Bringing Nurses Back Into The Workforce (BNBW)

The following information is about the implementation of Bringing Nurses Back into the Workforce Program (BNBW) in South Australia. The BNBW is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.

In South Australia this Program will provide funding to attract up to 468 eligible Nurse/Midwife FTE (full time equivalent) positions over five years for SA’s Public Hospitals. Other similar programs will cover allocations to private hospitals or aged care facilities.

Under the BNBW program, the following payments will be made:

• A $1,000 Hospital Payment when a participating public hospital employs an eligible nurse/midwife under the BNBW Program; and
• A $6,000 Nurse/Midwife Bonus - Of which $3,000 is paid to the eligible nurse/midwife after 6 months of continuous employment with the public hospital, and the remaining $3,000 after 18 months of continuous employment with the same public hospital.

The Hospital Payment and nurse/midwife bonus are pro-rata for part time employment. The nurse/midwife bonus is considered assessable income for personal taxation purposes under the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, and will be taxed accordingly.

Nurses/Midwives will be eligible for the public hospital BNBW Program provided they:

• have previously been employed as a registered nurse/midwife or enrolled nurse in the Australian nursing workforce;
• have not been employed as a registered nurse/midwife or enrolled nurse in Australia within the past 12 months from date of employment;
• are registered or enrolled with the relevant State or Territory regulatory authority;
• return to work as a registered nurse/midwife or enrolled nurse as an employee of a public hospital which has an allocated place under this program; and
• returned to work on or after the 15 January 2008.

Overall the BNBW Program aims to bring 800 FTE nurses/midwives back into the Australian public hospital workforce in 2008 and to continue to return nurses/midwives to the workforce up to 14 January 2013.

The National Aged Care Nurse Practitioner Trial

The National Aged Care Nurse Practitioner Trial is a funded initiative of the Australian Government, Department of Health and Ageing, commenced in August 2005. The trial has involved establishing Nurse Practitioner (NP) services in aged care settings and aims to inform the Department of Health and Ageing, aged care sector, nursing and medical profession, legislation and regulatory bodies.

The Aged Care Nurse Practitioner is based upon six sites across four jurisdictions. The six trial sites are New South Wales (one site, one Nurse Practitioner Candidate (NPC)), Western Australia (two sites, two NPC), South Australia (two sites, one NP and one NPC) and the Australian Capital Territory (two sites, two NPC).

The South Australian trial sites are Resthaven Inc. which is an Aged Care Community Service of the Uniting Church (one NPC) and Barossa Village Inc. Aged and Retirement Services, Nuriootpa (one NP).

The initial Aged Care Nurse Practitioner Pilot Project (ACNPPP 2004 -2005) was a joint project between Australian Capital Territory and the Australian Department of Health and Ageing.

Click here to download the Aged Care Nurse Practitioner Pilot Project (ACNNP): Final Report July 2005.

Non-Medical Prescribing Program (Ms Alison Hogg)

Ms Alison Hogg, a Programme Leader for Non Medical Prescribing School of Education, Health and Sciences University of Derby, UK, was recently awarded a prestigious university Award of Excellence for curriculum development for the first inter-professional non medical prescribing program in the UK. Ms Hogg has a MSc in Health Care and a BSc (1st Class Hons) Education Studies (Nursing) and has a clinical background as a registered nurse.

The extension of prescribing rights is a critical issue in health workforce reform in Australia. Such rights have been granted in the UK under a variety of regulatory and legislative models. Ms Hogg presented on workforce reform context that has led to enhanced roles such as prescribing. She also:

• explained different prescribing models relevant to the professions and the competencies and educational requirements to up-skill the professions to undertake these new roles;
• outlined the course content, assessment and the models of medical supervision during training as well as the learning outcomes inherent in running a successful program;
• defined the regulatory environment required to assure safety and quality; and
• outlined the difficult issues that emerged when developing the prescribing role for new professions.

Ms Hogg is currently conducting a series of seminars across Australia to further the debate and understanding of the issues relating to non-medical prescribing.

Click here to download the presentation given by Ms Hogg that was held in Adelaide on 8 February 2007 (366KB).

For further papers relating to Alison's presentation and the course offered at Derby University, please click here.

Additional Articles:

BTEC Professional Diploma (Aseptic Services) (184KB)
BTEC Professional Diploma (Clinical Pharmacy Technicians) (178KB)
Clinical Management Plans (UK Nursing & Midwifery Council) (37KB)
Supplementary Prescribing by Nurses Pharmacists, Chiropodists/Podiatrists, Physiotherapists and Radiographers within the NHS in England (295KB)
Medicine Matters - A guide to mechanisms for the prescribing, supply and administration of medicines (168KB)
Standards of Proficiency for Nurse and Midwife Prescribers (262KB)

Pressure Ulcer Prevention Practices - Integration of Evidence (PUPPIES)

The aim of the Department of Health's pressure ulcer prevention and management program is to focus efforts on reducing the number of patients who develop pressure ulcers within health. The South Australian Department of Health has worked with expert clinicians across the state to develop a resource document which supports organisational examination of the effectiveness of local pressure ulcer prevention and management frameworks.

The 'Pressure Ulcer Prevention and Management Practices Integration of Evidence' resource document aims to build on the work of the Australian Wound Management Association (AWMA).

Click here to download the document which will provide a detailed explanation of the issues facing an organisation beginning to implement and evaluate a pressure ulcer prevention framework and provides examples of:

• Tools;
• Flow charts; and
• Educational pamphlets.

Useful Links:

South Australian Safety and Quality
Australian Wound Management Association (AWMA)
European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (EU)
National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (USA)
National Institute of Clinical Excellence (UK)
Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (Canada)