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.
Mitch Wall, APNA Chief of Staff and General Manager
Across Australia, more than 98,000 primary health care nurses play a vital role in supporting communities and delivering care. However, the support structures around nurses’ education and career development have long been fragmented and outdated. Now, a ground-breaking new digital platform from APNA is changing that, offering nurses the structure, support and visibility they’ve long deserved.
For years, nurses have navigated chaotic education options, with no centralised way to track continuing professional development (CPD) or map a clear career path. Learning often happens on the job, but much of this professional growth remains unrecorded and invisible.
APNA Board Director and nurse practitioner Denise Lyons notes, ‘Nurses are always learning. We read, we adapt, we teach, we question. We grow through every patient interaction. But too often, that learning is invisible – even to ourselves.’
This lack of documented learning is just part of the problem. The bigger issue is the absence of structured support for nurses’ ongoing development and career progression. CPD has been reduced to a box-ticking exercise, a regulatory prerequisite, something to stay on top of to meet the requirements of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra).
Every time a nurse attends a workshop, reads an article, participates in training or learns from peers on the job, that’s professional growth in motion. But without the right tools, much of that growth goes unrecorded, unrecognised and underutilised. It’s forgotten.
This lack of structure, recognition and support has far-reaching consequences – it impacts nurses’ job satisfaction and their career mobility, which means workforce retention suffers, and ultimately so do the health outcomes of Australian communities.
In response to this long-term problem, APNA has launched Florence – a ground-breaking new digital platform designed to transform how nurses track their learning, grow professionally and gain greater recognition for their contribution to Australia’s health and wellbeing.
Named after Florence Nightingale – the mother of modern nursing – this app isn’t about looking back. It’s about lighting the way forward.
Florence is built on the solid foundation of the APNA Career and Education Frameworks, which were supported by Commonwealth funding and developed through wide sector consultation between 2015 and 2018.
Lisa Collison is APNA’s General Manager of Research and Innovation and was involved in the development of the frameworks. She describes that process as comprehensive and rigorous. The team consulted more than 1,000 nurses, engaged with policy experts, tested across settings, and refined constantly.
‘These frameworks offer a clear, evidence-based structure for how nurses can grow professionally, no matter their starting point,’ Lisa says.
The challenge since then has been how to apply those frameworks to real, everyday nursing practice.
Florence is the solution to this challenge. According to Lisa, ‘Florence brings these frameworks to life.’
Florence meets nurses where they are – whether they’re students, new graduates, seasoned professionals, and/or educators. The platform’s intuitive, smart technology makes it easy to:
Track both formal and informal CPD in an Ahpra-compliant way
Receive tailored learning suggestions based on your setting, skills and goals
Benchmark your skills against national standards
Set meaningful career goals and monitor your progress
Connect with professional opportunities, such as mentoring, research, jobs, and leadership roles
Access real-time insights into your growth and strengths.
Importantly, Florence is completely free. This was a deliberate decision to ensure access and equity across the nursing workforce.
Florence is not exclusive to primary health care. It’s designed for all nurses, including those in schools, aged care settings, justice health, mental health, community health, hospitals, remote areas, and every nurse in between. No matter the setting, every nurse deserves recognition, support, and access to professional growth.
For rural and remote nurses, who often work in isolation, Florence is a lifeline – connecting them to national benchmarks, shared learning, and a supportive professional community.
It’s designed to be inclusive. As Donna Gleisner, General Manager of APNA’s Career Pathways programs, explains: ‘Nurses bring different backgrounds, goals and experiences to their work – and they deserve pathways that reflect that diversity.’
Florence doesn’t just benefit nurses. By offering unprecedented insight into learning trends, capability gaps, and emerging strengths, the platform will also equip health leaders, educators, and policymakers with the data they need to make better decisions.
Lisa sees this as a game-changer: ‘For the first time, we’ll have access to real-time, longitudinal data that reveals the expertise and learning behaviours of Australia’s nurses. We’ll be able to see patterns in professional development, identify emerging areas of strength, highlight workforce gaps, and better inform education, funding, and health system reform.’
The APNA Workforce Survey has been instrumental in gathering data on the primary health care nursing workforce for the last 21 years; however, surveys can only go so far. The real-time data generated by Florence will be invaluable for informing workforce planning, resourcing, and future policy decisions. It will help ensure that Australia’s nursing workforce is valued, visible, and respected at every stage, from registration to retirement.
Florence is not a static tool – it’s a living platform, designed to evolve. With ongoing feedback from nurses and health leaders, Florence will continue to adapt to the changing needs of the healthcare system.
Florence marks a major milestone in recognising nursing as a modern profession grounded in evidence, reflection, and impact. It reinforces APNA’s core values – Better Together, Pursue Excellence, and Positive Disruptor – by offering nurses the tools they need to advocate for themselves, elevate their careers, and improve care for their communities.
‘When you can clearly articulate your scope, your learning, and your value, it opens doors,’ Denise says. ‘It boosts confidence. It changes how others see you – and how you see yourself.’
APNA founder Sam Moses says the launch of Florence feels like coming full circle: ‘When I founded APNA in 2001, I was just one nurse looking for connection. I wanted support, visibility, and professional recognition. Florence pulses with the same spirit that started APNA. It’s a tool that doesn’t just recognise the role of nurses – it connects and empowers them.’
Florence says to nurses: your learning matters, your goals matter, and your growth is something worth investing in – not just for you, but for the benefit of Australia’s health.
And this is just the beginning.
To download Florence by APNA, go to https://www.florence.today/
You can add APNA-Member Professional Indemnity Insurance to your membership, when you join APNA.
