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This paper offers an informative insight into the development of the advanced role of rural nursing practice in New Zealand. Provided is a futuristic vision of nurses' contribution for the provision of primary rural health care. The concept of advanced nursing practice will be discussed within the context of the interdisciplinary healthcare team. It is argued that as nurses take on advanced practice, it is essential they receive appropriate clinical and theoretical skills to ensure they are in a position to provide competent and clinically safe, effective health care in an ethical, efficient manner. A description of a survey, undertaken by the author, studying rural nurses' skills provides the recommendation for the development of an appropriate postgraduate course at Masters level, designed specifically for primary rural nurses for the advanced role. The provision of this advanced education together with preparation and support, can pave the way for the highly skilled and knowledgeable nurses of the future working in collaboration with the interdisciplinary rural healthcare team and rural community.

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Palliative care is a growing specialty in New Zealand with many well established hospices and a growing number of hospital based advisory services. Palliative care is an element of all healthcare services and the aged care sector is one of those services where many of the residents have palliative care needs. In this setting, care assistants make up a large component of the workforce providing care for residents with increasingly complex needs. This article reports the results of a research study that used semi structured interviews to explore the impact that attending a palliative care course had on care assistants and their practice. Factors identifying the implementation of learning in the workplace were also identified. The results showed that while attending the course had a positive impact on participants; they were restricted in their ability to apply new learning in the workplace. Consequently, recommendations are made to enhance workforce development in the aged care sector and to minimise the barriers to the implementation of learning.