Nurse practitioners (NPs) and Advanced practice nurses appear to be here to stay in Australia. There is legislation, competency standards, access to MBS and PBS, protection of the NPs title, national registration and a professional organisation.
This forum will focus on discussion and debates around implementation of nurse practitioner roles. Questions for discussion include:
1- what is the difference between an NP and APN?
2- why would you employ an NP rather than an advanced clinician?
3- Where is the NP role most effective / justifiable? (You could give examples from practice here) and the literature.
4- How is a ‘nursing model of practice’ different to a ‘medical model of practice’? Again use examples from practice and the literature.
5- what are the professional and management issues relating to implementation of NP and APN roles? How could these be addressed? Should they be addressed?