Trainee Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANP's)

‘General Practice Nursing, Now and the Future’, 2016, and ‘Health and Wellbeing – Delivering Together’ (DoH, 2016), recognised the developing range of Primary services, using an expanded range of professional staff working within Primary Care teams.  Eastern GP FSU worked in partnership with the SPPG and PHA to pilot the introduction of Advanced Nurse Practitioners working in Primary Care. 

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Both initiatives are aligned to the GPN Career Pathway (2018) and have now been introduced to several Federation areas. They will be introduced to all Federations when funding becomes available.

 

Health and Wellbeing – Delivering Together (DoH, 2016) also recognised the need to develop Elective Care and Multidisciplinary Teams (MDTs) within Primary Care. Nurses are included as team members within these initiatives. Within MDTs, nursing roles include Health Visiting, District Nursing, and as members of Mental Health Practitioner teams.

 

MDTs have provided the opportunity to implement the Delivering Care (2011) policy for health visiting and district nursing which aims to secure safe staffing levels across all practice settings. Since 2017, General Practice Nursing has also been included under the policy which is to be reflected in new legislation through the Nursing and Midwifery Task Group (DoH, 2020). 

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The trainee ANPs  are employees of the GP Federation and are supernumerary in the practices they are placed in by the Federation who is responsible for their salary and terms and conditions of employment. They will spend the 2 years in your practice to gain a wide range of experiences to help develop their skills as ANP’s.  This course is very intensive requiring the trainees to avail of every opportunity provided to gain the knowledge and skills required to be an ANP.

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The MSc programme is a two-year programme with the University Ulster (UU) who are the academic partners alongside the GP Federation and your practice. The role of the trainee ANP is to successfully undertake the 2- year academic course of study leading to the MSC in Advanced Nursing Practice. Alongside this academic course they will be allocated a GP clinical supervisor who will support them, work through the competencies and confidence required to complete the course to become a clinically sound independent practitioner.

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The academic course will require the trainees to be released one day per week as determined by UU.  The programme also allocates one day a week for self- directed learning .  Additionally when there are significant assignments and exams to be undertaken there may be some extra study leave agreed which will be on their timetable in advance .

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