veNTIlATIoN - Green Cross Publishing

The birth of the IPNA
She says: “I found practice nursing very interesting at that stage
but also quite isolating. I had come from public health where
I had a network of colleagues who I met every morning. That
was why I decided to put out feelers for other general practice
nurses who might be interested in getting involved in a little
educational forum, which turned out to be the nucleus for the
IPNA.”
Netta is particularly proud that general practice nursing is
now recognised as an advanced practitioner area and that
both of the advanced practitioner practice nurses in Ireland
started out on the course she developed. However, she says
it is “dreadful” that there is still no mandatory education
programme for practice nurses in Ireland.
Over the years, Netta and the IPNA continued to work with
the RCSI and the Irish College of General Practitioners in the
development of educational programmes for practice nursing,
including Diploma and Higher Diploma courses.
For the past number of years, she has worked in the role of
Professional Development Coordinator for practice nurses in
the Dublin south and Wicklow area.
“While working in practice nursing, I noticed how many
people we were seeing with asthma and respiratory conditions
and I took myself off to England to do a training course in this
area. I now teach that programme myself in Ireland. I really feel
there are areas of excellence in practice nursing but we must
keep ourselves up-to-date with best practice and evidencebased
skills,” Netta comments.
The best part about being a practice nurse for Netta is seeing
a patient come in with a condition, diagnosing and treating
them and keeping them well at primary level. If conditions
like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are
recognised quickly enough, patients can be educated to
manage their condition and prevent hospital admission, she
points out, and this is a vital part of practice nursing.
“When I left general hospital care, at that stage if a child
came in with an asthma attack, they had an aminophylline
suppository put up their bottom and they were put in an
oxygen tent. How frightening must that have been for a child?
It was always an emergency situation and people died so
dramatically from asthma. That year salbutamol was developed
and things have changed hugely since. Patients are now being
taught to take control of their own illness and can be looked
after in the community.”
Professional challenges
In terms of the challenges facing the profession, Netta points
out that access to ongoing education is limited by virtue of the
fact that practice nurses are private employees and often have
to do additional training courses in their own time.
“I am very pleased that there is now a recognised postgraduate
diploma in practice nursing at the RCSI, but I am not
pleased that it costs €5,000 and the nurses have to go back to
the same job and salary afterwards. There are a lot of things
that have to be sorted out.”
She highlights the need for a team approach to patient care
in general practice comprising the GPs, pharmacists, nurses,
receptionists and cleaners — but it must never be forgotten
that the patient is a major part of the team too and should
dictate the care they get, she says.
“It’s not just about task achievement. Rather than see
somebody do 30 primary immunisations in a day, I would
rather see somebody do six and know that the mother went off
with her child feeling secure; that the nurse knew what she was
doing and that her practice cared for her and her family.”
interview
Nurse led clinics
Netta would like to see more nurse-led clinics such as asthma
clinics or walk-in clinics for nervous new mums, which she
points out would take a lot of pressure off the GPs. However,
she is not in favour of the tick-box style clinics being run in the
UK. She stresses that the practice nurse is not an assistant to the
GP, but brings the practice of nursing to the GP setting.
Having always had such a busy working life, Netta admits
that it’s going to be very strange having nothing to get up for
in the morning for the first time in over 40 years. She plans to
take a couple of months to think about her future, but would
definitely like to continue working in respiratory illness and
perhaps take up painting like her sister and daughter.
Having remarried a widower with three teenagers and with
two children of her own, Netta has also been kept very busy at
home with “our Brady bunch”. She now has nine grandchildren
from the age of 11 down to one year based in Ireland, America
and the UK who she adores, but she is determined not to
“become a granny with a house full of children”.
“I love children but like WC Fields said, I couldn’t eat a whole
one,” she jokes.
“I am very pleased
that there is now
a recognised postgraduate
diploma in
practice nursing at
the rcsI, but I am not
pleased that it costs
€5,000 and the nurses
have to go back to the
same job and salary
afterwards.”
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