Nursing Council of New Zealand Performance Review Report

Under a section of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (the Act) introduced in 2019, all regulatory authorities are required to regularly undergo performance reviews overseen by the Ministry of Health. These reviews examine how effectively a given authority is working, particularly in regard to the statutory functions set out in section 118 of the Act.

The Nursing Council’s first review under the Act took place in December 2021, and was conducted by DAA Group. As the Nursing Council also provides regulatory services for the Osteopathic Council, and at that point was also providing such services to Te Kaunihera Manapou Paramedic Council, the review covered all three regulators simultaneously.

The audit report has now been finalised, with the audit team characterising the Nursing Council as “a mature Responsible Authority with a clear focus on ensuring public safety”. The review especially commended:

• our work on defining the nurse practitioner scope of practice and in the area of nurse prescribing;
• our collaboration with the Ministry of Heath to implement interim registration measures in response to the COVID pandemic;
• our evidence of support and resources for nurses undergoing fitness to practice processes; and
• our willingness to collaborate with other regulatory authorities on cultural safety.

The audit team also stated that “a strength of the organisation is their dedicated, highly qualified, committed staff”.

The audit team did highlight the existence of delays in the current development of new Registered Nurse competencies. Their sole formal recommendation was that the Council “reprioritise their key stakeholder project plan” for this activity, including shortening consultation timelines and establishing a “network of tangata whenua to advise, guide and support this work”.

The full audit report is available below. As required under the Act, our next Annual Report will include our response to its findings and recommendation.