The general practice nurse workforce: Estimating future supply

Heywood, Troy; Laurence, Caroline

doi:10.31128/ajgp-01-18-4461

Cited by 52 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The two largest nursing groups in Australia are community nurses and practice nurses (Department of Health, 2016). Although the Australian National Primary Health Care Strategic Framework outlines a comprehensive view of PHC extending beyond the 'general practice' focus of traditional Australian Government responsibility (Department of Health & Ageing, 2013), PHC workforce planning has tended to focus on general practice (Heywood & Laurence, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite a rapid and incentivised growth in practice nurse numbers of 64% between 2007 and 2015 (Heywood & Laurence, 2018), community health nurses still account for a significant proportion of the PHC nursing workforce (Department of Health, 2016;Health Workforce Australia, 2014). The majority of community nurses work in the public sector and practice nurses, who are employed in general practices, work within the private sector.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is a gap in the research literature about the preparation and professional transition of next generation (undergraduate or new graduate) nurses for PHC roles in the home setting (Murray-Parahi et al, 2016). Although compared to the acute care setting there is generally less PHC nursing research overall (Keleher et al, 2007;Murray-Parahi et al, 2016), transition research about community-based nursing roles, like PHC workforce development, has tended to focus on general practice (Heywood & Laurence, 2018). Research refers to new graduate experiences in general practice facilities (Thomas, Bloomfield, Gordon, & Aggar, 2018) and the transition of experienced (acute care) nurses in general practice or community-based nursing roles (Ashley, Brown, Halcomb, & Peters, 2018), rather than nursing in the home.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Primary health care content in Australian undergraduate nursing curricula

et al. 2020

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a b s t r a c tThe importance of primary health care PHC is receiving increasing attention. The demand for skilled workers is due to an increased emphasis on community-based care but until recent times pre-registration preparation for nurses, including clinical placements, have focussed on acute care specialties. Aim: To systematically review, measure and describe the PHC content in the undergraduate nursing curriculum in Australian schools of nursing over time. Methods: A cross-sectional study of all Australian universities offering undergraduate (pre-registration) baccalaureate degrees was undertaken in February 2017. Curriculum artifacts were retrieved from university websites. A terminology matrix guided retrieval of PHC content. Findings: All 29 universities offering pre-registration undergraduate nursing degrees in Australia were included in this study. While most universities cite PHC principals as core values underpinning their undergraduate curriculum, only 12 (<2%) of the 694 subject titles had obvious or manifest "primary health care" content and these were mainly offered in 1st and 3rd year. Subject outlines tended to demonstrate more explicit content than subject titles. Discussion: This study confirms ambiguity in PHC interpretation and nomenclature, and opportunities for undergraduate preparation for nursing roles in the home setting is limited. Prospective undergraduate nurses seeking careers in PHC might be deterred by a lack of manifest PHC content in the public domain, which may or may not accurately represent the actual content provided. Conclusion: The predominance of acute episodic care in both curricula and clinical experiences potentially diminishes the importance of PHC. This study offers some direction for education providers and policymakers wishing to attract and prepare next generation nurses for roles in PHC.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Primary health care content in Australian undergraduate nursing curricula

et al. 2020

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“…Although longer consultations are associated with better decision making and resource usage, fee-for-service funding may incentivise throughput and inadequately support team-based care. 25,26 Further, GPs often saw themselves as managing asthma without significant input from non-GP specialist colleagues. Consistent with other research, the present study showed that cost and long waiting lists inhibited referral to private and hospital non-GP specialists.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Have we got the right focus in asthma care in general practice? A qualitative study

Rupasinghe¹,

Reath²,

Cvetkovski³

et al. 2021

Aust J Gen Pract

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Background and objectiveAsthma presentations are common in general practice, but opportunities to control asthma are often missed. The aim of this study was to explore how general practitioners (GPs) and practice nurses (PNs) deliver asthma care, with particular attention to perceived roles and challenges, and ways to improve management. MethodsUsing a qualitative approach, semistructured interviews were conducted with GPs and PNs working in an area of cultural diversity and socioeconomic disadvantage in western Sydney. Inductive thematic analysis was undertaken. ResultsNineteen interviews were conducted, with nine GPs and 10 PNs. The main focus of asthma care was on acute presentations, with less emphasis on follow-up and preventive care and underuse of general practice chronic disease models of care. PN roles were generally limited to acute asthma assessment and triage. GPs did not commonly use spirometry or access non-GP specialist input. DiscussionAsthma care in general practice may be improved by a greater focus on prevention and control, including through follow-up after acute presentations, enhanced collaboration between GPs and PNs, and supportive practice models.Have we got the right focus in asthma care in general practice? A qualitative study Research

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“…For rural and remote communities, there is hence the need in health workforce planning to move beyond headcounts of healthcare professionals to a more inclusive assessment of the healthcare workforce. However, a review of the literature reveals that previous evaluations of the healthcare workforce have used traditional approaches, focusing on either specific professions [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ] or professional groupings such as medicine [ 12 , 13 ], nursing [ 13 , 14 ], allied health [ 15 , 16 , 17 ] or oral health [ 5 , 18 ]. The aim of this study was therefore to illustrate a novel approach to health workforce evaluation for rural communities that broadened the scope of workers to better reflect the reality of healthcare service delivery.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of the Health, Welfare and Care Workforce in Tasmania, Australia: 2011–2016

Jessup

Barnett

Obamiro

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Background: On a per capita basis, rural communities are underserviced by health professionals when compared to metropolitan areas of Australia. However, most studies evaluating health workforce focus on discrete professional groups rather than the collective contribution of the range of health, care and welfare workers within communities. The objective of this study was therefore to illustrate a novel approach for evaluating the broader composition of the health, welfare and care (HWC) workforce in Tasmania, Australia, and its potential to inform the delivery of healthcare services within rural communities. Methods: Census data (2011 and 2016) were obtained for all workers involved in health, welfare and care service provision in Tasmania and in each statistical level 4 area (SA4) of the state. Workers were grouped into seven categories: medicine, nursing, allied health, dentistry and oral health, health-other, welfare and carers. Data were aggregated for each category to obtain total headcount, total full time equivalent (FTE) positions and total annual hours of service per capita, with changes observed over the five-year period. Results: All categories of the Tasmanian HWC workforce except welfare grew between 2011 and 2016. While this growth occurred in all SA4 regions across the state, the HWC workforce remained maldistributed, with more annual hours of service per capita provided in the Hobart area. Although the HWC workforce remained highly feminised, a move toward gender balance was observed in some categories, including medicine, dentistry and oral health, and carers. The HWC workforce also saw an increase in part-time workers across all categories. Conclusions: Adopting a broad approach to health workforce planning can better reflect the reality of healthcare service delivery. For underserviced rural communities, recognising the diverse range of workers who can contribute to the provision of health, welfare and care services offers the opportunity to realise existing workforce capacity and explore how ‘total care’ may be delivered by different combinations of health, welfare and care workers.

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The general practice nurse workforce: Estimating future supply

Cited by 52 publications

References 16 publications

Primary health care content in Australian undergraduate nursing curricula

Primary health care content in Australian undergraduate nursing curricula

Have we got the right focus in asthma care in general practice? A qualitative study

Review of the Health, Welfare and Care Workforce in Tasmania, Australia: 2011–2016

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