Professional News 2007
December 2007
A busy year promoting nursing and health
The recent federal election has been a central and consuming focus of the ANF and the professional team this year. Advocating for professional nursing and midwifery issues at a national level has involved collaboration with nursing colleagues, other health professionals and consumers.
The year began with the ANF’s involvement in the development of the Medicare Benefit Schedule (MBS) item number for nurses and Aboriginal Health Workers to provide chronic disease management, and our continued campaign to raise concerns regarding the MBS item number for nurses to provide antenatal care.
Throughout 2007, the ANF has been an active member of the Australian Health Care Reform Alliance, the National Rural Health Alliance and the National Oral Health Alliance. The ANF has continued to work with many member organisations, groups and committees including the National Prescribing Service, the Australian Council of Social Service, the Australian Pharmaceutical Advisory Committee, Families Australia, the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth, the Respecting Patient Choices National Reference Group, the Community Nursing Industry Advisory Committee of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Community Care Coalition, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, the Australian College of Midwives and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council.
Lobbying has continued throughout the year for health reform, action on workforce shortages, funding for clinical placements, increased investment in rural and remote health services, and for midwifery and nurse practitioners to have access to MBS and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) provider numbers.
Advocating for Indigenous health has been a focus with the ANF launching our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), making ANF the first union to develop a RAP, which outlines practical methods to contribute to reconciliation and Indigenous health equality.
As the secretariat for the National Nursing Organisations (NNOs), the ANF has committed considerable effort to the work of this coalition in the development of a governance framework and through the work of e-health and research subcommittees.
The ANF participated in the development of the Australian College of Midwives MidPLUS program launched in September, a national framework for continuing professional development for midwives. The program focuses on improving performance through assisting midwives to identify and meet their learning needs, based on their individual practice or work context.
Together with Royal College of Nursing Australia (RCNA),the ANF has been working to raise awareness of the vital role of nurses in the event of an influenza pandemic in Australia and the importance of including the profession in the preparation and planning (see Viewpoint column).As a member of the RCNA Scholarship advisory and selection committees, the ANF has participated in the awarding of nursing and midwifery scholarships. These scholarships include rural and remote undergraduate, continuing professional education, re-entry, aged care and mental health nursing.
The professional team has presented at several practice nursing conferences outlining legal and ethical issues for practice nurses, and the role of competency standards in supporting practice.
This year the ANF was invited by the Australian Practice Nurses Association to participate in the selection committee for continuing professional education and postgraduate scholarships for practice nurses.
The ANF has supported a number of national campaigns, including the Rural Health Action Week, the national Indigenous health equality campaign: Close the Gap, and the Advance Australia Fair campaign initiated by Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS). A dedicated section of the federal office website has been provided to promote and link to these campaigns.
The release of the Nurses and Information Technology Study, commissioned by the ANF and funded by the Department of Health and Ageing, has seen an unprecedented number of hits to the federal office website to download this document. The interest in the results of this study will assist to ensure the recommendations of the report are addressed.
Attendance at national and international nursing, midwifery and health-related conferences and forums has given the professional team opportunities to gather and disseminate information to further inform the development of ANF policy, position statements, publications and our ongoing work with other organisations.
Looking ahead to 2008 we will continue to influence nursing, health and social justice policy and to build on our collaborative relationships and alliances. The professional team will strive toward achieving greater recognition for the value and capacity of nursing in achieving positive health outcomes and influencing the populations ’health. The ANF will work to achieve national consistency for nursing and midwifery and a collective voice for the profession. In the new year we will advocate for policies to achieve Indigenous health equality, address the rural health workforce shortage, deliver MBS and PBS provider numbers to midwifery and nurse practitioners, facilitate health care reform, an increased focus on primary health care services and improved public access to dental care. Our commitment to these issues will help to ensure the ANF and nursing contribute to one of the most important areas of public policy: our nation’s health.
Fiona Armstrong and Julianne Bryce
ANF Federal Professional Officers