Peak nursing bodies have welcomed initiatives to bolster the workforce in primary care, including the national program to increase student nursing placements in primary care.

The federal government announced $4.2 million for the National Nurse Clinical Placements Program (NNCPP) in the 2023-24 Budget.

Federal Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care Ged Kearney, a RN and former ANMF Federal Secretary, today released further details on the NNCPP aimed to provide more students with experience in primary care and help recruit to the sector.

“From working as a nurse at the Austin Hospital in the 80s to meeting with student nurses in 2024, I know the importance of placements when you’re studying.

“Expanding nursing placement in primary care helps builds the skills of our students for the best quality care now and into the future.”

The Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA) has been chosen to administer the NNCPP, in conjunction with education providers and clinical settings to place students.

The funding will provide for an additional 6,000 nursing student placements including in community health, Aboriginal community-controlled health organisations, general practice and schools, over the next three years. In South Australia alone, 50 students have already been placed in primary health care settings, a number that will grow to 500 placements in the next three years.

At present, student placements in primary health are rare despite primary healthcare nurses making up 25% of the nursing workforce.

The investment would help grow the next generation of primary healthcare nurses, who traditionally had not been exposed to primary healthcare on placement (PHC), said APNA President Karen Booth.

“The NNCPP is showing our next generation of nurses how rewarding a career in primary health care can be.”

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Federal Secretary Annie Butler welcomed initiatives in primary care to bolster the nursing workforce and increase access to healthcare for consumers. “We know that primary healthcare is the answer. We know that quality clinical placements lead to better transition into those areas.

“We know that when we get this right in primary healthcare, encouraging nurses and midwives and supporting them to do their best work out in primary healthcare, we’re going to take the pressures off the acute system. We’re going to relieve those pressure points across all areas of the healthcare system and just lead to better health outcomes for all.”

Nurse practitioners in primary care

Working in primary care was becoming more viable for nurse practitioners with further changes on the way making it increasingly so, said Australian College of Nurse Practitioners CEO Leanne Boase.

From this month, Medicare rebates for care provided by NPs has been increased by 30% in a bid to make care more affordable and accessible, particularly in rural and regional Australia.

Minister Kearney said the changes were in response to the recommendations made in the Nurse Practitioner Workforce Plan and Strengthening Medicare Taskforce Report. It follows the removal of the requirement for collaborative arrangements.

The 30% increase in the MBS rebate had already impacted on bulk billing rates, in particular for more vulnerable or disadvantaged people, improving access to primary health care, Ms Boase said.

“It’s also having an effect on the nurse practitioner workforce, with more nurse practitioners considering the shift to primary care,” she said.

“Many blocks have been preventing people accessing healthcare from a nurse practitioner and limiting their choice. With so much reform over the last few years, and more changes on the way, there is more hope not only for those underemployed nurse practitioners in Australia, but also for people who struggle to access and afford healthcare.”