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Royal College of Nursing, Australia (RCNA) provided a clear-cut pre-budget submission to the Department of Treasury in January to highlight priority areas for nursing and midwifery for the 2010-2011 Federal Budget.
Royal College of Nursing, Australia (RCNA) provided a clear-cut pre-budget submission to the Department of Treasury in January to highlight priority areas for nursing and midwifery for the 2010-2011 Federal Budget.
The submission provided direction to the federal government promoting measures that would enable nurses and midwives to better meet the health care needs of the community, particularly under-serviced communities, and to deliver more responsive nursing services designed to support the national health care reform agenda.
RCNA called for specific investment in nursing and midwifery roles in primary health care (PHC) and greater funding to support reform of the aged care sector. RCNA argued for the need to build capacity within PHC nursing and midwifery services and service infrastructure as well as to support, expand and enhance the PHC nursing and midwifery workforce.
Addressing aged care, RCNA recommended that better utilisation of advanced practice nurses and nurse practitioner skills would significantly assist in managing aged care outside public hospitals and general practice.
Furthermore, RCNA specifically called for strategic investment to improve the work environments of nurses and midwives working in rural communities as well as to support early career nurses and midwives across the health system generally through investment in structured mentoring programs.
RCNA called for the Australian government to ensure the following:
1. Strategic investment in PHC nursing and midwifery roles and that services and service infrastructure outside the general practice environment be provided to enable national PHC reform.
2. Funding incentives be provided to establish an increased number of specialised advanced practice nurse and nurse practitioner positions across aged care environments.
3. Funding be made available to establish nurse practitioner services to manage the health care needs of aged care populations.
4. Funding be made available to convert RCNA’s existing face-to-face Mental Health Emergencies Program into a self-directed on-line continuing professional development (CPD) activity.
5. Funding be allocated for a national rural nursing and midwifery work environments and lifestyles assessment to be undertaken in 2010.
6. Funding be allocated to establish a national centre for nurse credentialling within RCNA to provide secretariat support and national leadership to facilitate the establishment of nationally consistent nurse credentialling programs.
7. Funding be allocated to RCNA to scope the establishment of a national research repository for the nursing and midwifery professions.
8. A national funding initiative be developed exclusively for nursing and midwifery research.
9. Funding be allocated to scope and develop a national practice framework for unlicensed health workers (however titled).
10. Resources be allocated to provide structured, flexible and dedicated mentoring support mechanisms for graduates and early career nurses and midwives across the health system.
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