Australian Practice Nurses Association

The Australian Practice Nurses Association (APNA) is the peak professional association for practice nurses in Australia with over 1 700 members nationally. Its aim is to empower and position practice nurses as key health professionals in the general practice team.

APNA is keen to support rigorous research which is aligned to its strategic direction, by:

• endorsing research undertaken
• having a regular section for research articles in APNA’s Primary Times publication
• supporting participation of practice nurses in research through access to education on research and provision of CPD points
• providing concurrent sessions for presentation of research relating to practice nursing at APNA’s conference.

Research endorsement and support

Endorsement reflects agreement by the APNA policy and research committee that the research could generate important new knowledge pertaining to practice nursing in Australia.

All requests for support by APNA are managed in accordance with its Research Endorsement Policy and overseen by the APNA Policy and Research Committee, which includes researchers from around the country and practice nurses.

Researchers need to provide evidence for the following:

• the research should align with APNA’s strategic directions
• the research must demonstrate adequate quality and methodological rigour ie. have ethics approval
• researchers must undertake to provide short reports of the research for dissemination to APNA members
• the support provided by APNA must not incur additional costs to APNA. Any additional costs will be borne by researchers.

In return, APNA endorsement ensures that practice nurses know that the research has the best interests of practice nurses in mind and is of sufficient rigour, which can increase participation. Support may include use of APNA communications, on-line survey technology, mailing lists, provision of participants for focus groups and advice on methodological challenges in general practice.

To find out more about APNA please visit <www.apna.asn.au>