These comprehensive workbooks guides nurses new and transitioning to general practice or aged care through key components of these areas of nursing, and will ensure a thorough understanding of the many facets of these primary health care settings.
Learning on the go with APNA online learning
Primary health care is any medical service that is provided outside the four walls of a hospital, including aged care, community health, general practice, custodial, schools and many other primary health care settings. Australia's 98,000+ primary health care nurses play a critical role in disease prevention and control to keep people healthy. They provide proactive care and health promotion to keep Australians well.
Belinda Ellis, APNA Advisory Nurse Panellist
General practice nurses (GPNs), along with other primary health care nurses, are an important part of Australia’s healthcare workforce, yet their roles are often less visible than those of other healthcare providers.
With Medicare reforms and incentive changes underway, there is an opportunity to consider how GPNs can best contribute to future models of care and also strengthen their professional standing.
Recent policy changes indicate a significant shift in primary health care. The federal government’s 2025–2026 budget committed $7.9 billion to strengthening bulk billing incentives. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners describes this as an ‘unprecedented investment’ in general practice and Medicare.¹ From November 2025, the new Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program (BBPIP) will provide an additional 12.5% loading to practices that bulk bill all patients.² The Review of General Practice Incentives recommended redesigning programs such as the Practice Incentives Program (PIP) and Workforce Incentive Program (WIP) to better support team-based care for complex conditions.³ The Australian Medical Association has also called for longer consultations and blended payment models.⁴ These reforms suggest a move away from short, transactional consultations and towards coordinated, interdisciplinary models of care.
In a recent study, in which I learned how to perform formal research, I asked nurses working in metropolitan general practices to reflect on their contribution to the general practice team.5 They most frequently described themselves as bringing ‘skills’, ‘knowledge’, ‘care’ and ‘experience’ to their patient care and workplaces. To the clinical team, this meant clinical expertise (e.g., ‘immunisation’ and ‘wound care’) and to patients, it was the relational care that mattered most (e.g., ‘continuity’, ‘reassurance’ and ‘time’). These findings are consistent with earlier research showing that primary health care nurses in Australia and overseas contribute both clinical and relational aspects of care, but that their visibility within practice teams varies depending on workplace structures and leadership.6,7
Insights from my study revealed that time and autonomy were the strongest predictors (almost 50%) of whether nurses felt valued. When nurses felt autonomous, regardless of having enough time, they felt valued. Interestingly, it is this relationship between time (both having and not having enough time) and autonomy that saw the greatest correlation. A rationale offered for this phenomenon was that when nurses were charged to provide patient education, follow-up and preventive care, their satisfaction increased. When they were trusted or were given more autonomy (e.g., leading chronic disease review or patient education in women’s health), their engagement was higher. They seem to thrive on being ‘busy’ only if they were performing work that they viewed was meaningfully autonomous.
|
|
As health care reforms shift general practice towards being the bedrock of chronic disease and complex care management, GPNs are well positioned to make significant contributions. Their involvement in care coordination, preventive health and patient education aligns with national priorities. However, to realise the full potential of GPNs, several conditions need to be met. These include:
A clear scope of practice (from government policy to job descriptions) so that nurses’ responsibilities are understood and not limited to task-based support
Recognition of nurses’ contributions, particularly through practice-level quality measures, such as data collection, outcome reporting and patient stories (one good example is the OCEAN project8)
Funding alignment, ensuring incentives such as BBPIP, PIP and WIP support nurse-led activities as part of integrated models of care
Investment in advanced training for nurses in areas aligned with national health priorities
Structured nursing career pathways that cater to both a clinical and leadership focus.
Elevating GPNs’ professional value must be linked with recognising their profession as a rigorous evidence-based discipline within the Australian health context. Research provides a basis for demonstrating impact and engaging with policy. Past literature shows that when nurses contribute to workforce surveys, clinical audits and quality-improvement projects, their roles become more visible within both practice teams and the wider health system.9,10 Future goals should look towards encouraging GPNs to conduct more scientific (and formal) research.
Learning from other disciplines can also be useful. Education research underlines the value of structured career pathways. Psychology demonstrates how recognition and autonomy support job satisfaction. Management research offers insights into teamwork and organisational culture. Integrating these perspectives into nursing research and advocacy could improve working conditions for GPNs and strengthen their professional standing.
Primary health care is at a point of change. Funding reforms and redesigned incentive programs signal a shift towards team-based and coordinated models of care. This creates opportunities for GPNs to align with policy directions, strengthen professional identity and ensure their contributions are clearly recognised.
By engaging with research, developing structured pathways and demonstrating impact, nurses can consolidate their roles as essential partners in sustainable, patient-centred primary health care.
You can add APNA-Member Professional Indemnity Insurance to your membership, when you join APNA.
