Narrative Inquiry Insights: Rural Nurse Responses to Decades of Change

Abstract

The New Zealand health-care system has been subject to major reform over the past three decades. These reforms have influenced the provision of health-care, especially in the rural regions. In response to these reforms, the funding structure for the provision of health-care services changed significantly, from a national emphasis to local rural governance. As local governance developed, so did local responses. Rural nurses were in a unique position to instigate equitable health services; during the last 30 years, many of these practices have become national norms, celebrated as New Zealand’s health story.