Meeting Australia's Emerging Primary Care Needs by Nurse Practitioners

Abstract

Australia is experiencing challenges in developing the workforce to meet emerging primary care needs and has attempted to address these challenges by producing more physicians. However, new medical graduates are selecting specialty practices rather than primary care. Nurse practitioners (NPs) provide primary care in other countries, whereas Australia's nurse NPs are primarily in hospital-based, specialty practices. Lessons learned from the United States' experience can position NPs as a solution to the emerging Australian primary care shortage.