice, thereby influencing students to return to rural areas. The cost of rural exposure through student placements is not insignificant, and there is a need to identify which aspects are most effective in increasing the uptake of rural practice, thereby helping to address the medical workforce shortage experienced in rural Australia. [source] | ||||||||||