Rural Nursing in Canada – Characteristics, Barriers and Opportunities

Barbara Shellian

 

There are 298,000 registered nurses in Canada and approximately 10% of registered nurses work in rural and remote areas of the country. Nursing in rural and remote Canada is subject to many challenges including geography, weather, access to resources and poor health outcomes for aboriginal populations.  There are many similarities between rural and remote nursing in Canada and Australia and this presentation will highlight the characteristics of rural and remote nursing in Canada, identify the factors that facilitate or hinder nurses’ practice and discuss what the future looks like for rural and remote nursing in Canada.