Practice nurses
Nēhi whare rauora
Practice nurses are registered nurses who work in your general practice or health centre. They work in your community to plan nursing care and deliver treatment. They can also provide you and your whānau (family) with health education.
What practice nurses do
Practice nurses work within a healthcare team. This includes GPs, physiotherapists, pharmacists, counsellors and midwives.
Typical responsibilities include:
- assessing health conditions
- treating injuries
- giving immunisations to adults and tamariki (children)
- providing health check-ups
- giving travel advice
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- providing wound care
- providing sexual health and contraception, including cervical screening
- liaising with other health professionals on your behalf.
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A practice nurse may often be your first port of call for seeking healthcare. They will help you find your way through the health system. They can also help you decide which health professional or service you need to access.
Qualifications
All practice nurses need to be registered with the Nursing Council of New Zealand.
Cost of seeing a practice nurse
There is often a charge to see a practice nurse, but financial assistance may be available to help you cover these costs. This information may be displayed in your general practice or health centre. If not, ask at the reception for a list of practice nurse charges and details of any available financial assistance.
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed September 2024.
Sources
The information in this section comes from the following sources, some of which may be clinically complex or not available to the general public
Ministry of Health – Patient portals (https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/digital-health/other-digital-health-initiatives/patient-portals), retrieved July 2021.
New Zealand Telehealth forum and research centre. Retrieved April 2020.
NHS – Using online consultations In primary care. Retrieved April 2020.
Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners – What is general practice? (https://www.rnzcgp.org.nz/RNZCGP/I_m_a_Patient/What_is_general_practice/RNZCGP/Im_a_patient/
What_is_general_practice.aspx), retrieved January 2017.
Image and embedded video sources
Image of a doctor greeting a female patient from Shutterstock (image ID 426626008). September 2023.
Image of a GP examining a child from Shutterstock (image ID 98508353). January 2017.
Image of a health professional giving a patient a virtual consultation from Shutterstock (image ID 589609640). April 2020.
Image of a man looking at a patient portal on a tablet (image ID 1667533894). November 2022.
Image of a nurse talking to a child and parent from Shutterstock (image ID 98521118) August 2016.
Image of a patient at a general practice from Shutterstock (image ID 1056498500). June 2022.
Image of an Asian doctor talking to a patient from hyena reality at FreeDigitalPhotos. November 2014.
Image showing how to take a photo for telehealth from Shutterstock (image IDs 550794373 and 748595458). May 2020.
Page reference: 296213
Review key: HIGPS-132164
