Just to update you on the huge weekend at APNA.
We had PNCE Melbourne on Saturday and Sunday which had around 200 nurses attending. It is always fantastic to present at these workshops ("Role of the Practice Nurse- where to from here" and "Salary and Conditions") as all sessions always end up doing what nurses love best, sharing stories of concerns and successes. It is also a great time to put faces to names that have called and I was particularly thrilled to receive special thanks from a member for time spent with a her on the phone about 4 months back when she got fired from her practice without cause. She was able to update me and confirm my general suspicions that practices that do things like this are toxic places to work and that these members can go on to find great practices that appreciate them. As we are not an industrial body it was lovely for her to indicate that the time we spent with her encouraged her to seek further assistance from the ANF with the result that she received 6 weeks pay. We don't often get to hear the end results of some of the conversations we have and assistance we provide, so I felt very buoyed by this feedback.
On the Saturday night we had the Best Practice Awards. You will all know by now the winners and their stories. It was a fabulous night with nurses describing to me that they had goosebumps as they listened to the stories of the finalists and winners. you can all be proud of the amazing work that your peers are doing.
We also had the APNA Board meeting on Friday and Saturday where we discussed our plans and budget for 2009. Next year is a big year for APNA with our inaugural conference, being the final year of our current strategic plan and contributing to the health reform conversations. We will be making a concerted effort to consult with members around the National Primary Health Care Strategy and the next APNA 5 year strategic plan. What you want nurses to do that they cant currently do, where you want your career path to go, what services you want your professional association to focus on - next year will be the time to stand up and yell!
Finally, instead of getting the day off yesterday, I had to go to Canberra to participate in the Primary Care roundtable for the National Preventative Health taskforce. Given the feedback that I had received from nurses at PNCE over the weekend and the work of some of the Best Practice Award winners, I was able to vocally express that practice nurses are well placed and keen to be the clinical leaders in prevention in the general practice setting given the right funding models, training and support. This message was heard loud and clear.
Until next week!
Monday, November 17, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Looking forward to Best Practice Awards
The last two weeks since I returned from Darwin have been geared towards getting ready for the coming weekend which includes a 2 day face to face APNA Board meeting on Friday and Saturday, the Melbourne PNCE on Saturday and Sunday and the Best Practice Awards on Saturday night. The office looks like a whirlwind has hit it and it is all hands to the deck to juggle this schedule with our small staff.
I am looking forward to the Best Practice Awards as I have read all the applications of the finalists and they are all fantastic/inspiring. The Best Practice Awards are not only a fantastic opportunity to reward a select few of the fantastic nurses out there but provide a great platform for showcasing the innovative and high quality work that is happening out there to GPs, bureaucrats and others.
I have also completed the analysis of the Salary and Conditions survey for a presentation I am giving at PNCE this weekend which I will have added to the website. Hourly rates for RNs now average $29.81 an hour for permanent staff and $23.00 an hour for ENs. We are pleased to steady increase in the hourly rate every year of this survey.
In the survey this year, non-APNA members were also able to respond and we had 212 non-APNA member respondents. When we crosstab some of the results against membership of APNA, APNA members fare better in hourly rate, satisfaction with position and satisfaction with salary. While we could say that the better paid/satisfied nurses can find the money for membership, we would like to be able to say that APNA members having access to the Salary and Conditions Survey and other resources has increased their ability to negotiate better pay and conditions! A full summary will appear in the next Primary Times.
Until next time!
I am looking forward to the Best Practice Awards as I have read all the applications of the finalists and they are all fantastic/inspiring. The Best Practice Awards are not only a fantastic opportunity to reward a select few of the fantastic nurses out there but provide a great platform for showcasing the innovative and high quality work that is happening out there to GPs, bureaucrats and others.
I have also completed the analysis of the Salary and Conditions survey for a presentation I am giving at PNCE this weekend which I will have added to the website. Hourly rates for RNs now average $29.81 an hour for permanent staff and $23.00 an hour for ENs. We are pleased to steady increase in the hourly rate every year of this survey.
