Nurse practitioners in aged care: documentary analysis of successful project proposals.

Meeting the primary health care needs of an aging population is an increasing challenge for many Western nations. In Australia, the federal government introduced a program to develop, test, and evaluate nurse practitioner models in aged care settings. In this article, we present a documentary analysis of 32 project proposals awarded funding under the Nurse Practitioner-Aged Care Models of Practice Program.

Can pharmacy assistants play a greater role in public health programs in community pharmacies? Lessons from a chlamydia screening study in Canberra, Australia.

Background: Little is known about the engagement of pharmacy assistants (PA) in public health service provision.

Objective: To explore the experiences of PA participating in a study to determine whether a cash reward, offered to consumers and pharmacy businesses, increased participation in community pharmacy-based chlamydia screening.

Methods: PA experience of the study education and training package, participant recruitment and conducting screening (providing information about chlamydia, specimen collection and handling urine samples) were evaluated using knowledge assessment, a questionnaire and focus groups.

'Catching chlamydia': combining cash incentives and community pharmacy access for increased chlamydia screening, the view of young people.

In Australia and elsewhere, chlamydia screening rates for those aged between 16 and 30 years continue to be low. Innovative, age-appropriate approaches are necessary to increase chlamydia screening among this target group to prevent short- and long-term consequences of the infection such as pelvic inflammatory disease, chronic pelvic pain, ectopic pregnancy and infertility. Studies have demonstrated that offering chlamydia screening in community pharmacies may be a useful adjunct to current screening services.

Stakeholder perceptions of a nurse led walk-in centre.

Background: As many countries face primary care medical workforce shortages and find it difficult to provide timely and affordable care they seek to find new ways of delivering first point of contact health care through developing new service models. In common with other areas of rural and regional Australia, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is currently experiencing a general practitioner (GP) workforce shortage which impacts significantly on the ability of patients to access GP led primary care services. The introduction of a nurse led primary care Walk-in Centre in the ACT aimed to fulfill an unmet health care need in the community and meet projected demand for health care services as well as relieve pressure on the hospital system.

Community pharmacy and cash reward: a winning combination for chlamydia screening?

Objectives: To date, the uptake of chlamydia screening in community pharmacies has been limited. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine if a cash reward, offered to both the provider and the consumer of chlamydia screening, increased the uptake of screening in community pharmacies.

Methods: During 4 weeks in 2011, chlamydia screening and education were offered in four city and two suburban pharmacies to people aged 16-30 years.

A national survey of general practitioners' experiences of patient-initiated aggression in Australia.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of patient-initiated aggression toward general practitioners in Australia.

Design, Setting And Participants: A cross-sectional national survey, conducted during February-May 2010, of 3090 GPs in 19 Divisions of General Practice, purposively sampled to represent urban, rural and remote areas.

Main Outcome Measure: Proportion of GPs experiencing patient-initiated aggression.

Implementing pay-for-performance in Australian primary care: lessons from the United Kingdom and the United States.

We identify key lessons learned from the international experience of pay-for-performance and use them to formulate questions for Australia to consider before such a scheme is introduced. Discussion of lessons learned is based on a narrative review of the literature. We examined international evidence on factors to consider when designing pay-for-performance schemes, and the impact of these schemes on primary care practitioner behaviour and on primary care funding.

Better than nothing? Patient-delivered partner therapy and partner notification for chlamydia: the views of Australian general practitioners.

Background: Genital chlamydia is the most commonly notified sexually transmissible infection (STI) in Australia and worldwide and can have serious reproductive health outcomes. Partner notification, testing and treatment are important facets of chlamydia control. Traditional methods of partner notification are not reaching enough partners to effectively control transmission of chlamydia.

Telling partners about chlamydia: how acceptable are the new technologies?

Background: Partner notification is accepted as a vital component in the control of chlamydia. However, in reality, many sexual partners of individuals diagnosed with chlamydia are never informed of their risk. The newer technologies of email and SMS have been used as a means of improving partner notification rates.

Experiences and outcomes of partner notification among men and women recently diagnosed with Chlamydia and their views on innovative resources aimed at improving notification rates.

Objective: To describe the partner notification experiences of individuals diagnosed with chlamydia and to determine what supports might best assist them.

Goal: To determine what supports might best assist chlamydia infected individuals to notify their partners.

Study Design: A telephone survey was undertaken with men and women recently diagnosed with chlamydia across 3 Australian jurisdictions between August 2007 and January 2008.

Innovative resources could help improve partner notification for chlamydia in primary care.

Objective: To examine practices of general practitioners' (GPs) in relation to partner notification for chlamydia and identify the supports they would find most useful to assist them.

Goal: To identify innovative resources that could improve partner notification for chlamydia in primary care.

Study Design: A postal survey was undertaken that involved GPs from several jurisdictions across Australia between August and December 2007.

Practice nursing in Australia: A review of education and career pathways.

Background: Nurses in Australia are often not educated in their pre registration years to meet the needs of primary care. Careers in primary care may not be as attractive to nursing graduates as high-tech settings such as intensive or acute care. Yet, it is in primary care that increasingly complex health problems are managed.

What needs to change to increase chlamydia screening in general practice in Australia? The views of general practitioners.

Background: Australia is considering implementing a chlamydia screening program in general practice. The views of general practitioners (GPs) are necessary to inform the design of the program. This paper aimed to investigate Australian GPs' views on how chlamydia screening could work in the Australian context.