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September Pānui 2023

Kia ora koutou,

The Council has recently established a Kaiwhakahaere role as part of its commitment to embedding the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

The Kaiwhakahaere provides Te Ao Māori nursing strategic advice, direction, and guidance to influence the Council’s regulatory strategic work.

A key aspect of this position is to provide input to policy that shapes nursing standards to ensure equitable outcomes for Māori.

The interim Kaiwhakahaere is Waikura Kamo (right).

Waikura’s iwi affiliations are Ngāti Mutunga ki Chatham Islands, Kai Tahu, Ngāti Portugese and Nga Puhi Te Raroa in Hokianga on her father’s side and Te Atiawa o Taranaki and Ngāti Kahungunu from Wairarapa on her mother’s side.

With six tamariki and three mokopuna, Waikura has a busy whānau.

Waikura is strongly committed to excellence and has a Te Tiriti focus on ethics, keeping Moana Jackson in mind who said,

“We are not alone in our struggles. We stand in the light of our ancestors.”

Ngā mihi nui,

Catherine Byrne,

Pouārahi/Pouroki – Chief Executive/Registrar

New competence assessment for internationally qualified nurses to be introduced

The competence assessment requirements for internationally qualified nurses are changing in December, this year.

We are making the changes so there is a consistent national approach to assessing competence and to streamline the registration application system, all while keeping public safety as the priority.

Internationally qualified nurses (IQNs) who are applying to be registered to practise in New Zealand will, at the direction of the Council, take the following objective examinations of competence:

An online theoretical exam that tests nursing knowledge across a range of competencies, including ethical and legislative requirements, medicine calculation, and the management of nursing care. This exam can be taken at an accredited centre overseas or in New Zealand.

and

A two-day orientation and preparation course followed by a clinical examination known as an OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination). The OSCE itself is 3 hours and tests clinical skills with nurses required to complete specific assignments involving a range of different clinical scenarios and management of patient care. The orientation, preparation and OSCE will be done in person, in New Zealand at an accredited centre.

We anticipate there will be an 18-month transition period where the existing competence assessment programmes will be offered alongside the new competence examination process.

This means there is unlikely to be any immediate change for many in the sector as there is a pipeline of nurses who have applied under the existing system.

Internationally qualified nurses applying for registration to the Council after the new system is in place will be affected by the changes.

You can find further information on the website here.

Developing education standards and competencies for the new Enrolled Nurse Scope of Practice

The design group which is working on the review of the Enrolled Nurse Scope of Practice has completed a new scope statement and is now focusing on the next phase of the project.

The group, which includes Enrolled Nurses, the Council, representatives from NZNO’s EN section, Te Poari o Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa, employers, and educators, is developing education standards and competencies to further define competent enrolled nursing practice.

Once the competencies and the education standards are completed, the new Enrolled Nurse Scope of Practice will be implemented in 2024.

If you are yet to read the new EN scope statement and would like to, you can find it here.

Council work in progress

There are also a number of other Council projects that we are progressing in collaboration with the sector.

You can expect to hear from us when we go out for consultation later this year on the review of education standards for both Registered and Enrolled Nurses (EN). In addition to these, the Council will also be consulting in the next few months on the:

Code of Conduct
Registered Nurse competencies
Enrolled Nurse competencies and
Changes to Kawa Whakaruruhau and our cultural safety standards.

Health Practitioner Disciplinary Tribunal decisions

There are a number of cases where decisions have been made by the Health Practitioner Disciplinary Tribunal, and the results have been published, as below.

Please note the dates of the hearings of these cases as there has been a delay in the Tribunal reporting these decisions.

The reference numbers are: