30 March 2015

Dear members,

I’m not going to chat too much today. I’m going to cut straight to the chase because I want to know what you know and think. The expansion and diversification of primary health care and the growing demands for frontline preventive care is changing the face of many services including general practice. I want you to tell me how you feel the modern 21st century general practice looks and works. How would you describe or define contemporary general practice? What does the model look like? What makes a cutting edge general practice? Members, add their thoughts here.

APNA has secured a meeting with the Health Minister, the Hon Sussan Ley. We will be able to showcase the wonderful activities of APNA and the valuable contribution that primary health care nurses make to the health of this nation. We’ll keep you posted.

Also there have been a number of important notices coming to APNA via the General Practice Roundtable and the National Immunisation Committee. There have been updates to the online version of the Australian Immunisation Handbook 10th Edition including information about pertussis vaccination in pregnancy and a booster for children aged 18 months. Many areas are seeing a big upswing in whooping cough activity in 2015. Read more here.

There have also been a number of updates regarding the 2015 influenza season. For the latest news, have a look here.

There have also been changes to immunisation reporting to help immunisation providers identify under-immunised children in their practices. The fact sheet can also be accessed via the Immunise Australia website.

Regards,

Karen

16 March 2015

Dear members,

APNA is currently accepting nominations from members for positions on the Board. That means, if there are more nominees than positions available, we go to an election!

People often ask what it’s like to sit on the APNA Board. Governance requires a different perspective from service management. Governance is often described as taking a helicopter view looking down over the organisation to see that all is running to plan: to the Strategic Plan formulated by the Board, and to the operational plan and various activity plans reported to the Board by the CEO. Whilst in that helicopter, the Board is looking at the political landscape and monitoring and fending off risks to the Association from various vantage points, as well as looking for opportunities to grow and promote our organisation. We have some very good runs on the board here. The responsibilities of the Board have become increasingly sophisticated over time, and this reflects the maturity of the organisation. A Board member chairs each of the internal committees as well as general board duties. The Chairs report the work of the committee directly to the Board and this facilitates the ‘big picture’ approach to organisational management.

There is also the opportunity to contribute to external committees and working groups in areas of your expertise. Whilst this is predominantly in a voluntary capacity, being able to contribute to policy development and advance the professional status of primary health care nursing is incredibly rewarding.

Last week saw our much admired CEO Kathy Bell step down from her role at APNA. Matt Hall, APNA General Manager, is steering the ship as the interim CEO whilst the final process of appointing a new CEO is completed. The new CEO will arrive to a solid platform of a well-skilled team, and the Board will provide the additional support needed during the transition period. As APNA President and Vice President, myself and Julianne Badenoch will be available to support a smooth transition for the new CEO and we both intend to renominate to the Board in this current round of APNA Board nominations. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the conference and look forward to your ongoing support.

Kind regards,

Karen

If you could tell a new GPN one thing, what would it be?

This is a difficult question to answer as it depends on a number of circumstances. The nurse’s previous experience, the general practice environment they are entering, are they the only nurse, what are the patient demographics of the practice, and the list goes on. It is with this in mind that APNA has developed the Foundations of General Practice Nursing Workshops: An orientation for nurses new to general practice.

Designed and facilitated by nurses, this two day workshop is intended to give an overview of the knowledge and key skills required by a nurse transitioning into general practice. General practice nursing is a different and unfamiliar environment to other areas of nursing practice. The foundation program is planned to provide an understanding of roles, responsibilities and skills necessary for nurses working in the primary health/general practice environment.

The workshops have commenced with events held in Melbourne and Sydney and another four to come in Adelaide, Perth, Hobart and Brisbane. The attendees appreciated the breadth of experience of the nurses who delivered the presentations on a broad range of topics, from professional practice through to health promotion. Each presenter has been able to provide anecdotes, tips and practical solutions to questions posed, drawing on their experience of working in (or with) general practice.

As important as the presentations are, these two days also give the nurses a chance to talk and connect with others in similar circumstances. For many nurses this is the first experience they’ve had working on their own, and even more challenging for some, as the first nurse the practice has ever employed.

The ability of nurses to connect (and multitask) was made abundantly clear at morning tea. Despite the wound management presentation being filled with graphic pictures of wounds, in varying stages of decay and decomposition, the nurses still managed to talk to others, whilst balancing both a cup of tea/coffee and devouring delicately consuming cake/fruit.

So back to the original question: If you could tell a nurse new to general practice one thing, what would it be? My advice would be, “you have made a good choice in deciding to work in general practice. This is a challenging yet fulfilling environment to work in.”

If you are new to general practice, what have you learned? If you are an experienced general practice nurse what is your advice to new colleagues?

Please add thoughts and comments here.