Health Care Solutions

Australia’s health system faces complex challenges that require fresh thinking and innovative solutions that go beyond the status quo. 

APNA's Health Care Solutions unit is designed to partner with stakeholders to address these challenges using innovative, evidence-informed initiatives.

Generating evidence and insights is central to our approach. It enables us to translate learning into scalable solutions that inform our work, shape policy, and strengthen advocacy.

You can read more about our programs below. 

If you have an idea to improve the primary health care system and the PHC nursing workforce, please get in touch. Sometimes the seed of an idea can create an enormous impact and improvement!

We innovate

We develop, pilot and evaluate innovative workforce solutions. Our aim is to benefit the community by replicating and scaling solutions that improve health outcomes, using the expertise we've gained from delivering our flagship programs.

• The Rural Integrated Place-Based Care Program aims to improve the health outcomes of patients with chronic and complex health conditions, particularly those at risk of hospitalisation, by designing and implementing new care models in a rural region.
• Our Cultiv-8 program takes what we've learned from the Building Nurse Capacity program and repackages it as an eight-week professional development program for nurses. It gives them the skills, confidence, and clinical leadership required to establish effective nurse clinics.
• Tailored Education for Multidisciplinary Teams (TEMT) is a collaborative learning opportunity for primary health care teams, including nurses, allied health professionals, practice managers and other key operational staff, to grow their capacity to deliver improved patient outcomes and experiences.
• Our Primary Health Care Nursing Graduate Program uses what we’ve learned from our Transition to Practice Program to support recent nursing graduates in the aged and community care sectors to build their confidence, knowledge, and skills to deliver high-quality care to patients in these settings.

We deliver

The Health Care Solutions team is responsible for delivering the Nursing in Primary Health Care (NiPHC) program, which over the last ten years has had a significant impact on the careers of thousands of nurses and the health of the communities they work in.

For the past ten years, the Transition to Practice, Chronic Disease Management and Healthy Ageing and Building Nurse Capacity programs have supported nurses at all stages of their careers in primary health care, giving them the skills, knowledge, and confidence they need to address the health challenges faced by Australians.

NiPHC is funded by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.

We advocate

We advocate for all nurses working outside hospital settings, and the primary health care sector as a whole. Our goal is to ensure nurses are valued, visible and respected.

We achieve this through:

• Our Workforce Survey: APNA’s principal thought leadership product, respected by Government
• Being allies for change: APNA led the formation of the PHC Alliance and the Nine Peaks, an alliance of nursing peak bodies.
• Government relations activity to influence health policy at the highest level
• Policy submissions and representation activities that harness the collective voices of our members to influence health care reform.

Learn more about our Advocacy program. 

Mia Dhillon leads our Health Care Solutions unit.