In the survey this year, non-APNA members were also able to respond and we had 212 non-APNA member respondents. When we crosstab some of the results against membership of APNA, APNA members fare better in hourly rate, satisfaction with position and satisfaction with salary. While we could say that the better paid/satisfied nurses can find the money for membership, we would like to be able to say that APNA members having access to the Salary and Conditions Survey and other resources has increased their ability to negotiate better pay and conditions! A full summary will appear in the next Primary Times.
Until next time!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
From tropical Darwin
I am writing this blog from tropical Darwin as I am attending the AGPN National Forum - sometimes I get to go to the most interesting places in my role at APNA and rarely see any of the sights. However we have had the opportunity tonight to go to a reception at the final Mindil Beach markets before the wet sets in - fantastic atmosphere and amazing sunset.
More importantly, the Minister of Health presented to the conference this morning and released the Discussion paper for the National Primary Health Care Strategy whose importance cannot be overstated for practice nurses. It presents, I think, a once in a generational opportunity to reconfigure some aspects of primary health care to deliver a better quality, more accessible health service to all Australians. APNA will be providing a submission and I encourage all and any members/practice nurses to make their views known to us on what they want to see in such a policy. I know nurses eyes sometimes glaze over when I talk policy but this can be the difference between you being able to offer services such as lifestyle risk factor counselling, CDM, continence advice, women's health, sexual health as a respected member of the clinical team without having to have for example a GP sticking his head in the door in order to claim an MBS item number. It is a real chance for nurses to have input into how you want to see your role develop.
Judy Evans, from Walker Evans Consulting, and previous APNA President, presented today as well on the role of nurses and CDM - and I can say she did not hold back! She presented the evidence for an autonomous and collaborative role for nurses in CDM, not 'for and on behalf of', how nurses want to be nurses not doctors and provide better nursing care in general practice, how nurse led CDM can result in better patient satisfaction and is as safe and effective as GP led care. Look for her presentation when it comes on the AGPN website.
Monday week ago, I attended an all day meeting of the Coalition of National Nursing Organisations which is always extremely interesting- sitting in a room full of reps from around 50 specialty nursing organisations. We had an agenda item on primary health care and APNA and ANF offered to assist some of the smaller nursing orgs with an interest in PHC to provide submissions to the National Primary Care Strategy. It is always heartening to see that APNA is one of the larger specialty nursing groups, with significant capacity to support its members unlike some of the really small totally volunteer based groups.
On Monday, between dropping and picking up hubby from day surgery, I participated in a Peak Body reference group run by the National Indigenous Health Equality Council, looking specifically at identification of indigenous people in the mainstream general practice setting. Identification is important for ensuring that indigenous Australians get access to specific medical benefits and treatments that are funded for them, and has been traditionally poorly done in mainstream general practice. It would be fantastic if there was a practice nurse out there who is interested in this area as I am a bit at sea as to why this is difficult and what could be done by practice nurses to improve the situation. Let me know if you are interested.
Away from the policy/lobbying/networking arena, we have had a couple of very distressing calls this week from nurses who have either resigned or been fired from some very dysfunctional practice working environments. Can I just reiterate that you must ensure that you have a contract of some sort stipulating termination requirement and if you are experiencing situations at work that concern you, document as you go along who said what etc.
We have also had a couple of calls about GP Medicare fraud where GPs are claiming for GPMPs without seeing the patients, unqualified personnel doing 4 year old health checks etc. As nurses are not the provider registered with Medicare, you are not legally liable for anything as far as we can see. However, you can report GPs to Medicare Fraud section anonymously, although we understand the difficulties. We understand they take an educative rather than a punitive approach in the first instance. In cases where the fraud is extreme, we have to remember that it is taxpayers money and would we be as comfortable ignoring it if it was Centrelink payments that were being fraudulently claimed.
Finally it has been a pleasure to read some of the best practice award nominations. Finalists are currently being contacted and we will let you all know as soon as we have notified all finalists. the winner will be announced on the 15ht November so look out for these and if you know the nurse, make sure you pat them on the back as the competition this year has been fierce!
