Role of the Practice Nurse
Practice Nurses are RGNs who are privately employed by GPs to provide holistic nursing care to the entire population of a general practice, i.e. from newborns to the elderly; both GMS and private patients. There are currently 1,519 Practice Nurses in Ireland who are carrying out immunisations, screening, health promotion, phlebotomy, weight management, smoking cessation, women's health, men's health, antenatal & postnatal care, wound management, travel vaccinations, cryotherapy, counselling, stress management, ear care, methadone maintenance; management of chronic conditions such as asthma, COPD, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, excema; as well as clinical audits, practice protocols, CPR training, etc.
211 Practice Nurses are accredited as Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS), 2 have been accredited as Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANP) in Primary Care, 9 have begun nurse prescribing programmes and 1 is now a Registered Nurse Prescriber (Aug 2010).
The positive impact of practice nursing on patient care is regularly noted and has been shown in audits and research (see HERE for some examples and also the Research page of this website).
With the Department of Health & Children’s continuing emphasis and strategic plans to move many services out of hospitals and into community settings, Practice Nurses are now being presented with an increasing variety of conditions and patient needs. Continuing Professional Development enables Practice Nurses to provide evidence-based quality care, is essential before undertaking extended nursing roles and is required by An Bord Altranais ("Scope of Nursing and Midwifery Practice Framework" April 2000 and "Code of Professional Conduct for each Nurses and Midwife" April 2000).
QUALIFICATIONS NEEDED
Minimum Requirements:
A Practice Nurse must be a Registered General Nurse, (i.e. on the Live Active RGN or PHN Register of An Bord Altranais).
Additional Qualifications/Competencies:
The range of nursing care and extended roles which may be provided by a Practice Nurse is extensive. Each Practice Nurse, like all other nurses, must practise within his/her own Scope of Practice, (see “Scope of Nursing and Midwifery Practice Framework, 2000”, available from An Bord Altranais) and "must take measures to develop and maintain the competence necessary for professional practice" (Code of Conduct, available from An Bord Altranais). Therefore, Practice Nurses have a responsibility to ensure that they are suitably qualified and competent to undertake all aspects of their role. The autonomous nature of practice nursing means that issues pertaining to the Scope of Practice require constant reflection and vigilance on the part of the individual nurse.
Any Practice Nurse who practises midwifery must be a Registered Midwife, i.e. on the current Midwives Register of An Bord Altranais. There is also a requirement for a Practice Nurse who practises midwifery to notify their local HSE office (annually in January of each year) of their intention to practise midwifery in the community. For further information, please refer to the An Bord Altranais document “Practice Standards for Midwives”, July 2010.
SOME FACTS ABOUT PRACTICE NURSING IN IRELAND
• 51% of IPNA members are dual qualified, i.e. registered on 1 or more An Bord Altranais divisions in addition to the RGN division(1).
• 88% of IPNA members have undertaken post-registration education or skills updates (ranging from certificates to PhDs) in clinical areas that are relevant to Practice Nursing(1).
• There are currently 1,519 Practice Nurses working in the Republic of Ireland(2).
• 211 Practice Nurses are accredited as Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS) in Primary Care(3).
• 2 Practice Nurses are accredited as Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANP) in Primary Care(3).
• 6 Practice Nurses commenced Nurse Prescribing programmes in October 2009(4).
• 3 Practice Nurses commenced Nurse Prescribing programmes in April 2010(4)
• 1 Practice Nurse became a Registered Nurse Prescriber in August 2010(6)
• Practice Nurses carried out 47% of cervical smears in the year to August 2009(5)
References
1 Membership Database of the Irish Practice Nurses Association 2008-1010.
2 Professional Development Coordinators for Practice Nursing Group, 2009.
3 National Council for the Professional Development of Nursing & Midwifery, 2009
4 Health Services Executive.
5 "Report of the Evaluation of the use of resources in the national population-based cancer screening programme and associated services", HIQA, October 2009 (page 67)
6 An Bord Altranais.
