S.TRUEMAN PhD THESIS 2016

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on these particular influences. Accordingly, there is little in the data that addresses these influences, and few findings concerning this area of the social world. The most relevant political and professional organisation for remote nurses (and to a lesser extent delivering mental healthcare) is the CRANA Plus. CRANA Plus was established in 1982 when 130 remote area nurses from remote regions across Australia met in Alice Springs. It commenced as a ‘grassroots’ membership-based organisation driven by a small group of passionate remote area nurses. The impetus for its creation was an absence of representation and understanding of remote nurses and their practice: Back in those early ‘80s … things that inspired it. Like, a lot of [remote] nurses were out on their own, pretty isolated with not a lot of really good professional support or understanding of what the requirements of their role was. [T13, p. 5] CRANA Plus has grown to a membership base of 1,300 individual members and 20 corporate members, and is the only voluntary and specifically dedicated organisation representing remote nurses in Australia. CRANA Plus dedicates itself to the promotion of issues facing remote service delivery, advocates for people living, working and travelling in remote areas and politically promotes the role of remote nurses. As a participant stated: We advocate on behalf of the health context of remote practice … [en]sure that the context is understood by policymakers of all different levels of government; that it is quite different to rural … the functions that are done, the challenges, the barriers, all of those sorts of things. We … make sure that … the context of practice is not forgotten in policy. [T10, p. 4] With reference to CRANA Plus’s 2014–2015 Annual Report, they are involved in a wide range of professional bodies, with their six managers sitting on 28 committees