Returning to Nursing 

The following information is for nurses planning to return to practice:

More than five years

• If you have not practised nursing in the last five years, you will be required to complete a competence assessment return to nursing programme prior to applying for your annual practising certificate (APC) (Section 27(1)(a) and (d) of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003).  For a list of the Nursing Council approved competence assessment programme providers, please click here.

Less than five years

• If you have not practised nursing for less than five years, please contact the Nursing Council of New Zealand via the below contact details to request an APC application pack.  Please ensure you have your full name, NZ registration number and date of birth when contacting the Nursing Council, and also ensure we have a current postal address to which to send your application pack.

New Zealand registration team: (04) 385 9589 option 1 or nzreg@nursingcouncil.org.nz