title: Workforce characteristics of privately practicing nurse practitioners in Australia: Results from a national survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Australian private practice nurse practitioner (PPNP) services have grown since legislative changes in 2010 enabled eligible nurse practitioners (NPs) to access reimbursement for care delivered through the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). This article provides data from a national survey on the workforce characteristics of PPNPs in Australia.
  
  
  METHODS
  PPNPs in Australia were invited to complete an electronic survey. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative data using thematic analysis. There were 73 completed surveys.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  One of the intentions of expanding access to MBS and PBS for patients treated by NPs was to increase patients' access to health care through greater flexibility in the healthcare workforce. The results of this survey confirm that the workforce characteristics of PPNPs provide a potentially untapped resource to meet current primary healthcare demand.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings of this study allow us to understand the characteristics of PPNP services, which are significant for workforce planning. The focus of PPNP practice is toward primary health care with PPNPs working predominantly in general practice settings. The largest age group of PPNPs is over 50 years and means a proportion will be retiring in the next 15 years.
authors.affiliation: Sydney Nursing School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. jane.currie@sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Currie
authors.affiliation: Sydney Nursing School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chiarella
authors.affiliation: Sydney Nursing School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Buckley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001315:Australia; D003710:Demography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006280:Health Workforce / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009722:Nurse Practitioners / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009744:Nursing, Private Duty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Nurse practitioner; healthcare workforce; international; primary health care; private practice