NURSE PRACTITIONERS UNDER UTILISED

The Tasmanian Greens today called on the Minister for Health to investigate and address the apparent under-utilisation of nurse practitioners in Tasmania.

Greens Health spokesperson Paul O’Halloran MP said that nurse practitioners were proven to improve patient access to quality health care, and there was significant scope for increasing their utilisation in Tasmania.

“The Greens welcome the Minster’s recent support for our proposal to investigate expanding the versatility of our health workforce by the inclusion of physician assistants, which we believe will complement and assist the current work of nurse practitioners,” Mr O’Halloran said.

“In the mean time, we must not lose focus on ensuring we get the most out of our current health workers, and support the valuable contribution of nurse practitioners.”

“There are currently 13 nurse practitioners working in Tasmania in the areas of primary care, emergency departments, diabetes, heart failure, aged care and mental health, and the Greens believe there is great potential for them to increase their utilisation.”

“It’s our understanding that there are a significant number of nurses in Tasmania who are trained as nurse practitioners who are not employed in this capacity and are therefore unable to utilise their extended practice skills.”

“We need to look at how the role of nurse practitioners can be better integrated, and developed within Tasmania’s health sector, to help deliver sustainable, cost-effective, efficient and high quality health services to Tasmanians into the future.”

“We are calling on the Minister to investigate the factors which may be impeding the use of nurse practitioners, including issues around Medicare remuneration,” Mr O’Halloran said.
Paul O’Halloran MP Greens Health Spokesperson Thursday, 27 September 2012