An injection of nurse practitioners will not only ease pressure surrounding the GP shortage but also make healthcare more accessible to more Australians, according to the Australian College of Nurse Practitioners.

ACNP president Helen Grosby said more NPs were vital in the fields of aged care and primary health care along with pain management while bolstering overall health access.

"It is not just the GP shortage that we are contending with but there has been an increase in demand for health services across the general population without a corresponding increase in services over the years," she said.

"Health access is affected and one way to improve this is to increase the number of providers available to all Australians in many settings, not just metropolitan areas, and in doing so making healthcare accessible."

ACNP figures show there are more than 500 NPs across Australia, ranging from ICU to primary health care and paediatrics to aged care.

Under last year’s changes to the Medical Benefits Schedule, NPs can take someone’s medical history, undertake a clinical examination, arrange tests and implement health care plans from either a patient’s home, a health clinic, a medical practice, an aged care facility or the NP’s own private consulting rooms.

NPs were first mooted in Australia in 1990 but the first one was not appointed until 2001 - in a remote area and without a practising doctor.

While they are relatively new on the Australian health landscape, ACNP secretary Amal Helou said there have been NPs in the United States since the 1960s.

"They have over 30,000 NPs who are treating and caring for patients in many fields of medicine," she said.

"Most medical health practices and hospitals employ NPs who work closely with their medical colleagues to reduce waiting lists and provide timely treatment and access in many services."

Ms Helou said there was "quite a backlog" of qualified Australian NPs waiting for their paperwork to be processed.

"We are hoping that the newly established national APHRA will address this in a timely fashion and get these applications moving a little faster," she said.