We have had undergraduates at the practice over the past four years. These have been 2nd year students from Otago Polytech doing a Health Promotion project based on the Pleasant Point Health Center community. They have produced some amazing work with the product being a tool that we as clinicians…
Keeping up-to-date I regularly spend time with the GP while he/she is in the clinic. We will go over cases I want advice on, blood test results, plans I have for patients and want reassurance that I am not missing anything or need to include. I have recently spent a…
Funding Streams: We access what funding streams are available for the patients. These include: Under 25 Sexual health, Care Plus (multiple conditions requiring intensive input), Brief Intervention Services (mental health), Diabetes Foot Assessments and Diabetes encounter program (newly diagnosed, re-engagement, initiation of insulin), Palliative care and Free Cervical Smears (>5 yrs…
Does it really matter who owns the General Practice (GP)business? Yes. No. Maybe… I realise that I was potentially misleading readers by referring to the ownership of the General Practice ‘business’ in this blog! It isn’t necessarily about owning the practice… So I started asking the question “does it really…
The importance of collaborative practice is no more important than when running a NP led general practice! Ideally I’d have one ‘on tap’ in times of need, however that need is very varied and not all day every day, so I’ve had to find innovative ways of working this, to…
Barriers: Once the back to back agreement was in place it was then time to rearrange or in some cases discover other contracts with ACC, Maternity (section 88) . The initial barriers included not being able to sign off certain ACC forms, medical certificates, insurance medicals (for some organisations) Drivers licenses,…
What is required to provide a primary health care service by a nurse practitioner? Firstly, a deep breath, absolute determination, and genuine belief in the knowledge and advanced skills that the nurse practitioner role offers. A decision right from the outset to “choose” what to listen to. There would be…
My first role as an NP was working as a locum in a very busy town based General practice. This was the first time I had ever worked in an urban practice. This was both daunting and challenging and I appreciated the support of other locums in the practice. Between…