More importantly, the Minister of Health presented to the conference this morning and released the Discussion paper for the National Primary Health Care Strategy whose importance cannot be overstated for practice nurses. It presents, I think, a once in a generational opportunity to reconfigure some aspects of primary health care to deliver a better quality, more accessible health service to all Australians. APNA will be providing a submission and I encourage all and any members/practice nurses to make their views known to us on what they want to see in such a policy. I know nurses eyes sometimes glaze over when I talk policy but this can be the difference between you being able to offer services such as lifestyle risk factor counselling, CDM, continence advice, women's health, sexual health as a respected member of the clinical team without having to have for example a GP sticking his head in the door in order to claim an MBS item number. It is a real chance for nurses to have input into how you want to see your role develop.
Judy Evans, from Walker Evans Consulting, and previous APNA President, presented today as well on the role of nurses and CDM - and I can say she did not hold back! She presented the evidence for an autonomous and collaborative role for nurses in CDM, not 'for and on behalf of', how nurses want to be nurses not doctors and provide better nursing care in general practice, how nurse led CDM can result in better patient satisfaction and is as safe and effective as GP led care. Look for her presentation when it comes on the AGPN website.
Monday week ago, I attended an all day meeting of the Coalition of National Nursing Organisations which is always extremely interesting- sitting in a room full of reps from around 50 specialty nursing organisations. We had an agenda item on primary health care and APNA and ANF offered to assist some of the smaller nursing orgs with an interest in PHC to provide submissions to the National Primary Care Strategy. It is always heartening to see that APNA is one of the larger specialty nursing groups, with significant capacity to support its members unlike some of the really small totally volunteer based groups.
On Monday, between dropping and picking up hubby from day surgery, I participated in a Peak Body reference group run by the National Indigenous Health Equality Council, looking specifically at identification of indigenous people in the mainstream general practice setting. Identification is important for ensuring that indigenous Australians get access to specific medical benefits and treatments that are funded for them, and has been traditionally poorly done in mainstream general practice. It would be fantastic if there was a practice nurse out there who is interested in this area as I am a bit at sea as to why this is difficult and what could be done by practice nurses to improve the situation. Let me know if you are interested.
Away from the policy/lobbying/networking arena, we have had a couple of very distressing calls this week from nurses who have either resigned or been fired from some very dysfunctional practice working environments. Can I just reiterate that you must ensure that you have a contract of some sort stipulating termination requirement and if you are experiencing situations at work that concern you, document as you go along who said what etc.
We have also had a couple of calls about GP Medicare fraud where GPs are claiming for GPMPs without seeing the patients, unqualified personnel doing 4 year old health checks etc. As nurses are not the provider registered with Medicare, you are not legally liable for anything as far as we can see. However, you can report GPs to Medicare Fraud section anonymously, although we understand the difficulties. We understand they take an educative rather than a punitive approach in the first instance. In cases where the fraud is extreme, we have to remember that it is taxpayers money and would we be as comfortable ignoring it if it was Centrelink payments that were being fraudulently claimed.
Finally it has been a pleasure to read some of the best practice award nominations. Finalists are currently being contacted and we will let you all know as soon as we have notified all finalists. the winner will be announced on the 15ht November so look out for these and if you know the nurse, make sure you pat them on the back as the competition this year has been fierce!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
First ever post!
Welcome to the first Belinda’s Blog where I will try to keep you, our members, up to date with the goings on of APNA in terms of lobbying, services for members and other news.
In the last fortnight Anne Matyear and I have attended a couple of key meetings that you should know about. The first was the National Primary Health Care Partnerships meeting (www.nphcp.com.au) in Canberra, where we worked on a joint position statement on primary health care. 19 different allied health, nursing and medical groups are part of this group and we looked at the importance of multidisciplinary care, the need for a region specific network governed by all relevant health professionals (nurses can be full members and on the Board) and access for all to quality primary health care. The final document will be released publicly once all the relevant boards have signed off on them.
