First General Practice Nurses graduate from USC
The Parliamentary Secretary to the Federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Senator Jan McLucas, will present certificates to Australia’s first graduates of a General Practice Nursing program at the University of the Sunshine Coast today (Friday 11 July).
Senator McLucas also will address a special ceremony being held in honour of the 17 Sunshine Coast practice nurses who recently completed the Graduate Certificate in Nursing (General Practice).
This program was designed by the Sunshine Coast Division of General Practice (SCDGP) and the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) in 2004. It has since been rolled out nationally and more than 100 practice nurses are currently enrolled across the country.
SCDGP’s chief executive officer Ian Landreth congratulated the graduates and said practice nurses played an integral role in the general practice team, especially in the areas of improving access and health promotion.
“This is a challenging course and I congratulate all 17 graduates,” Mr Landreth said. “This course has developed and built on the existing skill sets of these valuable practice nurses.
“Practice nurses perform many procedures and services such as Pap smears, immunisations, wound management, health assessments and the promotion of health education.”
The USC Graduate Certificate in Nursing (General Practice) program is designed to provide valuable ongoing education for practice nurses, by covering topics like problem solving in evidence-based practice, community health profiling, health education and promotion, and primary health care.
The national rollout of the program was a result of a Memorandum of Understanding between USC and the Australian General Practice Network (AGPN).
AGPN acting chief executive officer Liesel Wett said the work performed by practice nurses clearly reduced the workloads of GPs.
“We know that employing a practice nurse can, on average, allow GPs to see an additional 800 patients per year,” Ms Wett said.
“Further developing these skills frees up GPs’ time to concentrate on more complex medical problems, essentially improving access.”
— Terry Walsh