Pap smear provider credentialing

Pap Smear Providers (PSPs)

Nurses and midwives have provided pap smears throughout Australia since the early 1980s and have proved particularly effective in screening women, especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women,living in rural and remote areas of Western Australia where services are lacking.

Eligibility

To apply for PSP credentials, nurses and midwives must:

• be registered with the Nurses and Midwives Board of Western Australia (external site)
• have completed the FPWA Certificate in Sexual and Reproductive Health (external site) (Nursing) or equivalent.

Obtaining Pap Smear Provider credentials

All applications are assessed by the PSP Credentialing Committee. Nurses and midwives who have obtained their credentials are issued with a unique identification number, which enables both the laboratory and the nurse/midwife to maintain a record of the service they provide and the outcome.

• Initial application package
• Re-credentialing application package
• Guidelines for credentialing nurse pap smear providers [Operational Directive 0176/09]
• Guidelines for Nurse Pap Smear Collectors using PathWest (PDF 26KB)
• Self-assessment form (PDF 155KB)
• Example of a client satisfaction survey (PDF 150KB)
• Changes of details (PDF 147KB)

Competency standards

• Advanced competency standards for sexual and reproductive health nurses (external site)

Medicare information

• MBS items (10998, 10999) for Pap smears taken by a practice nurse in a regional, rural or remote area (PDF 90KB)

WA Cervical Cancer Prevention Program

• WA Cervical Cancer Prevention Program website

More about projects and reports:

» Western Australian Nurses and Midwives Fund
» Senior Registered Nurse classification process
» Publications
» Shared Health Interactive Practice
» Assistants in Nursing Project
» Immunisation course providers
» Nursing Practice Standard