Thousands of student nurses in primary care such as GP clinics, schools

A new health plan will see thousands of student nurses funded for placements in primary health care settings such as schools, as Medicare rebates for care by nurse practitioners are boosted.

Thousands of student nurses will be funded for placements in primary care settings such as GP clinics and schools under federal government plans to support the sector while giving the students valuable experience.

The plan will see an additional 6000 nurses funded for placements across the country including in community health, Aboriginal community-controlled health organisations, general practice and schools.

In South Australia it will see placements soar from around 50 last year to around 500 over the next three years.

At present, student placements in primary health are rare despite primary health care nurses making up 25 per cent of the nursing workforce.

Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care Ged Kearney – a former nurse – announced the $4.2m National Nurse Clinical Placements program details on Friday at the Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association congress in Adelaide in front of more than 1000 primary healthcare workers.

Federal Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care Ged Kearney.

The Association will work with education providers and clinical settings to place students.

The move comes as this month the government boosts Medicare rebates for care provided by nurse practitioners by 30 per cent, making such care more affordable and accessible, particularly in rural and regional areas.

Ms Kearney said: “Labor is the party for nurses. As a former nurse and now as Assistant Health Minister, I’ve always known this, but this really shows it.

“From working as a nurse at the Austin Hospital in the 80s to meeting with student nurses in 2024, I know the importance of placements when you’re studying nursing.

“Expanding nursing placement in primary care helps build the skills of our students for the best quality care now and into the future.”

On the boosting the rebate for nurse practitioners, Ms Kearney noted they are experienced, trained professionals.

She said: “We are backing our nursing workforce to work to their full scope of practice for the benefit of all Australians and we will continue to remove barriers which prevent nurse practitioners from performing all the duties they are trained to do.”

Nurse practitioner Di Thornton, from the Mallee Border Health Centre.

Nurse practitioner Di Thornton, from Mallee Border Health at Pinnaroo, said the rebate increase had helped to bulk bill some of the more vulnerable members within her community.

“The addition of the bilk billing incentive for nurse practitioners would also make a significant impact on nurse practitioners being able to bulk bill all health care card holders,” she said.

“The removal of the collaborative arrangements barrier will also improve and create greater access to health care for many vulnerable groups within the community.”