Nurses comprise the largest proportion, up to 80% (Hughes, 2006), of the health workforce and are considered to be the front line staff across the health continuum in most health services and countries. In spite of the immense and significant role that nurses play in the health care system, they are seldom considered equal partners in multidisciplinary health care teams. As a result, the unique skills held by generalist and specialist nurses are often underutilised across the health continuum. However, the long-awaited and recently released report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) (2010) Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative entitled, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health (FON), indicated that nurses have an important contribution to make in "…building a health care system that will meet the demand for safe, quality, patient-centred, accessible, and affordable care" (Institute of Medicine, 2010, p.1). However, in order to deliver these outcomes, it is essential for nurses to practice to the full extent of their knowledge and training while transforming the way in which health care is provided by entering into full partnerships with other health care professionals.
Indeed, research has recognised that there is unrealized scope for extended practice for nurses working in multidisciplinary teams with doctors and allied health professionals (Buchan & Dal Poz, 2002). It is due to this acknowledgement that in the past two decades.