Education for the Nurse in Primary Health Care

Abstract

The provision of health care services in Canada is an activity which is presently experiencing pressures from a variety of sources. At least three recent and interrelated developments are identifiable as having marked implications for nursing education: 1. the many recent official studies of health services organization in Canada; 2. the proliferation of investigations at the operational level of segments of primary care services; and 3. the increased awareness of the skills which nurses can bring to primary care services. It is the purpose of this paper to sketch these three developments and to discuss their implications for the education of nurses. STUDIES OF HEALTH SERVICES ORGANIZATION Since the Royal Commission on Health Services completed its comprehensive study and published its massive report ten years ago, there have been at least nine national or provincial studies of the health services system or some part of it. Without exception, these reports have urged greater attention to the availability of health services outside of the acute care hospital; all have included, implicitly or explicitly, recommendations which would result in increased utilization of nursing skills in primary health care.