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Nurses willing and able

By Ged Kearney - posted Wednesday, 25 June 2008


Advanced registered nurses are experienced professionals who are prepared for advanced practice through years of additional tertiary education and who accept responsibility for complex situations. They can in some circumstances seek authorisation or endorsement as a “nurse practitioner”.

The nurse practitioner role is differentiated by their extended education, which allows them to practise in the areas of advanced clinical assessment, to prescribe medications, to refer patients to other health practitioners and to order diagnostics tests such as blood tests and X-rays.

While there are about 300 nurse practitioners in Australia, many face barriers to practise to the full scope of their role.

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Some of the restrictions are the inability for patients to receive medicines subsidised under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme if prescribed by a nurse practitioner (as distinct from a doctor) or rebates from Medicare for nurse practitioner services. This limits their practice and reduces patients' access to affordable, high-quality health care.

Nurses in primary health care will not replace other professionals. But why should an elderly person in a nursing home or a child in a remote area have to wait until the next GP visit for a prescription when an advanced registered nurse, experienced in aged care or child and maternal health, knows the issue and the solution?

The legal capacity of professional nurses to make autonomous decisions needs to be acknowledged by changing current federal policy to allow people to access publicly funded primary health care services and medications provided by nurses.

There is huge potential not only to deliver better health for the community, but to improve national productivity by more effectively using our nurses - the largest professional health workforce in the country.

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First published in the Herald-Sun on June 17, 2008.



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About the Author

Ged Kearney is the Federal Secretary for the Australian Nurses Federation. Ged began her nursing career in the private health sector in Melbourne in the 1980’s. After completing her education, she moved to the public sector where she stayed for 15 years. She completed a Bachelor of Education and moved into the specialty area of Clinical Education at Austin Health. Support for newly graduated nurses, access to and development of re-entry and refresher courses for nurses to re-enter the workforce and professional development for nurses became her particular interest. Her education career culminated in her role as Manager of Clinical Education for Austin Health. Ged was during this time a very active member of the Australian Nursing Federation and in 1997 she became president of the Victorian Branch. Following a period as ANF Federal President she was elected as Assistant Federal Secretary, and in April this year she took up her current position as Federal Secretary. Ged continues to represent nurses on many and varied national and international forums which include being a director for HESTA Superannuation Industry Fund.

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All articles by Ged Kearney

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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