Enhancing healthcare access: Optimising nursing workforce utilisation in primary health care

<h2>ABSTRACT</h2><h3>Introduction</h3> There is a critical need to grow the capabilities of the nursing workforce and increase nurse-led models of care to ensure that rural communities have access to healthcare. The Australian Government funded the Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association's Building Nurse Capacity (BNC) program that aims to enhance utilisation of the nursing workforce through nurse-delivered (team-based) models of care. This paper examines the contribution of the program to enhancing nursing potential for the successful delivery of nurse-led clinics. <h3>Methods</h3> A non-randomised evaluation of this quality improvement program was undertaken, with participating sites invited to contribute. Participants completed the pre- and post-standardised Australian Advanced Practice Nursing Self-Appraisal Tool and pre- and post-questionnaires that addressed role satisfaction, job satisfaction, career intentions, scope of practice, knowledge, and confidence in establishing nurse-led clinics. Data were treated as independent rather than paired samples, and probability values were calculated using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Mean pre- and post-project questionnaire scores with corresponding p-values are reported. <h3>Findings</h3> Eighteen clinics participated in the evaluation. Eleven participants completed the Advance Tool, pre- and post-project. Twenty-one participants completed pre-surveys, and fifteen completed post-surveys. Analysis demonstrated that the BNC program significantly increased the confidence, knowledge, and skills of participants to deliver nurse-led, team-based clinics and helped to increase their scope of practice. <h3>Conclusion</h3> This study demonstrates that programs designed to support nurse-led models of care can improve participants' knowledge, skills, and confidence to grow and deliver nurse-led clinics.