Our second meeting, also in Canberra, was with Dr Ruth Kearon, Ministerial Advisor to Minister Roxon. We resumed discussions about a building the capacity of the practice nursing profession through a structured career path, professional development program, and more research into the role. We also raised the need for training for the 4yr Health Check.
I am currently the APNA rep on an Allied Health Professionals Australia project reference and steering group looking at education and resources for practice nurses and GPs on allied health and for allied health on general practice. We had a meeting this week and it is fantastic to see practice nurses roles as care coordinators articulated so clearly by the allied health present!
Instead of enjoying the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival, we are enjoying (?) a discussion paper season with the National Preventative Healthcare Taskforce releasing their discussion paper for comment and the National Primary Health Care Expert Reference Group releasing theirs in early November. Both of these have the potential to a huge impact on your role and we need to make sure we inform their decision processes. It really is potentially a once in a generation chance to change the way we provide primary care nursing services in Australia. Go to http://www.health.gov.au/internet/ministers/publishing.nsf/Content/mr-yr08-nr-nr133.htm to read the Discussion Paper out now and keep your eyes out for the upcoming one.
Last Tuesday I presented on APNA at a PN Orientation day at the Peninsula GP Network and it is always inspiring to meet nurses at the beginning of their journey in practice nursing and be able to give them some tips that other practice nurses have passed on to me.
I was very excited to receive an email this week from Samantha Moses, the first ever APNA President and founder (along with a small group of other nurses including our previous President Lynne Walker). We had lost contact and I had to track her down through the internet. We have invited her to speak at our inaugural conference next April alongside the other APNA Presidents, past and current, on practice nursing and APNA during their tenure. It is a real buzz for her to see how far APNA has come.
In the last fortnight Anne Matyear and I have attended a couple of key meetings that you should know about. The first was the National Primary Health Care Partnerships meeting (www.nphcp.com.au) in Canberra, where we worked on a joint position statement on primary health care. 19 different allied health, nursing and medical groups are part of this group and we looked at the importance of multidisciplinary care, the need for a region specific network governed by all relevant health professionals (nurses can be full members and on the Board) and access for all to quality primary health care. The final document will be released publicly once all the relevant boards have signed off on them.
Our second meeting, also in Canberra, was with Dr Ruth Kearon, Ministerial Advisor to Minister Roxon. We resumed discussions about a building the capacity of the practice nursing profession through a structured career path, professional development program, and more research into the role. We also raised the need for training for the 4yr Health Check.
I am currently the APNA rep on an Allied Health Professionals Australia project reference and steering group looking at education and resources for practice nurses and GPs on allied health and for allied health on general practice. We had a meeting this week and it is fantastic to see practice nurses roles as care coordinators articulated so clearly by the allied health present!
Instead of enjoying the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival, we are enjoying (?) a discussion paper season with the National Preventative Healthcare Taskforce releasing their discussion paper for comment and the National Primary Health Care Expert Reference Group releasing theirs in early November. Both of these have the potential to a huge impact on your role and we need to make sure we inform their decision processes. It really is potentially a once in a generation chance to change the way we provide primary care nursing services in Australia. Go to http://www.health.gov.au/internet/ministers/publishing.nsf/Content/mr-yr08-nr-nr133.htm to read the Discussion Paper out now and keep your eyes out for the upcoming one.
Last Tuesday I presented on APNA at a PN Orientation day at the Peninsula GP Network and it is always inspiring to meet nurses at the beginning of their journey in practice nursing and be able to give them some tips that other practice nurses have passed on to me.
I was very excited to receive an email this week from Samantha Moses, the first ever APNA President and founder (along with a small group of other nurses including our previous President Lynne Walker). We had lost contact and I had to track her down through the internet. We have invited her to speak at our inaugural conference next April alongside the other APNA Presidents, past and current, on practice nursing and APNA during their tenure. It is a real buzz for her to see how far APNA has come.
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