Nurse practitioners
A nurse practitioner is a registered nurse who has completed specific advanced nursing education and training in the diagnosis and management of medical conditions. Nurse practitioners work independently and collaboratively with physicians and the multidisciplinary team. Nurse practitioners perform the assessment and management of patients including direct referral of patients to other health care professionals, prescribing medications, and ordering diagnostic investigations to support diagnosis and treatment plans.
Nurse practitioners augment the delivery of current clinical services to improve access opportunities for consumers. This is achieved through the provision of high levels of clinically focused, autonomous nursing care in a variety of contexts. Nurse practitioners are a positive role model in organisations with demonstrated clinical and leadership capabilities.
In Queensland, nurse practitioners work in the clinical domains of Medicine, Surgery, Chronic Disease Management, Emergency, Paediatrics and Mental Health. Within the acute medical environment, the Acute Medical Nurse Practitioner demonstrates critical thinking in the clinical decision-making process, working collaboratively with the medical team and wider multidisciplinary team and plays a key role in service delivery and adherence to policy and procedures.
Nurse practitioner standards for practice
The Nurse Practitioner scope of practice is built on the foundation of the Registered Nurse scope of practice and must meet Australian regulatory and professional requirements inclusive of the:
- Nursing and Midwifery Board Australia's Nurse practitioner standards for practice
- Code of conduct for nurses
- International Council of Nurses' Code of ethics for nurses.
Governance
Within Queensland, nurse practitioners work at Nurse Grade 8 as outlined in the Queensland Health Nursing and Midwifery Classification Structure and Generic Level Statements. Nurse practitioners are required to be credentialed and have a defined scope of clinical practice granted to them before they undertake identified roles/positions, clinical procedures, or practices.
Organisational Credentialing is outlined in the Queensland Health Directive Credentialing and defining the scope of Clinical Practice. This directive should be undertaken at HHSs level through local clinical governance processes.
Under the Nurses and Midwives (Queensland Health and Department of Education) Certified Agreement (EB10) 2018:
- nurse practitioners will have 20% of their rostered hours allocated away from direct clinical duties to support them to work to their full scope of practice.
- the parties recognise that Nurse Practitioner Candidates must be provided with the necessary academic and clinical support consistent with the regulator and academic requirements.
Amendments for endorsed midwives and nurse practitioners
On 9 November 2018, Queensland’s Governor in Council approved an amendment to the Queensland Health (Drugs and Poisons) Regulation 1996 (HDPR) to provide new authorities for endorsed midwives and nurse practitioners in relation to use of scheduled drugs and poisons.
It includes changes to the way in which authorities for midwives, with a national scheduled medicines endorsement, are provided. The changes remove the requirement endorsed midwives to work under the Midwives Drug Therapy Protocol (DTP). They also include changes to the way in which authorities for registered nurses with a national endorsement are provided. The changes remove the requirement for nurse practitioners to work under the Nurse Practitioner DTP.
These amendments for endorsed midwives and nurse practitioners in Queensland will ensure the community has access to high quality, comprehensive midwifery and nursing services consistent with My Health, Queensland’s future: Advancing Health 2026.
More information
- Nurse practitioner standards for practice
- Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia - Endorsement as a nurse practitioner
- Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia - Guidelines: For nurses applying for endorsement as a nurse practitioner
- Nurse practitioner (PDF 192 kB)
- Endorsed Midwife (PDF 191 kB)
Contact the Office of the Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer on (07) 3328 9050 or email ocnmo_corro@health.qld.gov.au for more information or read our frequently asked questions.