The industrial and professional organisation for nurses and midwives in Australia
Canberra Office
Unit 3, 28 Eyre Street Kingston ACT 2604 Australia
PO Box 4239 Kingston ACT 2604 Australia
(T) + 61 2 6232 6533 (F) + 61 2 6232 6610
anfcanberra@anf.org.au
Melbourne Office
Level 1, 365 Queen Street Melbourne VIC 3000 Australia
(T ) + 61 3 9602 8500 (F) + 61 3 9602 8567
anfmelbourne@anf.org.au
ANF Journals
Australian Nursing Journal
Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing
anj@anf.org.au ajan@anf.org.au
ABN 41 816 898 298
Media Release
Attention: news, health, industrial relations, politics
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Practice nurses pivotal to easing primary care pressure
Nurses play a key role in supporting general practice and giving people access to
primary health care services, the Australian Practice Nurses Association (APNA)
and Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) said after the release today of two
reports on general practice and practice nurses in Australia.
The Australian Practice Nurse Study, released by the Australian National
University (ANU) and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report
on general practice both show the benefits of using a variety of health
professionals, particularly practice nurses in general practice.
Lee Thomas, ANF Assistant Federal Secretary, said nurses welcomed evidence
that there had been a move towards multidisciplinary care and the use of practice
nurses in general practice.
“Nurses are a pivotal part of making sure people have access to quality health
care in the community. Increasingly general practices are employing practice
nurses to carry out chronic and early childhood health checks; sexual health and
cancer screening checks – all major parts of the primary health care initiative,” she
said.
Belinda Caldwell, APNA CEO applauded the ANU report saying evidence of a
move towards practice nurses in primary health was promising, but she added that
more needed to be done by government and policy makers to build on the benefits
they bring.
“The community increasingly needs and wants access to a range of health
professionals to assist them in managing their chronic diseases, lifestyle issues
and many other health concerns. Practice nurses are ideally placed to fill this
need.”
Media inquiries
Belinda Caldwell, APNA CEO
0433 801 045
Lee Thomas, ANF assistant federal secretary
0419 576 590
Libby Muir, ANF communications officer
0413 834 979
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