Nursing in General Practice
In Australia there are approximately 7800 nurses working in General Practice, with 2300 in NSW general practices. Fifty eight percent (58%) of general practices are reported to employ a nurse (AGPN National Practice Nurse Workforce Survey 2007)
The role of the practice nurse (PN) in general practice is varied, depending on practice needs, demographics, size and layout and the qualifications of the nurse. The role of the nurse may include, but is not limited to the following:
- Providing clinical nursing services, eg. Triage, wound care, clinical data management
- Coordinating patient services, eg. Liaising with allied health providers and integrating service delivery.
- Managing the clinical environment by assisting the general practice to meet relevant standards and legislative requirements, eg, cold chain monitoring, infection control and sterilisation.
- Promoting patient, carer and community well being through health promotion, education and encouraging patient self management.
- Sustaining general practice by contributing to better management of human and material resources through building practice capacity to adapt to change and maximising financial efficiency.
- Improving health outcomes by contributing to and enhancing the management and prevention of ill health through health screening, immunisation, register and recalls, patient education, acute and chronic disease management.
The Nursing in General Practice Program at GP NSW
The Australian Government has funded GP NSW to:
- To help build the capacity of Divisions of General Practice to deliver support services for practice nursing.
- To coordinate and fund training opportunities for practice nurses across each state/territory.
How will this be achieved?
- Working collaboratively with AGPN and the other SBOs to improve and enhance all aspects of general practice nursing resulting in an increased uptake of PNs.
- Collaborating with NSW Divisions of General Practice to promote the role of the PN and to identify issues, barriers and mitigation strategies to practices employing a PN.
- Working with Divisions to increase their capacity to provide PN programs in the areas of recruitment, retention, networking, teamwork, integration and professional development as part of their core business.
- Assessing PN training needs, developing and implementing strategies to meet those needs, including where possible multi-disciplinary team approaches.
- Working in collaboration with other relevant organisations to facilitate opportunities for education and professional development/support.
Further information
To find out more about the Nursing in General Practice program contact:
Olivia Moore, Program Support Officer– Nursing in General Practice oliviamoore@gpnsw.com.au