Northern Territory leads the world in Remote Nurse Practitioner Program

In a world first – the Centre for Remote Health’s (CRH) Master of Remote Health Practice: Nurse Practitioner Program is set to deliver speciality nurse practitioners to work in Remote and Aboriginal Health in Australia.

Developed collaboratively by Flinders University and the Council of Remote Area Nurses of Australia (CRANA Plus), the nurse practitioner program has received full accreditation from the NT Nursing and Midwifery Board for five years.

‘The further you go from cities and regional areas, the fewer the health professionals and the higher the health need,’ Associate Professor Sabina Knight said today. ‘People in remote and outback areas of Australia depend heavily on nurses for their health care and nurse practitioners will play a vital leadership role into the future,’ she said.

‘Legislation is currently before Parliament to enable Medicare to reimburse nurse practitioner services – a vital reform in improving equity for people accessing or relying on nurse practitioner services. Western Australia has designated every remote town and community nurse practitioner sites; we expect the Northern Territory to similarly utilise nurse practitioners.’

Centre for Remote Health academics already travel to regional centres in northern Australia providing education for remote practitioners; sites include Broome, Darwin and Alice Springs with short courses also offered in Katherine, Umuwa in South Australia and Warburton in Western Australia.

The Centre for Remote Health began postgraduate programs for remote health practitioners when it was established just over ten years ago.

‘This is a major milestone in our contribution to improving remote health outcomes and preparing the professionals who provide services in remote Australia,’ CRH Director Professor John Wakerman said. ‘This program has been carefully designed for our context in collaboration with CRANA, and will be delivered by leading academics and professionals in remote health and nurse practitioner practice.’

from australia.to