Nursing in Primary Health Care Program
APNA has received funding from the Australian Government Department of Health to deliver the Nursing in Primary Health Care (NiPHC) Program over a four year period (2018–2022). To read about previous work undertaken by APNA, please refer to NiPHC (2015-2018) below.
Nurses play a central role in the delivery of team-based and multi-disciplinary care, particularly for patients with chronic and complex conditions. This Program supports strengthening the capacity, role and utilisation of the Australian primary health care nursing workforce, to address the health care needs of the community.
The NiPHC Program aims to build capacity amongst the primary health care nursing workforce by:
- Improving employment opportunities, recruitment, and retention of nurses in primary health care settings.
- Improve team-based approaches to primary health care service delivery through nurse delivered (team based) models of care
- Ensuring that nurses working in primary health care settings have the knowledge and skills to deliver best practice clinical services in priority areas of primary health care.
The Program continues to expand on previous projects delivered under the NiPHC (2015-2018) Program.
Transition to Practice Program
APNA recognises that innovative strategies are needed to address recruitment and retention issues in the primary health care nursing workforce.
The Transition to practice program provides an evidence-based framework of support over 12 months to nurses who are new to primary health care. Nurses may be recently graduated or experienced nurses moving from another healthcare setting.
The program will support a maximum of 150 nurses, in a series of four groups over a four year period (2018 – 2022).
Program start dates:
- Group 1: February 2019 - January 2020
- Group 2: September 2019 - August 2020
- Group 3: July 2020 - June 2021
- Group 4: May 2021 - April 2022
Read more about the Transition to Practice Program.
Building Nurse Capacity - improving patient outcomes
The Building Nurse Capacity (BNC) project builds on the previous work of the Enhanced Nurse Clinics project and aims to build the capacity of the primary health care team to improve patient outcomes by optimising the role of nurses in care delivery. The BNC project will focus on the development of nurse-led (team-based) models of care in a range of primary health care settings, to increase the capacity of the primary health care team. The sites will be in geographically diverse locations and based on local population health needs.
This project will support a maximum of 35 nurses and their primary healthcare organisation, in two 18 month tranches, to implement nurse-led (team-based) models of care. Grant funding will be available for successful applicants.
Program start dates:
- Group 1: February 2019 - July 2020 (18 participants)
- Group 2: October 2020 - March 2022 (17 participants)
Read more about the Building Nurse Capacity project and how to apply here.
Chronic Disease Management and Healthy Ageing for nurses in primary health care
Face to face education in the delivery of chronic disease management and healthy ageing for nurses working in primary health care. A total of 26 workshops will be delivered across Australia.
This work aims to:
- Support the professional development of nurses in primary health care
- An increase in the capability of primary health care nurses to undertake planned, evidence-based approaches to chronic disease management and healthy ageing
- Deliver relevant content that meets the local population health needs
Read more about the workshops.
The Nursing in Primary Health Care Program has been funded by the Australian Government Department of Health.