Member Stories

Heather’s story

Heather Gale

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heather Gale, Practice Nurse, Bowral

I have been Nursing for 30 years having split that time between the acute care and primary care sectors. I am a RN/Midwife, with Post graduate qualifications in Nurse Education and Master of Nursing. I have been a Practice Nurse for the last 8 years in a permanent part time role. The remainder of my week is spent Teaching at the University of Wollongong.
I share my Practice Nurse roles with 7 other Nursing colleagues, among them are 1 Nurse Practitioner, 4 RNs, 1 EEN, and 1 EN. Working with an average of 14 Doctors in any given week, each Practice Nurse has a significant role to play both unique to their scope of practice and to the contribution they make to the Practice patients in partnership with the Patients’ GP.
Our roles can include chronic disease management and patient education, complete INR management, health assessments, well women’s health including pap smears, minor operation assistance, aural health, childhood immunisation and travel vaccination, parent infant support services and general recall and reminder procedures to name a few. But such is the variety and scope of Nurse Practice in GP Land!

I am specifically supported to offer Lactation Consultation appointments, and receive internal referrals regarding the same in addition to a growing drop in service. I also offer general early parenting support and advice, as a follow up for issues raised by parents and babies at an immunisation appointment.

It is in General Practice that I have developed the most as a Nurse Professional. My exposure, education and training around advanced Nursing Skills has been an unsurpassed highlight in my nursing career thus far, as has working closely with GPs who love to share their medical knowledge, particularly in their knowledge of drugs and their efficacy, pathology, and differential diagnoses.

My Professional Development is empowered and enabled by the work of APNA in it’s concern for, and practical support of, the Practice Nurse workforce, and the tireless work of our Local PHN.

I love my work and sharing my working life with my nursing students.

Enrolled Nurse Supervision and Standards of Practice Changes

APNA often gets a number of enquiries around supervision (specifically for Enrolled Nurses) and standards of practice. Below is a brief update around Standards of Practice and supervision.
As you may know, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) recently updated Registered and Enrolled Nurses standards of practice. To practice in Australia, you must meet the NMBA’s professional standards. The revised standards can be found here.
They focused strongly on supervision of Enrolled Nurses. Below is a summary of supervision requirements for Enrolled Nurses.

Supervision of Enrolled Nurses by a Registered Nurse is a requirement of the Enrolled Nurse Standards for Practice.

  • Supervision by a person other than a Registered Nurse is not consistent with the professional standards of the profession and may contravene requirements. Professional supervision relates to the quality and safety of care and is provided by a member of the same profession.
  • A general practitioner or other Doctor, may have management responsibilities, but a member of the nursing profession, namely a Registered Nurse, must undertake professional supervision of an Enrolled Nurse. It is the obligation of the employing general practice to ensure that appropriate supervisory arrangements are in place.
  • Supervision and delegation of work to an Enrolled Nurse can be direct or indirect, and will vary depending on the abilities, education, qualifications, scope of practice, experience of the Enrolled Nurse, and contextual factors such as the geographical setting and size of the practice. Click here to read more around context of practice.

What does supervision of enrolled nurses mean?

Supervision of enrolled nurses by registered nurses can be direct or indirect depending on: the competence of the enrolled nurse for the scope of nursing practice; the condition of the person receiving nursing care; and the context in which the care is given. At all times, the enrolled nurse remains accountable for their own actions and is responsible to the registered nurse for all delegated functions

Direct and Indirect Supervision

Direct Supervision is when the supervisor is actually present and personally observes, works with, guides and directs the person who is being supervised.

Indirect Supervision is when the supervisor works in the same facility or organisation as the supervised person, but does not constantly observe their activities. The supervisor must be available for reasonable access. What is reasonable will depend on the context, the needs of the person receiving care and the needs of the person who is being supervised.

The employer must ensure that supervisory arrangements are in place. Registered Nurses should be aware of their legal responsibility in regard to supervision of Enrolled Nurses.

Another arrangement for indirect supervision of an Enrolled Nurse may occur in a general practice that has multiple sites. The Registered Nurse provides indirect supervision for Enrolled Nurses employed in that practice. In this type of situation the Registered Nurse may move between clinics giving supervision to an Enrolled Nurse/s. This model is particularly applicable to practices located in rural or remote settings, or multiple sites where geographical distances make direct supervision impractical. Registered Nurses should be aware of their legal responsibility in regard to supervision of Enrolled Nurses.

Some of the nurse regulatory authorities have produced policy statements and guidelines for delegation to and supervision of enrolled nurses and these must be considered by employers of enrolled nurses. The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council has guidelines on delegation and supervision.

There are also decision making frameworks to assist registered nurses and enrolled nurses make decisions about the way that nursing work is delegated to enrolled nurses. Click here to view these and read more.