My introduction to practice nursing was in 2004 when I joined a very small practice in the beautiful Shetland Islands; in 2009 I moved to Devon where I still work in a small market town in a surgery with 10,350 patients.
When I am asked what my role is in general practice, the most common reply to 'I'm a nurse partner' is 'Wow thats amazing'! No one has ever asked 'What on earth were you thinking'? This question does occasionally pop into my mind.
In 2019 I was preparing for my annual appraisal and thinking about the 'where do you see yourself in three years time' question. For the first time I wasn't sure? I was lead nurse, had worked on projects with various organisations including Royal College General Practitioners and the Care Quality Commission. I was needing a new challenge. I began wondering nurse partnership. Information was scarce, there weren't (and still aren't) many around to ask.
In 2020 (timing could have been better), I signed the 'Partnership documents' and stepped from being employee to employer with three GP partners and what a journey these last four years have been. It has and remains challenging at times, there is a lot more to the role that I could have imagined and not as glamorous as one might think. Becoming 'self-employed' was a real eye opener, tax returns, end of year accounts, a lot to get your head around. Due to Covid, there were no 'Preparation for partnership' courses available, which would have answered a lot of questions.
Despite the initial steep learning curve and pandemic, this role has given me opportunities way beyond what I could have imagined in 2004 when I joined general practice. Opportunity to influence practice policy, agree key priorities, develop patient services, workforce planning, PCN collaboration etc has been very rewarding. I believe that bringing a nursing voice to these discussion is increasingly important, particularly with the ever changing demands on general practice and subsequent increase in GPN scope of practice.
There are still voices in general practice who question the value of nurse partners and many make an assumption that I am a GP; or wonder what I actually do! We definitely need more nurse partners in general practice.
There isn't a clear pathway, nurse partners that I know have followed a similar path to mine, I think some work to promote the role might encourage more nurses and practices to review their partnership structure.
Thinking about Partnership? Here a few things to consider:
- Do some research - what type of partnership is right for you, there are different models.
- Do your values align with the current partners?
- Consider the pros and cons of being self employed.
- Get advice on the partnership contract, it's legally binding.
- Ideally avoid pandemics!!
Personally, being a nurse partner while not 'amazing' (maybe 2025); has been rewarding and has opened doors to other leadership opportunities. I am part of a growing group of senior nurse leaders, it would be AMAZING to see more nurse partners join us.
