Nurse Pap test providers
Registered Division 1 nurses can consider becoming a nurse Pap test provider.
To become a qualified nurse Pap test provider, Division 1 nurses need to:
1. Complete a course that has been accredited by the Royal College of Nursing Australia.
2. Once completed, go through the credentialling process that allows you to start providing Pap tests.
3. Apply to the Victorian Cytology Service (VCS) for a practice number, which will allow your Pap tests to be processed by VCS.
Why should you become a nurse Pap test provider?
Nurse Pap test providers offer a choice to women.
Many women prefer their Pap test to be performed by a woman. As the majority of nurses are female, increasing the number of nurse Pap test providers increases women's access to female providers.
In some cases, particularly in rural areas where there are a high percentage of male GPs, nurses may be the only female Pap test providers.
Nurses have a proven track record of reaching older women, women who have never had a Pap test before, and women who are overdue for the next Pap test.
Read the Victorian Cervical Cytology Registry's latest report on nurse practice here.
Nurses also play an important role targeting women with special needs - such as women from different cultural backgrounds or women with disabilities - because of the extra time they can take to fulfil the patient's needs.
Increasing screening amongst these groups means better health outcomes for women.
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Case study: Sue
I work at the Well Women's Clinic at the Royal Women's Hospital in Parkville.
I trained to be a Pap test provider because I understood women wanted a female practitioner.
