The educational needs of nurses working in Australian general practices.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the educational needs of nurses working in general medical practice in Australia.


METHODS
Survey research combining qualitative and quantitative data collected via telephone interview.


METHODS
222 enrolled (RN Division 2 in Victoria) and registered nurses (RN Division 1 in Victoria) working in general practice in rural and urban areas of Australia.


RESULTS
Nurses identified a number of educational areas of high importance including communication skills (94.1%); infection control (93.7%); confidentiality and national privacy legislation (93.7%); legal and ethical issues (91.9%); first aid and CPR (91.4%); wound (91.0%); care cold chain monitoring (90.0%); sterilisation (90.0%); and triage (90%). Barriers to education were identified including lack of time due to work (21.9%); costs of courses (17.3%); distance to education (13.9%); and lack of time due to family commitments (13.1%). More rural/remote nurses identified distance as a barrier (20.5%) than urban nurses (3.6%).


CONCLUSIONS
cussion: The education areas that were rated as important by a high number of the nurses appeared to relate directly to the activities nurses currently undertake in Australian general practice. Barriers to education may reflect the workforce characteristics of general practice nurses and/or the capacity of general practices to finance training for employees.


CONCLUSIONS
As a growing specialty of nursing in Australia, general practice nursing should be supported by a solid foundation of ongoing education and training that is tailored to the current needs of nursing in general practices and reflects appropriate delivery options to overcome barriers to training.
Pascoe
Tessa
T
Royal College of Nursing Australia, Canberra, Australia. ptpascoe@bigpond.com
Hutchinson
Ronelle
R
Foley
Elizabeth
E
Watts
Ian
I
Whitecross
Lyndall
L
Snowdon
Teri
T
D001315:Australia; D004506:Education, Nursing; D005194:Family Practice; D020380:Needs Assessment; D000078329:Workforce