Aspects of Nursing Education: The Types Of Skills And Knowledge Required To Meet The Changing Needs Of The Labour Force Involved In Nursing - Literature Review
Chapter 3
Conclusions
In summary, the literature providing information about changes in the health care services and the roles of nurses and other healthcare workers largely comprises narrative accounts based on expert opinions. This should not be discounted however, as it provides a useful mapping of the dimension and scope of nursing practices in this changing practice context. Wherever possible, the themes that have emerged from this literature have been substantiated with literature providing levels of evidence classified as high according to the NHMRC guidelines. The areas where the literature retrieved was of the highest level of evidence were clearly those areas concerned with the most recent changes in health services, for example, the innovations related to telemedicine and telehealth and the expanding role of nurse to the level of independent practitioner. Accordingly, these changes point the way to the requirements for emerging nursing roles and the corresponding skills and knowledge required to perform those roles and deliver the corresponding health care services. The literature reveals that nurses require broad based clinical skills that can be extended and expanded with appropriate training. An ability to work with a burgeoning range of technology while at the same time providing and overseeing the provision of personalized care to the clients/patients for whom the technology is servicing is essential. Nurses also need to acquire and process knowledge rapidly, they need the ability to be sophisticated research consumers, and to be able to integrate new knowledge with existing knowledge to create new understanding. They need to be self-directed in their acquisition of knowledge and know how to use resources to access information and to assist others in gaining skills and knowledge. In this 'information age' nurses require the type of knowledge that assists them to analyze the risks and benefits of new technologies and to implement and evaluate new services. Underpinning all of these requirements is the need to be involved in ongoing learning to develop the capacity to cope with the challenge of practicing an ever changing, technologically diverse healthcare milieu.
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