Despite over 14 years of experience working across a range of healthcare settings, Tasmanian registered nurse and midwife Teagan Atkins often encounters situations where she is unable to work to her full scope of practice.

One such example is in her current role as the lead triage nurse at Medicare Urgent Clinics in Hobart and Bridgewater. While she can assess and diagnose common conditions like urinary tract infections (UTIs), she is unable to prescribe medication to complete the treatment without a doctor’s involvement.

“I know what needs to happen, I know what needs to be done, but a lot of what I do right now doesn’t allow me to work to my full scope,” Teagan explains.

Driven by the desire to practice more autonomously and enhance healthcare access in underserved communities, Teagan is currently studying to become a nurse practitioner after securing financial support from a Primary Care Nursing and Midwifery Scholarship.

Funded by the Albanese Labor Government and delivered by the Australian College of Nurse Practitioners (ACNP), the program will deliver 1,850 postgraduate scholarships over four years from 2024-2027, including supporting registered nurses and midwives to upskill to become nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives, particularly in primary care settings. Valued at up to $30,000, the scholarships aim to address workforce shortages in primary care and aged care, including increasing the number of qualified nurse practitioners to support nurse-led clinics and new models of care. In its 2025-26 Budget, handed down last night, the government committed a further $10.5 million over two years to expand the program by offering an extra 400 scholarships.

Teagan specialises in women’s health and primary care, balancing her time between the Medicare Urgent Care Clinics –  which provide free care for non-urgent illnesses and injuries in a bid to free up EDs –  Jordan River Health’s Women’s Health Clinics, and her role as a midwife at the Royal Hobart Hospital. Services she provides at the women’s health clinic include early pregnancy care, contraception advice/planning, breastfeeding support, cervical screening, and endometriosis management.

Teagan says her employer, GP Collective, which runs Jordan River Health, has been an important source of support and empowered her to seriously explore becoming a nurse practitioner to improve women’s healthcare access. Through professional networks, she discovered the primary care nursing and midwifery scholarships and decided to apply.

“I didn’t think I’d get it, if I’m being honest,” says Teagan, an ANMF (Tasmanian Branch) member, now in her second-year of a three-year Master of Nurse Practitioner at Flinders University, focusing on women’s health and primary health care.

“I just thought I’d have a go, because I’m a mum and I’ve got three little kids, and I’m trying to study and fund it, which is really daunting. It’s certainly taken a huge amount of pressure off me, having this scholarship.”

Throughout her career, Teagan has become increasingly passionate about providing tailored healthcare to women and children. She hopes that becoming a nurse practitioner will allow her to expand her knowledge and skills and better address the healthcare needs of communities.  

“There’s not a lot of medical services for the Bridgewater community,” explains Teagan.

“We have massive GP shortages and nurse practitioners they’re kind of like hen’s teeth here. I had a workplace willing to support me [with training], I just needed some financial support to help get me there.”

Teagan, who has dedicated much of her career to improving access to healthcare for women, says there is still much to achieve.

“In your life as a female, you do end up needing to access healthcare a lot. Whether it’s from suddenly becoming pregnant and needing care there, or whether you’ve got a little child who is suddenly having fevers and you’re not sure what’s going on and all of a sudden, you’re coming into this medical model that you probably weren’t before. I think women should have lots of healthcare options.”

Once she completes her training and becomes endorsed as a nurse practitioner, Teagan plans to continue working with GP Collective, which is supporting her to meet the required 300 hours of supervised, supernumerary Integrated Professional Practice (IPP). Ultimately, she wants to provide more independent and comprehensive care to women and children in the community.

Her advice to other RNs considering applying for this scholarship is simple: “Just go for it. I didn’t think I’d get it and I didn’t think I’d find a workplace, particularly a general practitioner, that would be so supportive and get behind me.”

Find out more information about the Primary Care Nursing and Midwifery Scholarships program here