About the plan
Nurse practitioners (NPs) have a significant role in the delivery of health and aged care to people in Australia.
The Nurse Practitioner Workforce Plan supports the growth of a capable and resilient NP workforce that delivers person-centred, evidence-based, safe and compassionate care.
Nurse Practitioner Workforce Plan
Goals
The plan provides a vision to:
- better utilise NPs to deliver person-centred care
- improve the accessibility and delivery of NP care
- support a well-distributed and culturally safe NP workforce.
The plan includes goals across 3 timeframes:
- one to 3 years – remove barriers affecting the NP workforce.
- 3 to 5 years – grow, expand and build the NP workforce.
- 5 to 10 years – increase access to NP care.
We will measure the success of the plan against 4 key outcomes. These are:
- increasing NP services across the country
- improving community awareness and knowledge of NP services
- supporting NPs to work to their full scope of practice
- growing the NP workforce to reflect the diversity of the community and improve cultural safety.
Implementation
The plan states we will form a Nurse Practitioner Workforce Plan Implementation Advisory Group (IAG). The group will advise on implementing the plan, including through monitoring and evaluation of the outcomes.
Governance
We set up the IAG to give us advice, with the support of 3 other advisory bodies:
- Nursing and Midwifery Strategic Reference Group, chaired by the Commonwealth Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer – this group will advise on relevant NP policy and strategy issues through broad nursing stakeholder representation.
- National Nursing and Midwifery Education Advisory Network, chaired by the Commonwealth Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer – this group will advise on planning and coordinating education, employment and immigration for NPs.
- Australian and New Zealand Council of Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officers – this group looks at issues of national interest for providing NP services.
Implementation Advisory Group
During the 10-year time frame of the plan, the IAG will:
- support government and non-government stakeholders to collaborate on the implementation progress; and
- advise of changes and links to other health reforms.
The IAG membership is made up of 13 external stakeholders and 5 departmental stakeholders. They work together with relevant skills to effectively implement the plan. The Commonwealth Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer chairs the IAG.
Membership
Membership is on a representative basis as follows:
| Member | Organisation |
|---|---|
| Alex Nikro | Department of Health and Aged Care – Medical Benefits and Digital Health Division |
| Dr Masha Somi | Department of Health and Aged Care – Primary Care Division |
| Natalie Bekis | Department of Health and Aged Care – Health Workforce Division |
| Rebecca Pitman | Department of Health and Aged Care – Technology Assessment and Access Division |
| Stephanie Kaiser | Department of Health and Aged Care – Ageing and Aged Care Group – Market & Workforce Division |
| Jacqui Cross | Australian and New Zealand Council of Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officers |
| Leanne Boase | Australian College of Nurse Practitioners |
| Karen Grace | Australian College of Nursing |
| Lori-Anne Sharp | Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation |
| Denise Lyons | Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association |
| Stacie Murphy | Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives |
| John Wright | CRANAPlus |
| Petrina Halloran | Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia |
| Professor Karen Strickland | The Council of Deans of Nursing and Midwifery (Australia & New Zealand) |
| Jo Root | Consumers Health Forum |
| Julianne Fox | Rural Workforce Agencies Network |
| Michelle McKay | Primary Health Networks |
| Dr Sarah Hayton | The National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation |
Meetings
The IAG will hold meetings a minimum of 3 times a year. We will publish the communiques here after each meeting.
Communiques
Nurse Practitioner Workforce Plan Implementation Advisory Group – Communiques
Related work
The plan is a key component used to develop the National Nursing Workforce Strategy.
