Frequently Asked Questions

What does a Practice Nurse do?
A Practice Nurse's role is wide and varied. The care provided will depend on the needs of the patient population and the qualifications/skills/competencies of the individual Practice Nurse. The list below is just a sample of what Practice Nurses do.

IMMUNISATIONS

• Infant vaccinations, (DPT, HIB, Polio, Meningitis C, MMR).
• Childhood vaccinations, (MMR, Meningitis C, pre-school booster vaccines for children attending private schools).
• Travel vaccinations, (Tetanus, Polio, Typhoid, Hepatitis A, Yellow Fever).
• Hepatitis B, Tetanus boosters, Rubella boosters.
• Flu and Pneumococcal vaccines.

WOMEN'S HEALTH / ANTENATAL & POSTNATAL CARE

• Cervical Screening.
• Advice on various methods of contraception and H.R.T.
• Pre-conceptual advice.
• Pregnancy testing, antenatal care, postnatal care, breastfeeding advice.
• Antenatal classes.

CARDIOLOGY

• Cholesterol testing & dietary advice
• ECGs.
• 24 hour blood pressure monitoring.
• Monitoring patients on anti-coagulant therapy.
• Smoking cessation.
• Stress management.
• Heartwatch Programme

SKIN & WOUND CARE / MINOR SURGERY

• Treatment of venous leg ulcers and other skin injuries.
• Suturing of skin lacerations.
• Post-operative suture removal.
• Treatment of warts and verruccae / cryotherapy.
• Nursing management of skin conditions - excema, psoriasis.

DIABETES

• Nursing management of Diabetes

RESPIRATORY CARE

• Nursing management of Asthma and COPD.
• Lung function testing.

HEALTH PROMOTION

• Smoking Cessation
• Weight management

GENERAL NURSING DUTIES

• Health Promotion and Education.
• Counselling.
• Telephone triage and advice.
• General phlebotomy.
• Ear syringing.
• Administering prescribed long-term medications/injections, (e.g. Cytamen, Depoprovera, Depixol, Myocrisin)

EXTENDED NURSING ROLES

Some Practice Nurses have undertaken post-graduate education in order to gain the qualifications and skills needed to carry out extended nursing roles, for example:

• Cryotherapy
• Insertion of Mirena
• Insertion of Implanon

INDIRECT NURSING DUTIES

• Liaise with other health professionals in the community and hospitals.
• Co-write and regularly review practice protocols.
• Audit of patient care and practice services.
• Maintenance and sterilisation of surgical instruments.
• Maintenance of emergency equipment.
• Education of practice staff (e.g. CPR, First Aid).

NURSE PRESCRIBING

Some Practice Nurses have completed the post-graduate Nurse Prescribing Programme and are now Registered Nurse Prescribers (RNP).

What qualifications do I need to become a Practice Nurse?
Minimum Requirements:

As with all nurses in Ireland, registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI - formerly An Bord Altranais) is mandatory in order to practise as a Registered Nurse or Registered Midwife.

In order for the GP employer to avail of the Practice Nurse subsidy, the Practice Nurse must be a Registered General Nurse (RGN).

Additional Qualifications:

The range of nursing care and extended roles which may be provided by a Practice Nurse is extensive. Each Practice Nurse, like all other nurses, must practise within his/her own Scope of Practice, (see “Scope of Nursing and Midwifery Practice Framework, 2000”, available from An Bord Altranais and "must take measures to develop and maintain the competence necessary for professional practice" (Code of Conduct, available from An Bord Altranais). Therefore, Practice Nurses have a responsibility to ensure that they are suitably qualified and competent to undertake all aspects of their role. The autonomous nature of practice nursing means that issues pertaining to the Scope of Practice require constant reflection and vigilance on the part of the individual nurse.

Any Practice Nurse who provides antenatal care must be a Registered Midwife, i.e. on the current Midwives Register of An Bord Altranais. There is also a requirement for a Practice Nurse who is a midwife to notify their local HSE office of their intention to practice midwifery in the community. For further information, please refer to the An Bord Altranais document “Practice Standards for Midwives”, 2010.

Where are Practice Nurse jobs advertised?
Practice Nurse jobs may be advertised in the following publications:

“Nursing in General Practice” , (The Journal of the IPNA)

This is a bi-monthly publication, available free to IPNA members. Also available by subscription.
Published by GreenCross Publishing, 7 Upper Leeson Street, Dublin 4.
Contact Maura Henderson, Publisher, at e-mail: maura@greenx.ie
For back issues, please see www.greencrosspublishing.ie.
“ The World of Irish Nursing ” and “Nursing in the Community ”

Journals of the INMO, sent free of charge to all INMO members.

Published by: MedMedia Ltd.,
25 Adelaide Street,
Dun Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.
Telephone: 01-280 3967
Fax: 01-280 7076
website: www.medmedia.ie
"Irish Medical Times"

Published by Medical Publications (Ire) Ltd.,
24-26 Ormond Quay, Dublin 7.
Telephone: 01-817 6300
Fax: 01-8176345
Website: www.imt.ie
"Irish Medical News"

Website: www.irishmedicalnews.ie

Irish Independent, Sunday Independent, Irish Times, local newspapers

What is the salary of a Practice Nurse?
The Practice Nurse is employed privately by the General Practitioner. Therefore, as each Practice Nurse's employment contract is negotiated between the GP and the PN, it is difficult for any organisation or union to set or enforce a defined salary scale. However, the Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation recommends that the minimum salary of the Practice Nurse should be the salary at the maximum point of the staff nurse scale, plus any other allowance which is applicable (such as dual qualification or qualification allowance, etc). The INMO recommends that if the Practice Nurse is an accredited Clinical Nurse Specialist or Advanced Nurse Practitioner, the relevant salary scales for CNS and ANP grades should be applicable.

The INMO also recommend that Practice Nurses should receive the same annual leave entitlements as their colleagues in the public health service, which are in excess of the Statutory Minimum Requirements.

For further information, contact the Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation, Whitworth Building, North Brunswick Street, Dublin 7.

Telephone: 01-676 0137 Fax: 01-661 0466

Website: www.inmo.ie or e-mail: inmo@inmo.ie

Irish General Practice Nurses Association

IPNA members can access information via...

• branch educational meetings,
• annual educational conference,
• bi-monthly journal "Nursing in General Practice",
• website www.irishpracticenurses.ie.
• e-mail and text alerts,
• various publications and guides that are exclusive to IPNA members only.

See Membership and Contact pages of this website for more details.

Professional Development Coordinators for Practice Nursing.

Please see Links page for contact details.

I am a new Practice Nurse - how do I find out about relevant education in my own area?
The IPNA strongly recommends that you make contact as soon as possible with your local Professional Development Coordinator for Practice Nurses (PDC). There is a PDC for Practice Nurses in all but 4 regions - full contact details are in the Links page of our website.

I am an experienced Practice Nurse - where can I get information on CNS/ANP grades?
For information on Clinical Nurse Specialist and Advanced Nurse Practitioner grades, contact: your local Professional Development Coordinator for Practice Nurses (see Education and Links pages on this website).

Links

Useful Contacts

Professional Development Coordinators for Practice Nursing

NURSING WEBSITES (see also Research page)

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PRACTICE NURSING AROUND THE WORLD

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PALLIATIVE CARE

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OTHER HEALTH-RELATED AGENCIES/GROUPS

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INTERCULTURAL HEALTH

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