TJ Ryan Foundation Board member, Linda Shields, writes (28.1.21) about the downplayed role and effectiveness of nurse practitioners in providing quality health care, especially to people living in regional and remote areas of Australia.
‘Australian nursing leads the world in many ways – practice, theory, education and research. But there is one area which is egregiously behind many other countries.
‘Nurse practitioners can provide highly specialised care in a way that encompasses the whole person (rather than just a disease or condition) for a fraction of the cost of doctors.
‘… Nowhere is this more important than in rural, regional and remote Australia; in this time of Covid-19, it takes on even greater significance.’
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