title: The progress of family health nursing in remote and rural Scotland.
abstract: Since 2001 the World Health Organization Europe's family health nurse (FHN) role has been developing in remote and rural areas of Scotland. In 2003, an independent evaluation identified a need for facilitation of the FHN role and family-health orientated approaches with local primary health care teams. The Scottish Executive Health Department appointed three part-time, regionally-based family health practice development facilitators (FHPDFs) in December 2003 to work over an 18-month period. This article presents findings from a small study which sought these FHPDFs' judgements on individual FHN autonomy and supportive colleague action at 24 sites where FHNs were practising. These judgements reveal a picture of mixed progress that is consistent with findings from other related research. This collective overview is presented in the form of a new typology and the resultant implications for future development of family health nursing are discussed.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen. c.macduff@rgu.ac.uk
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Macduff
mesh_terms: D022143:Family Nursing / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D024802:Nurse's Role; D015399:Nursing Research / Q000941:ethics / Q000458:organization & administration; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D012423:Rural Health / Q000592:standards*; D012606:Scotland