Enrolled Nurse Scope Statement Consultation

The review of the Enrolled Nurse Scope of Practice statement has now closed.

We appreciate the substantial response from the nursing profession and wider health sector. The Council plans to publish the revised scope statement with any recommendations around May, then will move to the next phase that involves a review of the Enrolled Nurse Competencies and Education standards that will go out for consultation mid-year.

The Council’s fundamental role is to protect the safety of the public by ensuring that nurses are competent, safe, and fit practitioners.

The scope and expectations of nursing have increased significantly over the last few decades, and regulation, practise, and employment arrangements must keep pace with these changes. The Council, in partnership with the Enrolled Nurses Section of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, has therefore begun a Review of the Enrolled Nurse Scope of Practice.

We have begun by reviewing the Scope Statement as this represents the foundational definition of practice which the Competencies and Standards will need to reflect. Revising the statement provides the opportunity to consider what the Enrolled Nurse ‘is’, what Enrolled Nurses do, and what role Enrolled Nurses play in the Aotearoa New Zealand health system. This will also provide an opportunity to highlight issues of concern to Enrolled Nurses that are out of scope of this specific review, but which the Council may wish to consider in future. We then anticipate reviewing the Competencies and Standards in 2023.

The Council is seeking feedback on the statement from all those with a stake in the future of enrolled nursing. Consultation is open from 13 December 2022 until 13 February 2023. Details on the proposed statement and how to make a submission are available on the consultation webpage: EN Scope Statement Consultation. In addition to this current call for submissions, in early 2023 the Council will undertake additional targeted consultation on the statement.