Hōtaka aromatawai tohungatanga
Competence assessment programmes
New Zealand registered and enrolled nurses who have been out of practice for five years or more are required under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 to complete a competence assessment programme before they can be issued with a practising certificate.
If you have been out of nursing for less than five years, please see Returning to Practice page for more information.
If you are an internationally qualified nurse who applied to the Nursing Council to become registered before 04 December 2023, and you are required to successfully complete a competence assessment programme, please read the CAP standards and programmes in the Downloads section.
These outline what standards are expected of the CAP programmes and where they are offered. The competency assessment programmes are offered by Council-accredited providers and include schools of nursing, district health boards, and other health service providers.
You apply directly to the Council-accredited CAP providers which are listed in the PDF ‘Competence assessment programmes’ in the Downloads section.