ANF Competency Standards Information Page

Development of competency standards for Registered Nurses in General Practice, Enrolled Nurses in General Practice and Enrolled Nurses working Beyond Beginning Practice

What is the Study about?

Dr Marie Heartfield and Ms Terri Gibson from the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Division of Health Sciences, University of South Australia are conducting a project that aims to:

Develop competency standards for registered nurses working in general practice.
Develop competency standards for enrolled nurses working in general practice.
Use the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council's (ANMC) National Competency Standards for the Enrolled Nurse as a framework to develop competency standards for enrolled nurses working beyond beginning practice.
Validate each set of competency standards across a variety of settings and practice contexts.

The project will be overseen by a Project Steering Committee with representatives from ANF, ANMC, RCNA, NENA and APNA and involves five key phases:

Literature Analysis to Develop Competency Standards for the Registered and Enrolled Nurse in the General Practice Setting and Enrolled Nurses beyond entry to practice.
Workshops to Inform the Development of Competency Standards for Nursing in General Practice and Enrolled Nursing Beyond Beginning Practice.
Observations of Nursing in General Practice and Enrolled Nursing Beyond Beginning Practice.
Draft Competency Standards for Nursing in General Practice and Enrolled Nursing Beyond Beginning Practice.
Validation of all Draft Competency Standards by Teleconferences, on-line Surveys and written submission.

How would I be involved?

As a key stakeholder and/or member of a stakeholder group involved in nursing practice, you are invited to participate in the project by involvement in either or both of the two rounds of consultation (phases 2 and 5) and/or in the observations of nursing practice (phase 3). Participation in the project is voluntary and you may withdraw at any stage of the project without consequence. You can also ask that any comments made by you not be included in the final project data.

How will confidentiality and anonymity be assured?

Any written submission feedback for this project is anonymous. All hardcopy materials (survey data, researchers' notes, audio-tapes and transcribed Word documents) will be stored in locked facilities at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of South Australia (City East Campus) throughout the duration of the project. On completion of the project, all data from the study will be stored in a secure area of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of South Australia (City East Campus) for a period of time as designated by NH&MRC guidelines (currently 7 years). The researchers will take every care to remove responses from any identifying material as early as possible. Likewise individual's responses will be kept confidential by the researcher and not be identified in the reporting of the research. However the researcher cannot guarantee the confidentiality or anonymity of material transferred by email or the internet.

How can I find out more information?

If you have any questions or require further information about the project you can contact either Dr Marie Heartfield on (08) 8302 2341 or 0438 099 883 or Ms Terri Gibson on (08) 8302 2396 or 0411 605 921.

Alternatively, if you have concerns regarding ethical issues relating to the Project, please contact Vicki Allen, Ethics Officer, University of South Australia on (08) 8302 3118 or fax (08) 8302 3921.