In early 1998 we organized a national policy conference with and about nurse practitioners, to help define the issues and roles. Not surprising, issues of isolation and need for professional support are as important to rural NP's as rural doctors. This provides a comprehensive guide from highschool through retirement to address rural physician shortages. Well Being Alliance. These proposals are needed to support services such as inpatients, emergency, obstetrics, surgery and anaesthetics that, in one person can only be delivered by that swiss army knife of clinicians, the rural doctor.
Lets take obstetrics as an example.
In Ontario in 1986 there were 460 rural generalists who attended births. Because there is practically no one else in rural Ontario to provide this service, there are at least 30 hospitals who have closed their obstetrical wards because of lack of medical personnel. The NOW Alliance suggests that the province provide community based funding to hospitals for this service in a way so that the most vulnerable hospitals with the greatest personnel shortage, have the greatest incentive to attract new or existing physicians to provide the service. Plans to deal with inpatient care, anaesthetics, and surgery are provided with full costing, in similar manner, as well as other specific recruitment and retention measures. We know that with these measures, not only will we be able to get PCR to work, but we will also be able to provide needed services to many rural citizens.