Standards
Professional Standards of Remote Practice: Nursing and Midwifery
As part of the project ‘Pathway to Remote Practice’ the Professional Standards were reviewed in June 2014.
There are nine standards, each with a set of criteria.
The Professional Standards were developed to provide a benchmark for consistency and expected level of practice for nurses and midwives seeking employment or working in the remote and isolated health services.
These Professional Standards provide guidance and direction for nurses and midwives to practice competently, capably and professionally to meet the health needs of all people living in remote and isolated areas across Australia.
CRANAplus Clinical Governance Guide
This Guide was developed by CRANAplus under an Australian Government Department of Health Grant with the prime objective to enhance governance, transparency and accountability in delivering safe, quality health care to remote and isolated communities.
The purpose of this Guide is to be a reference and resource for clinical service managers and clinicians so they will be able to discern their responsibilities in applying the recently introduced National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards to their workplace and in their practice. This Guide looks at the components and processes of clinical governance and quality improvement for remote and isolated health services. It is based on the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards, specifically Standard 1: Governance for Safety and Quality in Health Service Organisations with reference to Standard 2: Partnering with Consumers .
Remote National Standards and Credentialing Project
In addressing professional issues CRANAplus undertook National Standards and Credentialing Project (2012−2013) supported by the Australian Government Department of Health. This innovative project commissioned a national and international literature review on the best practice standards for the provision of health care for remote and isolated health services.
Executive Summary National Standards and Credentialing Project
The Executive Summary with recommendations of the Final Report: National Standards and Credentialing Project provides a way forward in addressing professional issues relating to remote health care practices.
Literature Review National Standards and Credentialing Project
This review seeks to define what standards are, identifies what the literature says about remote and isolated communities, defines best practice, and examines quality and safety in the context of standards development. Importantly, clinical governance and its intrinsic relationship to workforce are also reviewed, to clarify the strong connections they have with standards, and quality and safety.
Following an extensive examination of the literature specific to development and particular experiences in developing, publishing, and measuring performance against standards for remote and isolated contexts, it became clear that there is little represented in the published literature on standards that are exclusively used for remote and isolated health services. To address what appears to be a significant gap in reported knowledge and practice in this area, standards applicable to other health jurisdictions have also been examined for possible relevance and applicability.
RAN Competency Standards
The RAN Competencies that have been developed in this document are not a checklist of skills or a series of specific performance indicators. This was not the team’s brief. Although these Competencies may overlap with those expected of any competent practitioner, they are constantly grounded in the complexity and variety of the remote area context. As such they will provide opportunity for the development of accreditation criteria and performance indicators appropriate to the many roles performed by Remote Area Nurses. No doubt such developments will shape and inform curriculum development designed to enhance remote area practice.
This copy of the RAN Competency Standards has been produced to complement the video ‘Remote Area Nursing: The Challenge of Competence’. It is intended that both resources stimulate discussion and bring to life the RAN Competency Standards at the local level.
Telehealth Guidelines & Standards
The Telehealth Standards for Nurses & Midwives and the Guidelines for Telehealth Consultation are now available as a pdf below.
These documents were developed through the Commonwealth funded Telehealth Nursing & Midwifery Consortia.
The Standards for Registered Nurses & Midwives are formatted against the Australian National Competency Standards and provide additional cues specific to Telehealth in its broadest application.
Note that the Nursing & Midwifery Telehealth Consortia Guidelines are broad in nature and in reference to Video consultations only and in relation to the Telehealth Medical Benefits Schedule.
Hard copies are also available through the CRANAplus office in Adelaide contact membership@crana.org.au
If you have any specific interest in this area and would like to know more about the project please contact Geri Malone at geri@crana.org.au.
Clinical Standards
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.
CRANAplus is pleased to endorse the following Standards;
Further relevant Guidelines and Standards can be found below