LOGIC June 2017 Vol 16 No 2 | Page 11

Standing orders, scope of practice and the proposed national PRIME Committee were the hot topics I was asked to talk about while Jared Stevenson (NASO, National Ambulance Sector Organisation), Tim Molloy (Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners) and Tony Smith (St John Ambulance Medical Director) discussed issues such as funding, national governance of PRIME, kits, syllabus and training, and where to from here once the Review was complete. Like other members of the PRIME Review National Steering Group I am delighted that the final report has now been submitted for consideration by NASO and the Ministry of Health. We await the outcome of 6 months work where a large number of people have given their voluntary time over and above their normal work commitments to provide, consider, discuss and collate the feedback received from key rural stakeholders. As is normal for rural people, a great deal of voluntary time and good will has gone into the PRIME Review and I am grateful to have been part of it. June 2017 L.O.G.I.C Driving to Twizel for my PRIME weekend on call gives me four hours to reflect and think about what it means to be rural. Long stretches of windy road, isolation from general amenities such as shops and even toilets, lack of cell phone reception makes me ask myself why I do this! My answer centred around making a difference to the health of communities who are challenged by being rural, and that without all the usual amenities at their fingertips. Being rural makes us different to that of urban centres. This also reminded me how as rural nurses we go the extra mile to make a difference. We should applaud what we do and be proud that the fundamental factor that underpins our actions is centred around caring and providing for our communities who would otherwise miss out on health care on many levels. all that has gone in between to make nursing what it is today. I hope you all had the opportunity to somehow celebrate International Nurses Day in style in May. It remains important that we remember the beginnings of nursing and the foundation that was laid so many years ago, upon which we have built. We have come a long way and should be proud of both the then and now, and 9