The Professional Development Needs of Registered Nurses in Residential Aged Care

This paper reports on research which used a multiple-case study approach to investigate the responses of aged care nurses to changes in Australian health care policy following the introduction of the Aged Care Act 1997. Significant fiscal, social and environmental issues for Residential Aged Care (RAC) are the:
• need to respond to policy changes emphasizing efficiency in RAC facilities,
• nature of the needs of residents with increasing acuity,
• impact of decreasing numbers of Registered Nurses (RNs) working in the RAC environment,
• changing composition of the care team and RAC RN functions.The study explored the phenomenon of the contemporary practice of (RNs) within six RAC settings, focusing on changes in the practice of RNs. As a result of the research a number of issues pertinent to staff and role development of RNs were identified.