Nurse Clinics

About APNA

The Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA) is the peak professional body for nurses working in primary health care. APNA champions the role of primary health care nurses; to advance professional recognition, ensure workforce sustainability, nurture leadership in health, and optimise the role of nurses in patient-centred care.

APNA is bold, vibrant and future-focused. We reflect the views of our membership and the broader profession by bringing together nurses from across Australia to represent, advocate, promote and celebrate the achievements of nurses in primary health care.
APNA represents a significant and rapidly expanding workforce; primary health care nurses account for around one in eight of the 640,000 registered health professionals in Australia.

APNA’s Advocacy Direction

APNA strives to become a stronger influencer of national health care policy for the benefit of primary health care nurses and the Australian community. This includes both advocacy at the state and federal level (macro), and programs that equip nurses to advocate for themselves (micro level).
Members most commonly tell us that they would like APNA to increase recognition and the role of primary health care nurses and improve working conditions.

APNA is currently in the process of developing a policy and advocacy plan for 2018 and beyond which aims to work towards addressing the following key issues:

  • Scope of practice: Improve understanding of scope of practice to ensure optimisation at the individual, business and system level
  • Increase understanding and profile of nurses’ role: Improve the understanding and recognition of the role of primary health care nurses and work towards improvements in working conditions
  • Funding models of care delivery: Change perception of nurses’ value and facilitate the adoption of funding models that support the optimisation of primary health care nursing practice

By developing plan with clearly defined advocacy priorities we can develop a coherent, strategic and planned approach to advocacy to maximise our impact in line with our vision and mission, available resources and government priorities.

If you’d like to be involved in the development or implementation of the policy and advocacy plan please contact the policy team at policy@apna.asn.au or call 1300 303 184. We’d love to hear from you!

What our nurse clinic participants are saying

"My advice would be if you're thinking about it, just do it. Just jump in there and have a go, you will learn along the way. It is overwhelming if you've never been involved in something like this. But trust me, it is worth it. And it makes you a different person and brings you all this experience that you would never have had."
Lead Nurse (2022)
NSW
"I learned a lot through the project and the APNA team has been really helpful, I think because of that, I had the confidence to create and lead more projects"
Lead Nurse (2023)
SA
"I feel really proud to be a part of that and to promote anything that's nurse-led in the community, I think is a wonderful opportunity as a nurse. Do it, set up, go to set up a clinic."
Lead Nurse (2023)
VIC
"Don’t underestimate the innovation of nurses and the power of the nursing care approach."
Lead Nurse (2023)
QLD
"My advice is just to do it. It's an amazing opportunity. Yes, it's challenging. Yes, it's stressful, but it's really exciting. And I think anything as nurses that we can do to really push ourselves out of our comfort zones, to extend our skillset, to extend our knowledge is really beneficial and worthwhile."
Lead Nurse (2022)
QLD
"I don’t think my scope of practice has changed, but I think my confidence in using my whole scope of practice has changed."
Lead Nurse (2023)
WA
"Go for it! It’s great fun. It’s really nice to establish something new. You don’t often get that opportunity."
Lead Nurse (2023)
VIC