Publications by authors named "Lela Zimmer"

Article Synopsis
  • Virtual health care usage surged post-COVID-19, yet personal experiences of patients and providers have not been widely studied.
  • This analysis focuses on how patients and providers in a kidney care service in northern British Columbia experienced virtual health care changes, particularly due to the pandemic.
  • The research highlighted themes such as improved convenience for patients and the importance of communication in care networks, while also addressing concerns about trust and assessment in virtual encounters.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: An enduring challenge remains about how to effectively implement programs, services, or practices. Too often, implementation does not achieve its intended effectiveness, fidelity, and sustainability, even when frameworks or theories determine implementation strategies and actions. A different approach is needed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Although much research has focused on nurses' retirement intentions, little is known about nurses who formally retire yet continue to practice, particularly in rural and remote settings where mobilization of all nurses is needed to assure essential health services. To optimize practice and sustain the workforce stretched thin by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is necessary to understand what it means for retired registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) to work after retirement. This study explored what nursing practice means for RNs and LPNs who have formally retired but continue to practice in rural and remote communities.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Registered nurses (RNs) enact their scope of practice in everyday practice through the influences of client needs, the practice setting, employer requirements and policies and the nurse's own level of competence (Canadian Nurses Association 2015). A scope of practice is "dynamic and responsive to changing health needs, knowledge development and technological advances" (International Council of Nurses 2013). In Canada, RNs' scope of practice is set out through provincial and territorial legislation and provincial regulatory frameworks, which are broadly consistent, but vary across provinces (Schiller 2015).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: In Canada, as in other parts of the world, there is geographic maldistribution of the nursing workforce, and insufficient attention is paid to the strengths and needs of those providing care in rural and remote settings. In order to inform workforce planning, a national study, Nursing Practice in Rural and Remote Canada II, was conducted with the rural and remote regulated nursing workforce (registered nurses, nurse practitioners, licensed or registered practical nurses, and registered psychiatric nurses) with the intent of informing policy and planning about improving nursing services and access to care. In this article, the study methods are described along with an examination of the characteristics of the rural and remote nursing workforce with a focus on important variations among nurse types and regions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A perennial issue for rural and remote communities in Canada and in other parts of the world is access to a healthcare delivery system including healthcare personnel to provide care to their residents. In total, 18% of Canadians live in rural locations but by proportion have fewer healthcare providers compared with urban settings. Relying on a recently completed documentary analysis of published reports and grey literature on rural and remote nursing practice from Canada and around the world, we recognize that recruitment and retention will be a recurring issue.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Professionalism is commonly discussed in nursing but little is known about how it is experienced in everyday nursing practice.This study examines rural nurses experiences of professionalism and articulates the nature of professionalism in rural acute-care settings. Interview data from 8 nurses in rural acute-care facilities in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, were analyzed using an interpretive description approach.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aims: This paper discusses whether useful synthesis of research reports across different qualitative methodologies is possible, and whether qualitative meta-synthesis violates the tenets of the interpretive paradigm.

Background: Qualitative meta-synthesis is a recent development in qualitative inquiry that offers a means of enhancing the contribution of qualitative findings to the development of more formalized knowledge. However, there are a number of unanswered questions and areas that require debate.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A primary goal of action research is social change that is driven largely by the research participants. A major assumption is that through the research process, participants are enabled to take knowledgeable action in their personal, work, or community environments, and that through this action they experience empowerment. Another is that action becomes possible as a result of enlightenment and emancipation through participation in the research.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF