Archives
Divisions of General Practice and Practice Nurse Development in Australia
Sally Hall
Research Manager, Academic Unit of General Practice & Community Health, ANU Medical School, Australian National University, Canberra ACT
Abstract
Nurses are consistently being seen as an integral part of a team approach to primary care service delivery, with significant policy initiatives being directed towards their employment in Australian general practice. Furthermore they are being increasingly recognised to add a value to general practice that is more than simply the ‘sum of its parts'. This recognition, for GPs and practices, has often occurred on the back of an experience that has been provided or illustrated by a Division of General Practice.
Divisions as the face of ‘organized general practice' in this country have been instrumental in providing a broad range of support strategies and development opportunities for practice nursing, especially over the last five to ten years. Essentially, the role of Divisions has been about increasing connectivity, and acting as ‘brokers' of information, opportunities, and in some cases even resources. Divisions have made a significant contribution to achievements in practice nurse development, but this has not been without challenges.
As the evolution of Australian practice nursing reaches a crucial stage, Divisions can play a pivotal role in advancing this development but must seek partnerships to be effective and should continue to broaden their scope.
Keywords
Australia, divisions network, general practice, practice nurses, primary health care teams, professional development, workforce
References
Australian Divisions of General Practice (2005) Primary Health Care Position Statement. Canberra: Australian Divisions of General Practice.
Australian Divisions of General Practice (2006) National Practice Nurse Workforce Survey 2005. Canberra: Australian Divisions of General Practice.
Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (2004) Divisions of General Practice: Future Directions. Government Response to the Report of the review of the role of Divisions of General Practice, April 2004. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.
Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (2005a) Introduction. General Practice in Australia 2004, Ch 1. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.
Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (2005b) Guidelines for the Divisions Network Nursing in General Practice Program. Draft for comment, version 2 in Australian Divisions of General Practice (2006) National Practice Nurse Workforce Survey 2005. Canberra: Australian Divisions of General Practice.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2005) Nursing and Midwifery Labour Force 2003. AIHW cat. no HWL 31. (Health Labour Force Series no. 31) Canberra: AIHW.
Australian Practice Nurses Association website (2007) Accessed at http://www.apna.asn.au/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=23 on 6 June 2007.
Carnell K (2006) Nursing in general practice. National Divisions Nursing in General Practice Forum, opening address, accessed at http://www.adgp.com.au/site/index.cfm?display=11093 on 13 Nov 2006.
Degeling P, Hill M, Kennedy J, Coyle B and Maxwell S (2000) A cross-national study of differences in the identities of nursing in England and Australia and how this has affected nurses' capacity to respond to hospital reform. Nursing Inquiry 7(2): 120-35.
Divisions of General Practice Review Panel (2003) The Future Role of the Divisions Network. Report of the review of the role of Divisions of General Practice, June 2003. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.
Dobrzanska L and Cromack D (2005) Developing a journal club in the community setting. British Journal of Community Nursing 10(8): 374, 376-7.
Gerrish K (1999) Teamwork in primary care: an evaluation of the contribution of integrated nursing teams. Health & Social Care in the Community 7(5): 367-375.
Green l and Phillips R (2005) The family physician workforce: quality not quantity. American Family Physician 71(12): 2248.
Halcomb E, Davidson P, Daly J, Griffiths R, Yallop J and Tofler G (2005) Nursing in Australian general practice: directions and perspectives. Australian Health Review 29(2): 156-66.
Halcomb E, Patterson E, Davidson P (2006) Evolution of practice nursing in Australia. Journal of Advanced Nursing 55(3): 376-88.
Harrison S (2006) Nursing in General Practice Program Australian Government overview, National Divisions Nursing in General Practice Forum, August 2006, accessed at http://www.adgp.com.au/site/index.cfm?display=11093, accessed on 13 Nov 2006.
Healthcare Management Advisors (2005) Evaluation of the 2001 Nursing in General Practice Initiative: Final Report. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.
Heartfield M, Gibson T, Chesterman C and Tagg L (2005) Hanging from a string in the wind: Development of a national framework for mentoring for nurses in general practice. Final Report. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.
Hine C and Bachman M (1997) What does locality commissioning in Avon offer? Retrospective descriptive evaluation. British Medical Journal 314(7089): 1246-50.
Hooker R (2006) Physician assistants and nurse practitioners: the United States experience. Medical Journal of Australia 185(1): 4-7.
Hordacre AL, Keane M, Kalucy E and Moretti C (2006) Making the connections. Report of the 2004-2005 Annual Survey of Divisions of General Practice. Adelaide: Primary Health Care Research and Information Service, Department of General Practice, Flinders University, and Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.
Horsburgh M, Perkins R, Coyle B and Degeling P (2006) The professional subcultures of students entering medicine, nursing and pharmacy programmes. Journal of Interprofessional Care 20(4): 425-31.
Lewis R, Gillam S, Gosden T and Sheaff R (1999) Who contracts for primary care? Journal of Public Health Medicine 21(4): 367-71.
Lord J (2003) Future of primary healthcare education: current problems and potential solutions. Postgraduate Medical Journal 79(936): 553-60.
New Zealand Nurses Association website (2006) About the college of practice nurses, accessed at http://www.nzno.org.nz/Site/Sections/Colleges/Practice_Nurses/Introduction.aspx on 23 Nov 2006.
Partis M (2001) A multidisciplinary education project in primary care. British Journal of Community Nursing 6(2): 68-73.
Purkis M and Bjornsdottir K (2006) Intelligent nursing: accounting for knowledge as action in practice. Nursing Philosophy 7: 247-256.
Royal College of Nursing Australia website (2007) Accessed at http://www.rcna.org.au/pages/policy.php on 6 June 2007.
Seale C, Anderson E and Kinnersley P (2006) Treatment advice in primary care: a comparative study of nurse practitioners and general practitioners. Journal of Advanced Nursing 54(5): 534-41.
Tolhurst H, Madjar I, Schultz L and Schmidt A (2004) Nurses in urban and rural general practice. Who are they and what do they do? Australian Family Physician 33(3): 185-8.
University of New England Partnerships (2006) General practice nurse leadership program, accessed at http://www.unepartnerships.com.au/ADGPNurseLead/ on 13 Nov 2006.
Watts I, Foley E, Hutchinson R, Pascoe T, Whitecross L and Snowden T (2004) General practice nursing in Australia. Canberra: Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and Royal College of Nursing, Australia.
Weller D and Dunbar J (2005) History, policy and context. In General Practice in Australia: 2004, Ch 1. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.
Williams A, Sibbald B (1999) Changing roles and identities in primary health care: exploring a culture of uncertainty. Journal of Advanced Nursing 29(3): 737-45.
Willis E, Condon J and Litt J (2000) Factors impacting on shared care working relationships between practice nurses and general practitioners: a literature review. Contemporary Nurse 9(2): 120-31.
eContent Home