What is a Nurse Practitioner?
A nurse practitioner is a discrete classification of nursing practice that offers a new clinical career pathway and opportunity for our more highly skilled nurses to remain and develop in clinical practice. The nurse practitioner role is grounded in the nursing profession’s values, knowledge, theories and practice, and demonstrates strong clinical leadership to deliver an innovative, integrated and flexible approach to health care delivery, working in partnership with other health care providers.
The Nurse Practitioner role is a collaborative one with strong foundations in evidence- based advanced clinical practice, benchmarking with international best practice. Research and leadership in clinical practice, together with new models of managing patient flow and service delivery are hallmarks of the role.
Background
The document Smart State: Health 2020: a vision for the future identifies the key challenges facing the Queensland Health system in the coming two decades. These challenges include:
These challenges have prompted extensive review of the current system of health service delivery and implementation of new strategies with a focus on responding to the health needs of the community, while fully utilising the skills and knowledge of experienced staff. New roles are being explored and innovative models of care with an emphasis on a collaborative team approach are being implemented both nationally and internationally.
Queensland Health has previously developed and implemented three Advanced Nursing Practice roles allowing nurses endorsed in these roles to initiate and supply some medications according to Drug Therapy Protocols (DTP). These are:
The implementation of the Nurse Practitioner role in Queensland follows a trial of the role in four sites during 2003. The Queensland Health Nurse Practitioner Report from this trial was submitted to the Minister for Health in December 2003. In February 2004 the Queensland Government made an election commitment to change relevant legislation to allow for full implementation of the role in Queensland.
A nurse practitioner (NP) is a registered nurse educated to function autonomously and collaboratively in an advanced and extended clinical role. The nurse practitioner role includes assessment and management of clients using nursing knowledge and skills and may include but is not limited to:
The nurse practitioner role is grounded in the nursing profession’s values, knowledge, theories and practice and provides innovative and flexible health care delivery that complements other health care providers. The scope of practice of the nurse practitioner is determined by the context in which the nurse practitioner is educated, competent and authorised to practice.
The progression from beginning nurse to NP occurs over a number of years. Being a nurse for many years is not sufficient to be a NP.
Across Australia, it is generally accepted that a Masters level of educational preparation is appropriate for entry to practise as an NP. At Masters level, the specific skills and scholarly development required to meet the demands of safe NP practice are acquired. In Queensland, the Queensland Nursing Council (QNC) is responsible for setting and monitoring standards for the approval of course providers and courses leading to endorsement as a NP.
Information about courses can also be found on the Queensland Nursing Council website.
Scholarships for nurses preparing to be an NP
Queensland Health is supporting the implementation of the NP role by offering scholarships to assist nurses with education programs that will prepare nurses for endorsement as an NP in Queensland.
There are a range of other sources of scholarships including professional organisations, employers, Department of Health and Aging - Australian Government and others.
For more information about QH postgraduate nursing scholarships – go to Queensland Health Scholarships & Grants
In Queensland, the Queensland Nursing Council (QNC) manages the process for registered nurses to become endorsed as NPs. The QNC provides information to candidates and potential candidates regarding the application and endorsement process.
For more information about the endorsement process, visit the Queensland Nursing Council website or contact the QNC on (07) 3223 5110 or 1300 139 993 (Queensland callers outside Brisbane).
In Queensland, decisions to employ NPs are made by employers. Increasingly, health services are examining how the NP role may function within their services. The Office of the Chief Nurse is currently formulating a framework, policy documents and toolkits so there is a consistent process to assist health services to make decisions about the need for NP roles and how to identify staff that may be suitable to support to become a NP.
If you are a nurse and are interested in being a NP, you could discuss the options and opportunities with your nursing management team.
How does a health service know if they need an NP?
It can be difficult to understand the potential that new roles have in the health team, and to work out where they will be best employed. In particular, there is often a lack of clarity about whether a NP is needed or whether other advanced roles such Clinical Nurse Consultants (CNC) are required.
Decisions to establish NP positions should be made in the same manner as any other health worker position. Investigation and planning should occur to understand what are the service needs or gaps, what are the skills and knowledge a health worker should have to fill this need and then what are the potential roles that could employed.
The Qld Health NP Service / business planning templates will be a useful resource for health services wishing to examine if the NP role has a place in their health service. (Framework & toolkit – currently being created).
How will changes to regulation affect NPs?
There are planned changes to legislation and regulation, both nationally and at a state level that will affect how NPs are regulated.
There is work being done nationally to move towards national registration and accreditation of courses for all health professionals. In Australia, the development of the NP role has occurred differently in each state. Moves to national registration schemes for health practitioners will assist in developing a nationally consistent framework for endorsement as a NP. National consistency will ensure that NPs across Australia meet the same standards and requirements for endorsement. Recent meeting between the Chief Nurses of Australia and New Zealand has resulted in a consistent and collaborative approach to implementing the NP role and the formulation of key priorities areas to support and enable effective NP practice nationally.
Queensland Health and the Department of Employment and Industrial Relations (DEIR) have been working on proposed amendments to the Workers Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 to enable nurse practitioners to issue workers compensation medical certificates.
What are the common myths about Nurse Practitioner?
For more information about nurse practitioners in Queensland, contact the Office of the Chief Nurse on (07) 3234 1544
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