The main professional group for nurses working in primary health care says Australia's health care system is being diminished because the skills and talents of its members aren't being used to their fullest.
A new survey of more than 2,000 primary health care nurses has found one-in-four believe they're under-used and could be doing more to maximise their skills.
That could have implications for nursing numbers far into the future.
The vital role nurses play in the delivery of primary health care services is recognised by the World Health Organisation.
Chief Nursing Officer at the WHO Elizabeth Iro emphasised the point during her International Nurses Day address last year.
“They are most times the first, and sometimes the only health care professionals that people will see, especially in remote and rural areas. In these remote areas, they have a responsibility as the trained and competent professional to work with and support community health care workers and those from civil societies to ensure a maximum outreach to the most vulnerable populations,” Ms Iro.
But it would seem that primary health care nurses in Australia are not necessarily feeling as appreciated.
President of the Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association, or APNA, Karen Booth says better recognition of the work nurses do can help with retention levels.
She says that's especially important now - by 2030, it's predicted that at the current retention and training levels, the Australian medical system will be about 100,000 nurses short of the expected demand from an ageing population.
“We know that the extension of role, and appreciation and recognition of the type of work that nurses can do, contributes to their level of work satisfaction and professional satisfaction. And if you really like what you do and feel appreciated then you're more likely to stay - and workforce retention is a huge issue,” Ms Booth says.
Julieanne Badenoch is a primary health care nurse and midwife and has watched the role of primary health care nurses develop over the past 20 years.
She says, at times, managers and G-Ps have been unsure what the role should involve, but that inadequate funding of the medical system also limits the benefit nurses can bring to it.
“Time is moving on, and I think that especially in remote communities, it is very hard to get enough GPs for the work that's needed. Therefore, the role of the nurse does step up and be acknowledged, but even so the funding still, even with some of the incentives that are in place, the funding still ultimately requires us to have sign-off (authorisation) from a GP,” Ms Badenoch said.
She says given there's a nurse in almost every community, the system can certainly be improved by giving greater support to nurses and acknowledging the level of their skills.
“If we are encouraged and supported and reasonably remunerated for the work we're able to do, and actually facilitated to be able to do that, then there would be huge impacts, I believe, on the health of the nation in that we could not only do (achieve) chronic disease management, we could focus on preventative health as well, stopping people getting to hospital,” adds Ms Badenoch.
The WHO’s Elizabeth Iro says the trust that can develop between a nurse and a patient is rarely matched, and that relationship can bring greater benefits to communities as a whole.
“We know that when the communities and people trust and have confidence in their health care providers they are more ready to comply with advice on health wellbeing and treatment plans. Because they work closest with people in communities, nurses are positioned well to gain this trust. They are also more likely to pick up and mitigate potential disease outbreaks and can intervene early and respond earlier to emergencies,” Ms Iro.
Ms Iro says it should be a focus of all health systems to foster such relationships.
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