What qualifications do primary health nurses have?

Nurses are highly educated and qualified. According to the APNA Survey, the majority of primary health care nurses were registered nurses–a qualification requiring a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in nursing. Enrolled nurses require a Diploma of nursing (NSW Government 2020).

Building on their formal education, nurses are additionally qualified to practice in a variety of advanced roles (Schwartz 2019). Between 2015 and 2019, common qualifications among the primary health care nurses included nurse immuniser, cervical cancer screening, asthma, respiratory, and diabetes educators (Figure 11).

Figure 11: Education attained or working towards among primary health care nurses, 2015–2019

Figure 11 Alternative text: The figure shows qualifications either obtained or working towards, among the APNA Survey respondents between 2015–2019. Across all years, nurse immuniser, cervical cancer screening, asthma and respiratory educator and diabetes educator were the most common qualifications. In 2019, 56% of respondents had or were working towards qualifications as a nurse immuniser, followed by cervical cancer screening  (26%), asthma and respiratory educator (14%) and diabetes educator (13%).

More than a third of primary health care nurses have postgraduate qualifications

There are a wide range of postgraduate diplomas and master’s degrees in nursing, allowing registered nurses to become highly skilled specialists in a variety of nursing areas (Schwartz 2019).

According to the APNA Survey, almost half (42%) of the respondents reported completing or working towards a postgraduate qualification in 2019. Of these, over half (53%) stated their postgraduate course was a certificate or diploma in or related to primary health care, followed by ‘other postgraduate course’ (28%) and master’s degree in or related to primary health care (19%) (Figure 12).

Figure 12: Postgraduate courses completed or working towards among primary health care nurses, 2015–2019

Figure 12 Alternative text: This figure shows the type of postgraduate courses, either obtained or working towards, among the APNA Survey respondents between 2015–2019. Across all years, most respondents had or were working towards a postgraduate certificate/diploma in or related to primary health care (primary health care), followed by ‘other postgraduate course’ and Master’s degree in or related to primary health care. In 2019, half (53%) stated their postgraduate course was a certificate or diploma in or related to primary health care, followed by ‘other postgraduate course’ (28%) and master’s degree in or related to primary health care (19%).

References

Australian Primary Health Care Nurse Association (APNA) 2017a. APNA Annual Report 2018. Melbourne: APNA.

APNA 2018a. APNA Annual Report 2018. Melbourne: APNA.

APNA 2019a. APNA Annual Report 2018. Melbourne: APNA.

APNA 2015. Microdata: APNA Workforce Survey, 2015. Melbourne: APNA. Findings based on AIHW analysis of APNA microdata.

APNA 2016. Microdata: APNA Workforce Survey, 2016. Melbourne: APNA. Findings based on AIHW analysis of APNA microdata.

APNA 2017b. Microdata: APNA Workforce Survey, 2017. Melbourne: APNA. Findings based on AIHW analysis of APNA microdata.

APNA 2018b. Microdata: APNA Workforce Survey, 2018. Melbourne: APNA. Findings based on AIHW analysis of APNA microdata.

APNA 2019b Microdata: APNA Workforce Survey, 2019. Melbourne: APNA. Findings based on AIHW analysis of APNA microdata.

New South Wales (NSW) Government 2020. Becoming a registered nurse. NSW Government. Viewed 25 March 2020.

Schwartz, S 2019. Educating the Nurse of the Future—Report of the Independent Review into Nursing Education. Canberra: Department of Health. Viewed 25 March 2020.