First Paediatric Emergency Nurse Practitioner in Queensland

The nurse practitioner role is one of a number of new roles being introduced to meet the community’s health care needs. Factors such as an aging population, increased chronic disease, new screening and diagnostic procedures, and a focus on health promotion, have prompted a review of the way health services are delivered.

“There is a lot of concern about how we are going to meet the health needs of the community in the future, when we already have workforce and skill shortages,” Kerry said.

“The role of nurse practitioner has been introduced to help meet the key challenges in the health system such as rapidly growing population, growth of chronic complex conditions and an escalation in consumer knowledge and expectations.”

Nurse practitioners are able to perform specialised tasks that extend beyond the scope of a registered nurse. These tasks are determined by the location or specialty in which the nurse practitioner works and may include ordering tests such as x-rays and blood tests, prescribing medications and referring patients to other health care professionals.

“A lot of people think nurse practitioners are intended to replace doctors and other health care professionals, but we’re not,” said Kerry.

“We’re simply meant to complement and improve the services already available.”

Although nurse practitioners are relatively new in Australia, some countries—including the US, UK and Canada—have had nurse practitioners for up to 40 years.

Kerry, who has been working at Mater for nearly five years, obtained her Masters of Nursing Science (Nurse Practitioner) at QUT over two years part-time and graduated in November last year.

“This is a great opportunity for me to increase my autonomy, learn more, provide patients with better care and progress my career while remaining in a clinical environment,” Kerry said.

“I’ve been receiving lots of positive feedback from my colleagues at Mater, including clinical nursing and doctors and this has been invaluable support. It indicates to me that people are ready to embrace new ideas, which is great.”

For more information about nurse practitioners in Australia, including how the role is being implemented, go to the Australian Nurse Practitioner Association website: www.nursepractitioners.org.au.